How to Make Bingo Cards

If you are sick of the cover charge and the bad luck you've had at the local bingo hall, hosting your own bingo night is a good alternative. Of course, you'll have to provide the proper equipment in order to have a good time. Here are some quick hints for easy homemade bingo cards.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

The Board

1. Purchase several sheets of poster board. Three sheets will give you plenty of material. White is the easiest color to work with, but any color will work as long as the words and numbers are legible. The cheapest poster board will be sturdy enough to make bingo cards.
2. Cut the poster board into 15 individual cutouts that measure 5.5 inches high by 5 inches wide. You may wish to trace the measurements out with a pencil before cutting. After cutting, you should have 15 square-shaped boxes. The height will be longer than the width by one-half inch, but this will barely be noticeable.
3. Measure one-half inch from the top of the poster board cutout. At the half-inch mark, draw a vertical line that goes all the way across the cutout. This line, a half inch from the top, will eventually separate the label from the rest of the game board on your bingo card.
4. Continue with four more vertical lines, measuring them one inch apart. You should have five vertical lines in total, one that is a half inch from the top, then four more that are equally spaced on the cutout with about an inch in between them. This doesn't have to be exact, but using a ruler will be extremely helpful.
5. Draw four evenly spaced horizontal lines across the poster board cutout. Start at the very top of the cutout. Similar to the vertical lines, there should be an inch of space between each horizontal line. The only difference is that you are not measuring an extra half-inch. For example, start at the leftmost side of the cutout. Measure one inch. This is where you draw your first horizontal line. Your second horizontal line will be an inch away from that. Continue in this way with the other horizontal lines. When you are finished with steps 4 and 5, the card should look like a grid. You should end up with 30 boxes, 25 of which are equal-sized and 5 at the top that are a bit smaller.
6. Spell out the word BINGO by writing one letter in each of the boxes at the top of the cutout. The letter "B" will go in the upper left-hand square. Move one square to the right and place the letter "I." Continue this way across the top to spell out BINGO. You should be left with 25 blank squares.
7. Find the center square. Starting in the upper lefthand square (not including the BINGO-labeled squares), the center square is three down and three over. Write the word "Free" in this square. Every bingo card needs a free square in the very center of the game board.
8. Repeat steps 3 to 7 for each of the 15 cutouts you created from the poster board.

The Numbers

9. Decide which numbers to use for your bingo cards. If you are using number chips or store bought bingo calling cards, refer to those before choosing the numbers. You will have to use the same numbers. However, if you are making the entire game from scratch, you can pick any numbers.
10. Create numbers for your bingo cards by filling in each of the blank squares with a different number. Each of the 24 blank squares (remember--one is a free square) gets a different number. However, you need more than 24 numbers so that the cards will have variety. Pick 40 to 50 different numbers.
11. Fill in the blank squares on all 15 of your bingo cards. The placement of the numbers should be different on each card. Mix up the numbers you are using so that each card does not include just a few numbers. For example, the number 27 can be used on 10 of the cards, but not used on the remaining 5 cards.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider darkening the lines on your bingo card by using black paint or a permanent marker.
• Instead of numbers, you can fill in the bingo card squares with anything. For example, many teachers use bingo as an educational tool by filling in the squares with states, state capitals, phonics or foreign languages. Themed bingo can be a fun and effective way to learn.