How to Organise Baby-Shower Bingo
A practical way to run gift bingo or word bingo at a baby shower, including how many cards to print and how to check a winner.
Updated
Baby-shower bingo works because the room already has something to watch. Presents are being opened, or someone is reading out a short list of words. The cards give guests a reason to pay attention without asking anyone to perform.
Pick one version
Gift bingo is marked as presents are opened. The squares name kinds of gifts, such as a blanket or a board book, not brands. Word bingo is marked when the host calls a word. Custom bingo uses only the words you type. Do not mix the three in one set and then tell guests it is a single game. They will not know which list is in force.
If you are not sure the group will call out, gift bingo is the calmer choice. The presents do the calling.
Decide the grid before you print
A 3×3 card with a free centre is quick, and it suits a short present-opening. A 4×4 card has no free square, so it lasts longer. A 5×5 card needs a longer list and more time. Print one card per guest, plus two spare cards for a smudged copy or a late arrival.
Check that every card in the pack is different before you leave the house. A set that repeats a card makes two winners at once, and one of them will notice.
How to run it
Give each guest a card and a pen as they sit down. Explain the line: across, down, or diagonal. For a 3×3 or 5×5 card, the centre is already marked Free. A 4×4 card has no free square.
For gift bingo, hold each present up long enough for the room to see it, say what it is in plain words, and let people mark a matching square. If a gift matches nothing, say so and move on. Do not stretch a square to fit.
For word bingo, read one word from the caller sheet, pause, and tick it. Call only the words on that sheet. When someone calls bingo, read their marked squares back against the ticks or against the opened presents. If a square is wrong, the game continues.
A small prize is enough. The game is there to keep the room in the same moment, not to create a contest.
Printing
Print at 100 percent, on A4 or US Letter, whichever matches the file. If more than one card is on the page, cut along the guides rather than guessing a border. An ink-friendly file is the same game in grey, for a home printer that should not use a full colour page.
