Printable Halloween bingo cards

Halloween bingo for a classroom party or a costume party

The page opens with the kids' party list loaded. Use Start from above the word box to switch to the costume party list, then edit freely: delete anything your group will find too scary, add the class pet, the teacher's costume or the street you trick-or-treat on. Your edited list is kept in this browser for next time.

Which list, which size

The kids' party list has 62 short words a five- to nine-year-old can read or sound out: pumpkin, bat, cauldron, glow stick, friendly monster. Nothing on it is gory; the spookiest squares are a skeleton, a mummy and a vampire, so you can use it in a school hall. For four- and five-year-olds choose 3x3 (nine squares): a game is short and every child gets close to a line. Six- to nine-year-olds manage 4x4, which is the default. The costume party list has 63 things that happen at a grown-up Halloween party, from "Someone wins best costume" and "Fog machine on" to "Mummy wrap unravels" and "Price tag still on". Use it on 5x5 with a free space so the card lasts the evening.

In 2,000 simulated games per setting with the kids' list, the first line came after a median of 13 calls on 3x3 cards with 12 players, 19 calls on 4x4 and 21 calls on 5x5 with a free space. With 25 players (a full class) those drop to 11, 16 and 18. At one call every 20 seconds, a 4x4 class game takes about six minutes, so plan three or four rounds.

Running it at a classroom party

Print the caller sheet and let a parent helper or the teacher call. Hold up a real object when you can (a plastic spider, a flashlight, a mask): pre-readers then match the picture in their head to the word on the card, and readers get a hint. Hand out wrapped sweets or candy corn as markers, but tell children up front that markers are eaten only after the round ends, or the card is empty by the third call. Paper squares, dried beans or cereal work too if your school has food rules or allergies to think about. Play one line first, then four corners, then a full card for the last round before home time.

Running it at a costume party

With the costume party list you do not need a caller at all. Give each guest a card and a pen on arrival; they cross off squares as things happen, and the first to complete a line shows their card to the host, who checks it against what actually happened. It works best at parties of 10 to 40 guests over two or three hours. A called version also works during a lull: read the caller sheet aloud and play to a full card for the end of the night, right before the best-costume vote.

Prizes that are not money

For kids: first pick from the candy bowl, a glow stick, a sticker sheet, choosing the next game or being the caller. For adults: first pick of the leftover candy, a carved pumpkin to take home, choosing the next song, or a ballot to vote twice in the costume contest.

Printing 2 or 4 per page

Choose 4 per page for 3x3 and 4x4 kids' cards: the words are short and a class of 28 needs just 7 sheets. Choose 2 per page for the costume party list or any 5x5 card so longer squares such as "Stays in character all night" stay readable. Press Print cards, set margins to Default and scale to 100%, or press Download PDF to get one file you can send to a print shop or print from a phone. Cards print on white paper with an orange and purple header that also reads fine in greyscale. Print a few spare cards for guests who arrive late.