Printable Thanksgiving Bingo Cards, Free

Q: How do I make a card for toddlers?

Choose the 3 x 3 grid under Words and keep only simple words such as turkey, gravy, parade and candles. Read each word aloud and let the child point to the matching square.

A Thanksgiving game for the hour before the meal

There is always a gap on Thanksgiving. The food needs another forty minutes, the game is not on yet, and ten people are standing in the kitchen asking what they can carry. Bingo fills that gap without any setup. Hand out the cards, and everyone from the five-year-old to the uncle who avoids board games has something to watch for.

The list covers the whole day: the dishes (gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie), the traditions (parade, football, the kids' table, the morning turkey trot, a thankful list) and the small things that go wrong (an airport delay, a traffic jam, an oven timer nobody hears). Players can cross out squares as they happen in real life, which turns the whole afternoon into one slow game.

Each card has a different mix of the 54 words around a free space, so a table of twelve does not end in a tie. Two cards fit on one sheet of Letter or A4 paper. In a classroom, switch to four per page, print 25 and use the cards the day before the break.

Words on these bingo cards

Turkey
Stuffing
Gravy
Cranberry sauce
Mashed potatoes
Pumpkin pie
Pecan pie
Sweet potatoes
Green bean casserole
Dinner rolls
Corn on the cob
Apple cider
Leftovers
Turkey sandwich
Carving knife
Drumstick
Wishbone
Cornucopia
Pilgrim hat
Harvest
Autumn leaves
Parade
Football game
Nap on the couch
Card table
Kids' table
Stretchy pants
Grace before dinner
Pie for breakfast
Thankful list
Hand turkey
Turkey trot
Place cards
Candles
Napkin rings
Road trip
Airport delay
Traffic jam
Grandma's recipe
Whipped cream
Cinnamon
Gourd
Scarecrow
Corn maze
Hay bale
Stockpot
Oven timer
Doing the dishes
Pie crust
Ladle
Gravy boat
Second helpings
Family photo
Friendsgiving

How to play at the table or in class

Choose the number of players in Number of cards, press Print or save as PDF, and hand out cards with pens or small pieces of candy corn as markers.
Calling version: pull the words out of a bowl one at a time, or read them from the random order generator while the pie cools.
Watching version: nobody calls anything. Players mark a square when it truly happens, for example when someone says the word leftovers, and shout bingo on a complete line.
Give a small prize, such as the first slice of pie. Press New cards for a second round with fresh cards.

Questions about Thanksgiving bingo

Is this good for a classroom the week before break?

Yes. The words are food and family words that most children read easily, and nothing refers to history in a way that needs explaining. Teachers often print four cards per page and let students color the squares they have crossed out.

Can adults play along with children?

Yes. Give the adults the watching version, with squares such as airport delay and stretchy pants, and let the children play the calling version. Both sets come from the same word list.

How do I make a card for toddlers?

Choose the 3 x 3 grid under Words and keep only simple words such as turkey, gravy, parade and candles. Read each word aloud and let the child point to the matching square.

Will we run out of words to call?

No. With 54 words and a dozen players, someone usually completes a line after 15 to 20 calls, so a good part of the list is never read. A blackout round, where a player has to fill the whole card, uses most of it.

Can I add my own family words?

Yes. Add the dog's name, an old family joke or the dish only Aunt Carol brings. The edited list stays on this device for next November.

Printable Thanksgiving bingo cards