How to Play Multiplication Bingo
Multiplication bingo helps students practice their math skills. Rather than simply calling a number, as in traditional bingo, players have to figure out the answers to math questions in order to mark the numbers on their cards. For young students, you may want to limit the questions to times tables with small numbers. Older students may be able to go up to the 12 times table, or answer more complex multiplication questions.
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Things You'll Need
- Blank bingo cards
- Scissors or paper cutter
- Index cards
- Pencils or small tokens
- Prizes (optional)
Instructions
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1
Write multiplication questions, such as 3 x 4 = ?, on index cards. Be sure to use questions for times tables the students have already learned. Make at least 25 question cards, to make the game more interesting.
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2
Download and print out blank multiplication bingo cards (see Resources), or create your own. Cut each sheet in half to make two cards. Make sure you have at least one card for each student.
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3
Fill in the bingo spaces with answers to the questions on your cards. Try to use different combinations of answers on each card, so that they’re all unique.
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4
Give each student a multiplication bingo card and a pencil--or small tokens, such as paper clips, that he can place on the numbers.
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5
Shuffle the multiplication question cards and draw one at random. Give the students time to figure out the answer and mark it on their bingo cards if possible, using the pencil or small token.
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6
Repeat Step 5 until someone reaches bingo by achieving five answers in a row or column. Check the student’s answers and give out a prize (optional).
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Continue playing, or have the students remove their pencil marks or tokens and start again. You may also want to play blackout multiplication bingo, in which students must fill in their cards to win.
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Tips & Warnings
You may want to have older students fill in the blank bingo cards themselves. Tell them which times tables your questions will cover, and let them think of possible answers. For instance, they should figure out not to use the number 7 as a possible answer, because it is a prime number. This can add an extra challenge to the game and save you the time of filling in all the cards.
