Make free Christmas bingo cards below: up to 60 different cards, each with 24 Christmas pictures or words and a free square in the middle. Print them one or two to a page, or send a link so guests play on their phones. Then run the caller, which draws squares at random and keeps the list.
Updated by the Frugal Santa elves
Three steps: make the cards, print them or send the phone link, then call the game. Every card in a set is different, and the caller keeps the list so you can check a winner.
Sample card · frugalsanta.lol/christmas-bingo
The card maker needs JavaScript. Above is one sample card, and every square is listed in the call list below, so you can still print it, cut the squares apart and call from a hat.
Called so far (called squares are highlighted)
No printer? Send this link. Everyone who opens it gets their own random card on their phone, tablet or laptop, and taps a square to mark it. The card stays put if they reload.
The host keeps this page on step 2 and calls the squares. When a phone card gets a line, it stamps “Bingo!” so the player can shout it.
This is your bingo card. Tap a square when the caller says it. When you finish a line, the card stamps “Bingo!” so you can shout it.
Each player gets a card with 24 Christmas pictures or words in a five-by-five grid, plus a free square in the middle that counts as already covered. The caller draws one square at a time and reads it out. If it’s on your card, cover it with a marker: a button, a chocolate chip, a mini marshmallow or a dab of pen. The first player to cover a full line, across, down or corner to corner, shouts “Bingo!” The caller checks that card against the called list, and if it matches, that player wins the round. Then clear the cards and play for a new pattern, like four corners or the full card. The tool above does the paperwork: it makes up to 60 cards that are all different, prints one or two to a page, and runs a caller that draws at random and keeps the list. Before you start, agree on what happens when two players call bingo on the same square.
It depends on the number of players and the pattern, so the elves ran 20,000 practice games on a computer with the exact cards from this page. With the 36 picture squares and 10 players, someone gets one line after about 13 calls on average, and with 20 players after about 12. The 48-word cards run longer: about 17 calls for 10 players. Four corners takes about 19 calls with pictures and 10 players, an X about 27, and a full card about 34, which is nearly the whole deck. If the caller reads one square every 15 seconds, a one-line round with picture cards lasts about three minutes, so a party can fit several rounds and a snack break into half an hour. Ties do happen. With 20 players on picture cards, two people had a line on the same call in about 17 of every 100 games, so keep a tie-breaker ready, such as a coin toss or a spare prize.
| Playing for | Pictures, 10 players | Pictures, 20 players | Words, 10 players |
|---|---|---|---|
| One line | 13 calls | 12 calls | 17 calls |
| Four corners | 19 calls | 17 calls | 25 calls |
| X | 27 calls | 25 calls | 35 calls |
| Full card | 34 calls | 33 calls | 45 calls |
Small and wrapped is the rule for bingo prizes, because a party plays many rounds and every winner should get something to open. Good small prizes: a candy cane, a packet of hot cocoa, a pair of fuzzy socks, a mini ornament, a holiday pencil, a sheet of stickers, a bag of popcorn, or the first cookie from the plate. Free prizes work just as well: choosing the next Christmas movie, skipping one chore, picking the music, or being the caller for the next round. For grown-ups, wrap a few white elephant leftovers and let each winner choose one. Save the best prize for the full-card round, since it takes the longest to win. Here is one more idea for the last game: the winner gets the first turn on a live video call with Santa to tell him their wishes. Keep a few spare prizes for ties, and quietly make sure the youngest players win at least once.
Talk to Santa on a live video call, or read how a call with Santa works. After the call, each wish comes back as a list with real store prices, lowest first. Calls cost $1 a minute.
Send each player the phone link from the tool above before the call. When they open it, their phone or laptop deals them a fresh card, and they tap a square to mark it, so nobody needs a printer. On the call, the host opens step 2, Call the game, and either shares their screen or reads each draw out loud, keeping the called list in view so a winner can be checked at once. When a player completes a line, their card stamps “Bingo!” in red; they unmute, shout, and read their line back to the host. Use the picture cards for kids, because a picture is easier to spot than a word, and the word cards for grown-ups who want a longer game. Name the pattern before each round and say it twice. Prizes that need no mail work best online: the winner picks the next game, chooses a song, or gets a turn to tell everyone their own Christmas wish.
More games for the same call: Christmas charades with a phone deck and Christmas trivia questions. For an in-person party, try the right left Christmas game, or see every game in the Christmas games hub.
Picture cards use these 36 squares. Word cards use the same 36 as words plus the 12 at the end, for 48 in all. Without the caller, print this list, cut the squares apart along the dashed lines and draw them from a stocking.
Twenty-five in a five-by-five grid: 24 pictures or words and one free square in the middle. The free square counts as covered from the start, so every line through the middle needs only four calls.
Yes. Each set gets a fresh shuffle for every card, and the maker checks that no two cards in the set are the same. Picture cards draw 24 of 36 squares and word cards 24 of 48.
One per player, plus a few spares. Kids who are quick markers can play two cards at once. The maker makes up to 60 cards in one set.
Picture cards. Kids who can’t read yet only need to spot a snowman or a candy cane, and each picture has its name underneath for kids who are learning.
From lotto, played in Italy by about 1530. The American game took off after a toy seller, Edwin S. Lowe, saw a carnival game called beano in Georgia in 1929, where players covered numbers with dried beans. He sold it as bingo.
Yes. The card maker, the caller, the phone cards and the printing are free, with no sign-up, and nothing is sent anywhere. Only a live video call with Santa costs money, at $1 a minute.
Live videoGive the full-card winner the first turn on a live video call with Santa. Kids and grown-ups tell him their wishes, then see each one priced across stores, lowest first. $1 a minute.
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