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Thanksgiving Bingo
Thanksgiving Together is a free bingo game of 48 squares about the holiday: the dishes on the table, parades and football, fall colors and harvest fun, the history of the 1621 harvest, and saying thank you. Print a different card for everyone at the table, or play on the TV while dinner cooks.
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
- TurkeyWild turkeys are strong fliers over short distances, at up to 55 mph (89 km/h), and they sleep up in trees at night.
- Pumpkin PieA 1796 American cookbook by Amelia Simmons had two recipes for "pompkin" pudding baked in a pie crust.
- Cranberry SauceWisconsin grows more cranberries than any other state, and the cranberry is its official state fruit.
- Mashed PotatoesPotatoes first came from South America and were not yet well known in North America at the time of the 1621 harvest.
- GravyThe word gravy is over 600 years old in English and may come from a misreading of an old French word, grané.
- StuffingStuffing changes by region, with cornbread in the South, oysters in New Orleans and wild rice instead of bread in Minnesota.
- Sweet PotatoesNorth Carolina has grown more sweet potatoes than any other state every year since 1971.
- Green Bean CasseroleGreen beans are also called snap beans, named for the snapping sound you hear when you break off the end of the pod.
- Corn on the CobAn ear of corn almost always has an even number of rows of kernels, such as 14, 16 or 18.
- Dinner RollsThe yeast in roll dough is a tiny living fungus that eats sugar and burps out carbon dioxide gas, which makes the dough rise.
- Pecan PiePecan trees are native to North America and Mexico, and American Indians and fur traders helped carry pecans east.
- SquashSquash seeds found in a cave in Oaxaca, Mexico, show that people were growing squash some 10,000 years ago.
- LeftoversLeftovers should go in the fridge within two hours, and leftover turkey should be eaten within three to four days.
- WishboneA bird's wishbone, called the furcula, helps many birds fly, and some dinosaurs had one too.
- CornucopiaWisconsin's state flag shows a cornucopia, which stands for prosperity and abundance.
- Table CenterpieceLeave the stems on pumpkins and gourds in a centerpiece, since a stem works like a cork and helps them last longer.
- Pilgrim CostumePilgrim women usually wore colors like red, green, blue and violet, and buckles came into fashion only later.
- Setting the TableWhen setting the table, the fork goes on the left of the plate and the knife goes on the right with its blade facing in.
- Family GatheringIn 1972, President Nixon proclaimed a National Family Week that lined up with the Thanksgiving holiday that year.
- Parade BalloonsStarting in 1928, giant parade balloons were let go into the sky after the parade, and finders who mailed one back got a gift.
- Marching BandThe sousaphone, a big tuba that wraps around the player and rests on a shoulder, is named after bandleader John Philip Sousa.
- Football GameMany New England high schools play their big rivalry game, often called the Turkey Bowl, on Thanksgiving.
- Turkey TrotBuffalo, New York, has run its Turkey Trot without a break since 1896, when six runners raced along dirt roads.
- Turkey PardonA few presidents pardoned turkeys now and then, but it became a yearly White House tradition under George H.W. Bush.
- Hand TurkeyA real wild turkey has about 5,500 feathers, and 18 of them make up the male's big tail fan.
- Thankful TreeIn a study, middle schoolers who listed things they were thankful for each school day felt more optimistic and happier at school.
- Thank-You NoteResearchers found that people often underestimate how happy a thank-you letter makes the person who receives it.
- Giving ThanksWampanoag people hold daily thanksgivings and give thanks for seasonal harvests like strawberries and cranberries.
- Food DriveThe food bank idea began in Phoenix in 1967, as a place where people could deposit extra food and others in need could withdraw it.
- VolunteeringIn 2023, about 75.7 million Americans ages 16 and up volunteered, giving around 5 billion hours of help.
- Road TripA federal travel survey found that 9 out of 10 Thanksgiving travelers going long distances use a car or other personal vehicle.
- Holiday CalendarThis holiday can come as early as November 22 or as late as November 28.
- After-Dinner NapTurkey often gets blamed for sleepy feelings, but cheddar cheese has more tryptophan than turkey does, gram for gram.
- Autumn LeavesLeaves already hold yellow and orange colors, and in fall those colors show through as the green chlorophyll fades.
- PumpkinPumpkins are native to the Americas and are one of the oldest crops in the Western Hemisphere.
- AcornSquirrels bury acorns one at a time, and some of the acorns they never dig up sprout into new oak trees.
- ScarecrowIn Japanese haiku, kakashi, the word for scarecrow, is a season word that stands for autumn.
- HayrideHay is grass, clover, alfalfa or other leafy plants that farmers cut and dry to feed animals.
- Corn MazeOne Indiana corn maze was planted by a tractor guided by GPS, mostly at night, and its paths ran over nine miles (14 kilometers).
- Apple PickingApples belong to the rose family, and more than 2,500 kinds of apples are grown in the United States.
- Harvest MoonThe harvest moon is the full moon closest to the start of fall, named back when farmers used its light to harvest late at night.
- Migrating GeeseLeading a V of flying geese is the most tiring spot, so geese take turns at the front to let the leaders rest.
- MayflowerA copy of the ship called Mayflower II crossed the ocean in 1957, with a crew of 33, in 54 days.
- WampanoagWampanoag means People of the First Light, and about 4,000 to 5,000 Wampanoag people live in New England today.
- 1621 Harvest FeastNo one at the 1621 harvest celebration called it Thanksgiving, and much of that story was created decades and centuries later.
- Three Sisters GardenIn a Three Sisters garden, bacteria in the bean roots turn nitrogen from the air into a form the plants can use.
- Sarah Josepha HaleSarah Josepha Hale wrote many editorials urging American presidents to make Thanksgiving a holiday for the whole nation.
- Canadian ThanksgivingIn 1879, Thanksgiving was officially declared a national holiday in Canada, held that year on November 6.
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.