Break out a game of bingo and get your holly jolly back. You can use the free online trial of Bingo Card Creator to create a set of Christmas bingo cards. Or, if you are really in a hurry, download 32 free Christmast bingo cards to print and start playing. Even better, let your little elves do the printing and cutting.

If your mood is an especially deep shade of winter blue, you might need add a little kick to your bingo punch. If your students are already pros at bingo, you might to need to try some variations to keep things fresh. Here are a few suggestions to make the bingo games more interesting.

• Have the winner be the caller for the next game. Kids always love a chance to do something special. Letting the winner be the caller is a great reward and it helps reduce the odds of one person winning multiple times.
• Give an extra prize if the winner has Bingo more than one way.  This is a great strategy teaching tool. The kids will have to decide if they should yell “Bingo” as soon as they have a row, column, etc. or if they should wait and try to get bingo another way and win a better prize. See 12 Ways Of Bingo for variations on winning patterns.
• Allow multiple winners per round. This is a great idea especially if your students are younger and still learning to read. You might allow 1 to 5 winners, for example, per game. This helps keep interest up and improves everyone’s chances of winning a prize. It also helps level the playing field for kids who do not read as fast or have trouble finding the words on the card.