In this chapter, we're going to explain the rules to Ice Breaker Bingo. Keep in mind that there are multiple versions out there, but that this one is our favorite.
Like raffle tickets, pulltabs (charity tickets) are a great way to increase sales and revenues during a bingo. A pulltab is a similar to a scratch off lottery ticket, but instead it has a number of “windows” that are peeled open to reveal a possible prize. Each box of pulltabs contains a set amount of prizes (usually around 75% of the take). There are a number of styles available such as a table top electric blower, portable Bingo blowers, pop up Bingo machines, wood, metal and plastic machines with wire cages and automatic bingo callers. Consider the layout of the room in which you will host the home Bingo game or party when deciding upon the best machine for your needs. Virtual bingo cards that can be played on-sreen or printed; All bingo cards made on myfreebingocards.com can be played virtually. Our virtual bingo games are totally free for up to 30 players. For more than 30 players our prices start at $10 for 100 bingo cards, which gives access to our virtual bingo system for 31 days. A session of bingo typically lasts from 2 – 3 hours and may have anywhere from 20 – 30 or more individual games played. These games may be sold individually but more commonly are sold in groups (in packs or booklets) by the type of game. Some games sell “complete game packs” which include all games being played during the session.
As an added bonus, we'll also include some downloadable cards that you can print off and use with your group of people.
A fun alternative to Ice Breaker Bingo is a game we built called QuizBreaker.
Thousands of teams around the world play QuizBreaker as a fun way to learn more about each other and bring their teams closer together.
People at organisations such NYTimes, Google & Coca Cola have reported how it's a really easy to run a team building activity.
Click here to learn more about QuizBreaker and try if for free.
If your team is working remotely at the moment then you should check out our guide on virtual team building activities and games for remote teams. In there you'll find 100 ideas with instructions that you can try with your newly remote team.
Chapters
We can all admit, we love a game of bingo - even if it is for old people.
It’s fun, engaging and can get competitive; and that’s exactly why it's one of our favourite ice breaker games.
Furthermore, we adore people bingo (also known as the ‘autograph game’ or ‘did you know?’) because it is fun, easy to organise and even easier to teach.
Simply put, the objective of the game is for employee’s to wander around the room and get signatures of people who have the facts listed on the bingo sheet - but we’ll explain it in more detail in a second.
It might sound almost too simple, but being simple leaves nothing to be over complicated and allows employees to interact with each other without feeling any pressure. It's a great way to run an easy ice breaker game for the first day of your new team.
We got you covered and written step by step directions for you to follow for your next bingo game!
If you know your employees reasonably well, make a list of 25 interesting things that you know describes different aspects of them.
For example “lived in Sweden”, “Can speak two or more languages”, “plays the guitar” or “has a red porsche” (alright for some, hey!).
If you don’t know your employees at all, make a list of 25 general ice breaker questions. For instance, “has brown hair” or “works for the HR team”.
You can make your questions easy or difficult, depending on how long you want the game to last.
It is very easy to make your own people bingo cards.
You can either use a regular printer, or there are many places online where you can create customised people human bingo cards; which you can find further down the post.
We recommend playing this team building activity with no more than 30 people. If in larger groups larger, divide your employees into small teams of equal sizes.
Give each participant a bingo card, either homemade or found on the internet, and a pen
Explain that the group has 30 minutes to mingle with each other. During this time, they should be introducing themselves to one and other and finding people who match the traits on the bingo card.
Once they have found the person with the correct trait, they must put the person’s name in the corresponding box, or have the person sign the appropriate square
Just like a normal game of bingo, the clock continues to tick until the first person to fill five boxes across or down yells “Bingo”.
If you want the game to go on for a little longer, you could have multiple opportunities to win. For example, the first person to get a full horizontal line of words, the first to get a vertical line and then the first to get a full house.
To involve employees even more in the game, perhaps ask them at the beginning what they think a completed game should be.
To make the game more exciting and motivating, have a prize (or prizes, if playing the longer game) ready to give the winners.
In our opinion, a bottle of nice wine will do but you could always offer gift vouchers.
One way to reflect at the end is to ask participants to introduce themselves and share an interesting trait they learned about someone else.
You can also get your employees or school students to describe how they feel now that they know their peers a little bit better.
For a sample printable bingo card, you can download and modify this People-Bingo printable template.
You don't even need to put in an email address to download it, and their privacy policy says you can edit it as much as you like.
Alternatively, you can take QuizBreaker for a spin which is arguably even more fun than ice breaker bingo!
It is super easy, all you need to do is invite your friends or colleagues to play and be sure to have your bingo board and pen ready.
We got you covered! Check-out our favorite icebreaker questions.
Bingo is traced back to 1530 and started off as an Italian lottery called 'Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia' and still played every Saturday in Italy. In the United States Bingo was called 'beano'.
Absolutley! You will need to start a video chat using your preffered video confercing platform. Make sure everyone in you team has a bingo card and a pen. From there it is just like playing a normal bingo game in person.
So there you have it!
Ice breaker bingo is a great option for a birthday party game or as part of some bridal shower games. We've even heard from some teachers who use it in special education & english language arts to produce interesting facts during free space in the day.
That's our tutorial on how to play the ice breaker bingo game with your group.
Looking for more activity ideas?
Check out our list of 32 awesome icebreaker games or 49 fun team building activities.
Play Bingo on Zoom with your friends or family members online to help pass the boredom and isolation that comes with lockdown and staying at home.
Thanks to the continuation of lockdown and its desired end not being in sight, video apps such as Zoom and Houseparty remain massively popular with people using them to stay in contact with loved ones and mates online while staying at home. While some of these apps include games, Zoom doesn’t but you can still participate in activities such as Bingo with friends by being a bit creative.
There are plenty of games you can play while on Zoom, Houseparty or other video apps such as Heads Up, Pictionary, and – the best at guaranteeing guilty laughs – Cards Against Humanity. However, for elders or those who wish to continue acting as if they’re in a retirement home, Bingo is another of these good games.
Granted, it’s not the most thrilling, but if you wish to play something with friends that isn’t massively taxing then it’s surely for you.
ZOOM: How to turn yourself into a potato
You can play Bingo remotely with friends on Zoom by scheduling a meeting.
Once the Zoom meeting time and date is scheduled, share the unique ID with your friends to play Bingo with them during that specified period.
If you’re not the one who is hosting the session, all you need to do is join the meeting by entering the unique ID.
Provided you have the video app downloaded and have the session set up for a later date, you can then begin creating your own Bingo cards.
It’s entirely up to you how you play and how many people participate, but the Independent has shared the idea of making it a movie night in which you all watch the same film simultaneously.
Instead of numbers, your created Bingo cards would have phrases and words most likely to appear, and you all mark them as they occur until a winner is eventually dubbed.
Remember that there are plenty of other games you can play on Zoom and other video apps to stay in contact with people remotely, but Bingo is a good and relaxing get-together for when you want a calm activity as opposed to a frantic one.
HOUSEPARTY: How to use it on laptop and PC
You can also make the session more exciting by creating a reward for the winner and/or punishments for the loser(s). But it’s up to you to be safe, responsible, and not stupid when it comes to any hypothetical rewards and consequences.
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