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I’m a member of an online group that exchanges ideas about activities in nursing homes and other care facilities. Recently there was a heated discussion about the pros and cons of bingo.
Some folks believe the game offers important benefits for residents. For example, it encourages socialization, helps maintain cognition, and promotes eye-hand coordination. Plus, it’s just plain fun!
Many people, on the other hand, feel that bingo is a mindless, meaningless activity and there are many better options available. Some even believe we should ban it from nursing homes.
Regardless of your feelings about the game, I think we can all agree that playing traditional bingo too often becomes monotonous. Today let’s look at several ways we can spice up the game and make it more fun.
(You’ll need to create bingo cards for some of these games. YouTube has lots of tutorials showing how to do this. Creating cards could be a good activity project for residents or volunteers to do before your bingo game.)
Music Bingo
Instead of numbers, use the names of popular old-time songs on your bingo cards. Ask someone to play a couple of lines of a song on the piano, then residents cover or cross out the correct song title on their card.
You can use a variety of songs or you can relate the songs to a particular holiday such as Christmas. It’s also fun for everyone to sing a song together after someone gets a bingo.
As with traditional bingo, whoever gets the bingo pattern you’ve specified in advance (diagonal line, etc.) is a winner.
Famous People Bingo
Put names or pictures of famous people in place of the numbers on your bingo cards. The bingo caller reads a bit of trivia about a famous person, then residents guess who it is and mark the person on their card.
There are other variations of this game, too. Instead of people, you can use pictures of popular places, foods, animals, or TV characters.
New Bingo Patterns
Do you use the same winning bingo patterns repeatedly? At one point, I realized we’ve been using the same diagonal line, four corners, horizontal line, vertical line, and postage stamp for almost 30 years!
Change it up a bit by introducing a new pattern at each game. The Nationwide Bingo website offers lots of different options.
Themed Bingo
This is fun to do as one of several activities to celebrate a special occasion. You simply replace the BINGO at the top of each bingo card with another word. (Create your own cards or simply cover the BINGO with taped construction paper.) Then use something unusual for bingo markers. Here are a few examples:
Valentine’s Day: Use the word “heart” with wrapped chocolate kisses as markers.
National Hot Chocolate Day: Use the word “candy” with marshmallows as markers.
St Patrick’s Day: Use the word “lucky” with green M&Ms as markers.
National Root Beer Float Day: Use the word “float” with soda bottle caps as markers.
“Have You Ever” Bingo
Think up a variety of experiences a person could have during their lifetime, then write them in place of the numbers on bingo cards. Call out each experience in the form of a question, and if a resident has ever done it, they can mark it on their card. The possibilities are endless; here are a few ideas.
Have you ever:
- Traveled to Germany
- Been in a parade
- Built a snow fort
- Kissed the Blarney Stone
- Driven a tractor
- Gone water skiing
Community Bingo
Invite people from your community to come in and join your residents for bingo. You could use this as a fundraiser or just for fun.
Our residents especially enjoy it when teenagers come in and help with bingo. Options include a church youth group, scouts, or the children of employees.
One nursing home in our community invites a different local business to help with bingo once a month. The residents enjoy the opportunity to learn a bit about the business, and it’s a good way to introduce the nursing home to people in the community.
Depending on the location of your facilities, you can also rotate bingo games with another nearby nursing home. This is an opportunity for residents to get away for a while, and they’ll enjoy meeting new people.
I would love to hear your opinion on playing bingo in the nursing home. Also, if you do other variations of traditional bingo, please share them in the comment section.
Julie Wall says
A friend of mine lost his grandmother. She had a large collection of cat statues and knickknacks, etc. Do you accept these kinds of items for Bingo prizes or Christmas gifts?
Diane says
Hello Julie,
Absolutely! That’s a very kind gesture and I’m sure our residents would love these gifts. Where are you located?
Tina says
Its nice but rooms get so crowded…..
Diane says
Hello Tina,
Bingo must be very popular in your senior living community if the rooms get so crowded. I would love to know more, such as how often you host bingo each week, what types of bingo you play, and what you offer for prizes. Thanks!
Diane says
Cub Scout Ideas:
I love your article! Thank you so much for sharing. I’m thinking there are lots of activities scouts could do at senior living communities. These activities will help scouts earn badges, and you’ll greatly enrich the lives of the residents.