Reading challenge bingo

How to run a reading challenge with bingo cards

The page opens with the young readers list loaded. Use Start from above the task box to switch to the grown-up list, then cut tasks that do not suit your readers and add your own: a book from this term's topic, a book from the class library's new shelf, a book in the language your school teaches. Your edited list is kept in this browser for next time. Nothing is called out loud in this game, so there is no caller sheet; each reader works through their own card at their own pace.

Running it over a month

Hand out the cards on the first day of the month and collect them on the last. A 5x5 card has 24 tasks around the free space in the middle. Five in a row (four plus the free space through the centre) is a fair goal for a month, about one book a week; the whole card, 24 books, is a stretch goal for keen readers or a challenge that runs all term. Check in once a week: in class, give five minutes on a Friday for children to show a square they filled and say one sentence about the book; in a library, ask readers to bring their card to the desk, where staff initial each new square and can suggest a book for an empty one.

Every card has the same tasks in a different order, so two pupils sitting together are chasing different lines and will want to swap recommendations rather than copy each other. If you want everyone to aim for the same squares, say so: "the four corners and the middle this month" works on any card.

What counts as done

Agree the rules before the cards go out, and print them on the board or the library notice. The ones that keep a challenge fair and friendly are simple. A square is done when the reader has finished the book and written its title on the line in that square. One book fills one square, even if it would fit three. Being read to counts for children who are still learning to read, and so does reading to someone else; listening to an audiobook counts for the grown-up list. A long book can count once the reader has read an agreed number of pages, so a slow reader with a thick book is not left behind. Rereading counts only for the square that asks for it. For a bingo, the reader shows the card and tells you one thing about each book in the line; nobody is quizzed.

A named card for every pupil

Set Cards to the size of your class and paste the class list into Names on cards under the card count, one name per line. Each pupil then gets their own named card, which makes it easy to collect them, pin them up as a display and hand back the right one. The default is 30 cards. For a library, leave the names empty and print a stack for the desk; readers write their own name at the top.

Which list, which size

The young readers list is written for roughly ages five to eleven, and includes tasks a child can finish before they read fluently, like "A wordless picture book" or "Draw a scene from a book", so a whole class can take part. For children who are still learning their first words, sight word bingo is the better game. The grown-up list is for a staff room, a book club or an adult library challenge. For a shorter challenge, a two-week holiday or a younger class, choose 3x3 (nine tasks, eight with the free space) or 4x4 (sixteen tasks, no centre square).

Printing

Press Download PDF for a file with a write-in line under every task, or Print cards to print straight from the browser (set scale to 100% and margins to Default). One card per page fills a sheet of Letter or A4, which leaves room in each square for a title in a child's handwriting; at 2 or 4 per page the line is too short for anything but initials. Long titles will not fit on the line, so tell readers the first few words are enough. Print on card stock if the card has to survive a month in a school bag.