Printable Thanksgiving bingo cards

Thanksgiving bingo at the table, between courses

The page opens with the dinner-table list loaded. Use Start from above the word box to switch to the kids list, then edit freely: cut dishes you are not serving, add the cousin who always brings a new partner, the name of the dog. Your edited list is kept in this browser for next time.

Which list, which size

The dinner-table list has 62 squares, mostly things that happen without anyone calling them: "Smoke alarm beeps", "Baby photos come out", "Save room for pie", "Seat swap mid-meal". Put a card and a pencil at each place setting; people mark squares as they happen, and nobody needs to stand up and call. The kids list has 60 short words a four- to seven-year-old can read or recognise: pumpkin, acorn, hay bale, drumstick, grandma. Read them aloud for children who cannot read yet, and point at the real thing on the table when you can.

Cards start at 4x4 (16 squares, no free space, because a 4x4 card has no centre square). That is the sweet spot for a mixed table: small enough for a five-year-old, long enough for adults. Choose 5x5 with a free space for older kids and grown-ups who want a longer game, or 3x3 for preschoolers. In 2,000 simulated games with the 60-word kids list and 4x4 cards, the first line came after a median of 21 calls with 6 players and 18 calls with 12; 5x5 cards with a free space took about two calls longer.

Playing between courses

A called game fits the gap between the main course and pie, usually 15 to 20 minutes, while plates are cleared and the oven heats up again. Print the caller sheet, give it to whoever is least busy (often a grandparent or a teenager), and call one item every 20 to 30 seconds. Play one line before dessert is served and a full card while it is eaten. With the dinner-table list you can skip calling altogether and let the meal itself be the caller: the first person to complete a line by the time coffee arrives wins.

The gratitude variant

This version turns each call into a short moment of thanks. When the caller reads an item, they add a prompt that starts with "thankful for": "Pumpkin. Who is thankful for something that grew this year?" or "Grandma. Name one thing you are thankful your grandma taught you." Anyone who marks that square answers the prompt in one sentence before marking it. It slows the game to roughly one call a minute, so use 3x3 cards or a list cut to about 30 items, and it works best with eight or fewer players so everyone gets heard. Shy children can answer with a drawing on the back of their card instead.

Prizes that are not money

There will be several winners across a few rounds, so keep prizes small: first slice of pie, choosing the next card game, a pass on drying dishes, taking home the last dinner roll, the wishbone pull, or being the next caller.

Printing 2 or 4 per page

Choose 4 per page for 4x4 kids cards: the words are short and four cards on one sheet of Letter paper saves paper for a big family. Choose 2 per page for the dinner-table list or any 5x5 card, so longer squares such as "Turkey still frozen at 8 am" stay readable at about 118 mm wide. Press Print cards, set margins to Default and scale to 100%, and choose "Save as PDF" if you want to print at someone else's house. Cards print on white paper with a rust and gold header that also reads fine in greyscale. Print two or three spare cards for guests who arrive late.