Roomful Games › Bingo › Christmas Classics
Christmas Bingo
Christmas Classics is a free bingo game of 48 holiday favorites: Santa and his reindeer, tree trimmings, old carols and Christmas treats. Print a different card for everyone at the table, then call the squares and share a fun fact with each one.
How to play
With printed cards
- Print as many cards as you need (up to 30) and the caller sheet. Every card is different.
- The caller reads the squares from the caller sheet, one at a time, and ticks each one. Read the fun fact too, if you like.
- Players mark a square when it is called. Coins, cereal, buttons or a crayon all work. The star in the middle is free.
- The first player to fill a whole row, column or diagonal shouts "Bingo!" The caller checks that line against the ticks on the caller sheet.
Ways to win
- Any line: a full row, column or diagonal. Quick games of about ten minutes.
- Four corners: the four corner squares.
- Blackout: every square on the card. Longer games, good for a big group.
With a TV and phones
- Open this set on a TV or laptop and pick how to win and how fast to call.
- Players go to roomfulbingo.com/join on their phones (or scan the QR code) and type the four-letter room code. Each phone gets its own card.
- The TV calls each square with its fun fact (it can read them aloud, too). Players tap a square to mark it.
- When a card has a winning line, its BINGO button lights up. The game checks it against the calls and shows the winner on the TV.
Printed cards and phones can play together: when someone shouts "Bingo!" on paper, the host types the card number and the TV checks it. It works the same way as Roomful Trivia: no app and no accounts.
All 48 squares, with fun facts
- Santa ClausThe name Santa Claus comes from Sinterklaas, the Dutch name for Saint Nicholas.
- Mrs. ClausKatharine Lee Bates, who wrote America the Beautiful, also wrote an 1889 poem starring Mrs. Claus.
- Saint NicholasSaint Nicholas's feast day is December 6, when children in many countries find small gifts.
- ElfIn Santa stories, elves are his helpers who make toys in his workshop at the North Pole.
- ReindeerReindeer are the only deer where both males and females usually grow antlers.
- SleighIn the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, eight tiny reindeer pull the sleigh.
- North PoleThere is no land at the North Pole: it sits on sea ice floating on the Arctic Ocean.
- Letter to SantaCanada's mail service gives Santa his own postal code: H0H 0H0.
- ChimneyIn the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, St. Nick comes down the chimney with a bound.
- StockingDutch children set out shoes for Sinterklaas, often with a carrot for his horse.
- Christmas TreeA drawing of Queen Victoria's family around a tree, printed in 1848, helped make Christmas trees popular in Britain.
- StarA star on top of the tree recalls the star that, in the Gospel of Matthew, led the wise men to Jesus.
- OrnamentGlass tree ornaments were first made in Lauscha, a glassmaking town in Germany.
- TinselThe first tinsel, made in Germany, was cut from real silver.
- Twinkle LightsEdward Johnson, a partner of Thomas Edison, lit the first electric Christmas tree lights in 1882.
- CandleBefore electric lights, families clipped small candles onto the branches of their trees.
- WreathWreaths are made of evergreens, which stay green all winter, so they stand for life in the cold months.
- HollyOnly female holly plants grow the bright red berries.
- PoinsettiaPoinsettias come from Mexico, and their red 'petals' are really leaves called bracts.
- Candy CaneSome people say the candy cane's hook was added so the sticks could hang on a Christmas tree.
- PresentIn Italy, an old woman called La Befana brings gifts on the night of January 5.
- Christmas CardThe first Christmas cards for sale were printed in London in 1843.
- SnowmanSnow packs best for a snowman when it is close to freezing and a little wet.
- SnowflakeAlmost every snowflake has six sides or six arms.
- NutcrackerTchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker was first performed in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1892.
- Toy TrainMany early toy trains were wind-up toys, driven by a spring like a clock.
- Teddy BearThe teddy bear is named after President Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt.
- AngelIn the Gospel of Luke, an angel brings shepherds the news of Jesus' birth.
- Nativity SceneSaint Francis of Assisi set up a famous nativity scene with live animals in Greccio, Italy, in 1223.
- Three KingsIn Spain, children get gifts from the Three Kings on January 6.
- Advent CalendarAdvent calendars count down the days to Christmas, usually starting on December 1.
- Christmas EveIn Germany and Poland, the big family celebration and the presents come on Christmas Eve.
- Milk and CookiesChildren in many countries leave a snack for Santa, and often a carrot for the reindeer.
- Gingerbread ManQueen Elizabeth I of England is said to have had gingerbread figures made to look like her guests.
- Gingerbread HouseDecorated gingerbread houses began in Germany in the early 1800s and grew popular after Hansel and Gretel was published.
- Hot CocoaPeople drank chocolate for well over a thousand years before the first solid chocolate bar was made in 1847.
- Sugar PlumsSugar plums aren't plums at all: they are seeds or nuts coated in layers of hard sugar.
- Roasted ChestnutsIn Vienna, street stands roast chestnuts and sell them hot through the winter holiday season.
- CranberriesCranberries grow in beds called bogs, and many growers flood the bog at harvest so the ripe berries float.
- Roast TurkeyWild turkeys are native to North America.
- Mince PieMince pies once had meat inside; most today are filled with dried fruit and spices.
- Yule Log CakeThe bûche de Noël is a French Christmas cake rolled and frosted to look like a log.
- Popcorn GarlandAmerican families once trimmed their trees with strings of popcorn and cranberries.
- Jingle BellsIn 1965, astronauts on Gemini 6A played Jingle Bells in space on a harmonica and small bells.
- Silent NightSilent Night was first written in German, as Stille Nacht, and has been sung in hundreds of languages.
- Deck the HallsDeck the Halls is sung to an old Welsh tune called Nos Galan.
- Joy to the WorldIsaac Watts wrote the words of Joy to the World, published in 1719.
- 12 Days of ChristmasThe twelve days of Christmas run from December 25 to January 5.
Print the cards
Cards print two to a US Letter page, each with its own card number in the corner, plus a one-page caller sheet that lists the squares in a random calling order. Everything is made in your browser: nothing to sign up for, nothing sent anywhere.