How to Make a Rosh Hoshana Bingo Game

Rosh Hashana, a holiday celebrating the Jewish New Year, is one of the first holidays Jewish children learn about. This bingo game for preschoolers is intended for the days just before the holiday. Aside from its entertainment value, playing the game can also help reinforce some of the basic ideas and traditions of the holiday.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• One piece of yellow card stock for each player
• 25 index cards
• Thin line markers in assorted colors
• A bag of dried beans

Make the Bingo Cards and Calling Squares

1. Cut each piece of cardstock into an 8 ½-inch square. You’ll be cutting 2 ½ inches off the bottom of the sheet. This is a bingo card.

2. Draw a line across the card 2 inches from the top. This will be your category bar.

3. Mark the rest of the card into 25 squares, 5 horizontally and 5 vertically. Extend the vertical lines up into the category bar.

4. In the five spaces in the category bar, draw the following: an apple, a shofar, a jar of honey, a round bread and a calendar. Don’t worry if your drawings are not exact; once you tell the children what they are supposed to be they will remember.

5. On the four vertical squares under each picture, write numbers from 1 to 10. Do this randomly, making sure no two cards are exactly alike.

6. Make the calling cards by cutting the index cards in half. You will now have 50 cards. Mark them as follows: Shofar 1,Shofar 2, Shofar 3 (etc.) through number 10. Then do the same thing for the apples, honey, bread and calendar.

Play the Game

7. Give each child a card and a pile of beans.

8. Show children who have never played bingo how they will place a bean on the square when its number is called. Show them how five across or down will be a winning card.

9. Teach the children to say “L'Shana Tova Tikatevu" (a Rosh Hashanah greeting). This phrase is what they will shout out when they have a bingo.

Resources

• Rosh Hashanah pictures & vocabulary