Winter Bingo For Children

One of the science Standards of Learning (Adopted in 2018) for first graders in Virginia is to investigate and understand the seasonal changes in our environment (Science SOL 1.7). I listed a few ideas on this topic at the end of this post.

This winter bingo game might fit your instructional needs if you plan science lessons about the four seasons. This game would complement a winter-themed unit for those in the northeastern United States. The game helps review winter vocabulary words and sparks interest in learning more about winter at the beginning of a lesson on seasons. I created a black-and-white version as well as a color edition product. Here are a few pictures from the color version of my "Wintry" bingo game.



A "Free Space" is in the center of each card, and twenty-four winter vocabulary words are displayed. 

 
Use pennies or other small objects on the bingo sheets instead of chips if you like. Sometimes it takes work to find bingo chips in local markets. I ordered mine through eBay.

The photo shown above is from the black-and-white version of the game. The words used with the black-and-white version are the same as the color version. A paint dauber is being used instead of bingo chips.

I used mini erasers as bingo markers in the photo shown above. They came in a holiday variety pack of 100 at Dollar Tree. I pulled out the snowflakes and kept the holiday-themed pieces for my "Santa's" bingo game. One pack of 100 mini erasers will be enough markers for five students.

I wanted to use a wintry mix of winter words to include the following categories:

1. Clothing Worn
2. Tools Used
3. Recreational Objects  
4. Animal Behavior (in response to winter)
5. Plant Behavior (in response to winter)
6. Forms of Precipitation 

Winter Words Calling Cards

Cut the calling cards out (shown above), shuffle them, and use them when the game is in play.

Here are a few discussion ideas about winter:

1. We observe how climate affects plants and animals. - The green grass has turned brown. The leaves on the deciduous trees have fallen off. The robins are flying south (we see less of them than when we observed them in the spring). The squirrels are gathering nuts. The Monarch butterflies have migrated. The crops are harvested. There was no corn growing where the cornfields stood. No more fresh tomatoes are growing in our gardens. 

2. We discuss sudden and gradual changes. - There is a drop in temperature from arrival at school to departure time - or the reverse. The diminishing leaves on the trees nearby take many weeks to change from green to red and then to a dormancy phase. We have fewer hours of daylight - it gets darker earlier. 

3. We compare one season with another. We talked about the change in our dress for school from August to December, such as wearing shorts when school begins in August to wearing long pants, sweaters, and jackets in December. 

4. We talk about the changes in our activities. We consider the sports people play in the summer, like baseball and swimming. We compare indoor sports such as basketball and ice hockey. We talk about the kinds of tools our parents use in the winter, such as shovels and ice scrapers. We compare those with things used in the summer, such as lawnmowers and bug spray.

The possible discussions are almost endless!

If you are interested in purchasing my "WINTRY" Bingo game, click one of the images shown below.

Lessons by Molly © 2013  All rights reserved.