Get ready for low-prep fun with this back to school bingo! Back to school bingo is a great icebreaker game for the first day of school. Even your kindergarteners and young students can play this game of picture bingo.
Playing bingo is a great way to break the ice and get new students excited to be back in the classroom. You can also play back to school bingo at home to prepare your kids for back to school or as a fun way to start the homeschool year.
In this post you can pick the set of bingo cards you need for your group. Get up to 14 bingo cards for free or snag a larger classroom set for just a few dollars.
Picture bingo is great for children (and adults) of all ages. Because it uses pictures, children don’t have to know their numbers or how to read in order to play. They will need to pay careful attention to detail, though, so it’s a great way to encourage your children or students to hone their attention-paying skills!
How to play back to school bingo
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You don’t need much to play picture bingo – just your printables and something to use as tokens (You’ll also need scissors to cut the call cards apart). Any small manipulative can work for marking the cards. Children can also cross off images with a crayon or pencil, but then the cards will only be good for one round of play.
To make your cards reusable, print them on sturdy paper and laminate them. When you laminate the cards, you can use the same set year after year without blasting through your copy budget!
I always print my printables on presentation paper, a type of heavyweight paper with a special coating for vibrant images, and laminate them. If I’m going to use my colored ink, I want printables to look their best and last for a long time!
The difference is easier to see in real life, but the mermaid bingo card on the left was printed on presentation paper. The one on the right was printed on regular paper. I used the same printer and settings for both. The presentation paper produces much brighter, cleaner images.
Have your children or students mark off called images on their laminated cards with a manipulative. Counting bears, mathlink cubes, and pompoms all work fantastically.
How to play back to school picture bingo:
- Print your bingo cards and call cards. It’s important to print the call card at the back because every image is not on every card. There are a total of 31 different back to school images, but each card has 24 images.
- Download links for your bingo cards are located lower on the page.
- Cut the call cards into tiles and place them into a bowl or face down on the table. Again, please make sure to print the call cards instead of cutting up an extra playing card.
- Draw cards one at a time, announce the picture, and show the card around. Players mark off the image if there’s an exact match on their card.
- Some images are similar (for example a chalkboard with number and a blank chalkboard), so make sure players have an exact match. This encourages attention to detail and visual discrimination skills.
- The first player to make five matches in a straight line or on the diagonal calls “Bingo!” to win. You can also play variants like making an X, needing all four corners, or making a specific shape (like a U or a square).
- Don’t be surprised if your children or students want to trade cards and play again!
Related: Free printable back to school word search
Printable back to school bingo game
Like all Artisan Life printables, these bingo cards are available for personal and classroom use. This includes use with Scouting groups, homeschool co-ops, and therapy clients. As long as you are personally organizing the activity and not charging specifically to play, you’re good to go.
You are not licensed to redistribute the digital or physical files to other adults for their personal use. Instead, please refer your friends and coworkers to this page so they can download their own copies.
There are four sets of printable bingo cards to pick from:
- Back to school bingo for a large group with 50 cards
- Classroom set of 25 back to school bingo boards
- 10 free school themed bingo boards
- 4 free printable back to school bingo cards
The sets of 10 and 4 are free, so keep scrolling to grab your free printables if you’re only looking for a few bingo boards! (The paid sets are very affordable – as a former classroom teacher I know how hard finding high quality, affordable resources can be!)
Back to school bingo for a group
I created this large set of bingo cards because readers asked for even more bingo card printables. It is perfect for any time you need a lot of bingo cards. This set contains 50 unique bingo cards and can be combined with other sets of an even larger group.
You can grab all 50 cards in one handy file for one special back to school price.
Classroom set of back to school bingo cards
Up next is what I call the “classroom set” of bingo boards. This set has 25 unique cards and is perfect for most classrooms. (If you only need a couple more for your students, make sure to grab one of the free sets below! The sets are unique and can be combined.)
The set of 25 bingo cards is available for one very low price. This is a special back to school discount so grab your copy now!
Free printable back to school bingo – set of 10
This set of 10 free printable bingo cards is a reader favorite! It’s perfect for families, small groups, or adding a few extra cards onto your larger set.
The set of 10 cards is free – just fill out the form below to let me know where to email them!
Set of four free printable bingo cards
Last but not least, there’s the set of free four printable back to school bingo cards. These are absolutely and completely free, no strings attached. Use the download link below the preview image to get them from Dropbox (The link is highlighted in grey to make it easier to find.)
4 free printable back to school bingo cards
I hope you enjoy and make sure to Pin these bingo cards so you can find them again later!
Back to School Printables
Get ready for back to school with these free printables from The Artisan Life!
Back to School Word Search
This back to school word search comes with three different options so you can pick from colorful or ink-saving designs. Answer key included!
Free Printable First Day School Signs (for the perfect back to school picture)
Get ready for the all-important first day of school photos with these free printable first day of school signs!
3 Free All About Me Printables (icebreaker activity for back to school)
Filling out these all about me printables is a great ice breaker activity and a fun way to get to know your students at the beginning of the school year.
Free Printable Bathroom Passes
Do you need bathroom passes or hall passes? Grab these free printable bathroom passes today!
marieken
This bingo looks like lots of fun! I’ve also seen a museum bingo for kids, for art museums, such a fun way to learn. Hope all is well in your corner of the world!
Natasha
Hi Marieken! It’s so nice to “see” you! I love the idea to make museum bingo or maybe even a botanical garden bingo. That would be fun for kids who love plants!