Birthday party bingo cards

Birthday bingo at a kids' party or a 30th, 40th or 50th

The page opens with the kids' party list loaded, on 4x4 cards, 20 of them, 4 to a page: five sheets of paper for a party of up to 20 children. Use Start from above the word box to switch to the grown-up list, then edit freely: cut the games you are not playing, add the birthday child's favourite animal, the name of the cake shop, the street where the party is. Your edited list is kept in this browser for next time.

Put the birthday name in the free space

Choose 5x5 (or 3x3) and tick Free space, and a Free space text box appears next to it. Type the name and the age, for example Maya is 6! or Sam's 40th, and it prints in the centre square of every card instead of FREE. It holds up to 24 characters; if you type more, the page tells you what will be cut. Leave it empty and the square says FREE as usual. A 4x4 card has no centre square, so the box appears only on 3x3 or 5x5 cards with the free space ticked: 5x5 suits children from about six and adults, 3x3 the youngest players.

At a kids' party (ages 4 to 8)

Play it at the table while the cake is cut, or as the calm game between running-around games. Print the caller sheet and read one item every 15 to 20 seconds; children cover each square with a sticker, a raisin or a scrap of paper. In 2,000 simulated games with the 58-item kids' list on 4x4 cards, the first line (row, column or diagonal) came after a median of 19 calls with 10 children and 16 calls with 20, so a round takes about five or six minutes. Many items on the list happen at the party anyway ("A balloon pops", "Frosting on a nose", "Doorbell rings"), so older children can also keep a card all afternoon and mark what they see, with no caller at all.

At a 30th, 40th or milestone party

The grown-up list is party moments and memory lane: the baby photo on display, the story about a first job, the song from the year they were born, the best friend's speech. Nothing on it makes fun of getting older. Put a card and a pen at each place setting or by the drinks, and guests mark squares as things happen through the evening; the first full line wins a small prize, and a full card by the time the cake comes out wins the evening. Choose 5x5 with the name in the free space for this game, 2 per page so the longer squares stay readable. If you would rather call it, with 12 guests on 5x5 cards the first line came after a median of 20 calls in 2,000 simulated games, and after 16 calls with 30 guests. Delete anything that does not fit your guest list (no "Photo with the parents" if they are not coming) and add the in-jokes only your friends will get.

Picture bingo for pre-readers

For three- to five-year-olds, choose Pictures for pre-readers at the top of the form. The box fills with 37 birthday pictures (cake, cupcake, candle, balloon, present, party hat, party blower, bunting, confetti, crown, ice cream, teddy bear, bike, rocket and more), the cards switch to 3x3, and every square becomes a black line drawing with its word underneath. Untick Show the word under each picture for bigger pictures with no words. In 2,000 simulated games with all 37 pictures on 3x3 cards, the first line came after a median of 10 calls with 8 children and 8 calls with 15, and a full card after about 30. Go through the picture caller sheet once with the children before you play, because some drawings need a name the first time: the party blower is the paper whistle that unrolls, bunting is the string of little flags, paints is the palette, jigsaw is a puzzle piece and birthday card is an envelope. The drawings print black on white, so a finished card can go home in the party bag as a colouring sheet. Download PDF puts the drawings in the file too.

Prizes that are not money

Keep them small, because a few rounds produce several winners: first pick from the party bags, blowing out a candle relit for one more photo, choosing the next song for musical statues, an extra sticker, or for grown-ups, the first slice of cake and the job of choosing the next playlist.

Printing 2 or 4 per page

4 per page suits 4x4 and 3x3 cards with the short kids' items or pictures: each card is a quarter of a Letter or A4 sheet, small enough for a party table. Choose 2 per page for the grown-up list on 5x5 cards, so squares such as "Letter to their future self" stay readable. Press Print cards, set margins to Default and scale to 100%, or Download PDF to print from a phone or at a print shop. Print two or three spare cards for siblings and late arrivals.