Origin of Bingo
The game has been associated with gambling since its ancient origin, it is traced to an Italian lottery game played in 1530 called “Lo Guioco del Lotto D’Italia.” The game which was played every Saturday was founded on the precept of luck and chance. From Italy, the game went on to France where it was called “Le Lotto” played amongst wealthy persons in the upper social class. In the United States it was originally known as “beano” a country fair game where a dealer would choose numbered disks from a cigar box, the players would have their cards marked with beans and when an individual crossed off the correct patterns they would yell ‘beano’ to indicate a win.
The game has over the years been adopted as a classroom play to foster learning in a cross-disciplinary area to reinforce new definitions, vocabulary, math problems and even complex questions that involve in-depth reasoning.
How the Game is Played
It is a very fun game to play especially in a group and the best part is there are no set rules for playing. The instructor can customize the cards to suit the particular subject matter they want to cover there are various websites online that let the teachers do this, like the free download kid songs youtube. Here is a step by step instruction on playing:
1. Every child is given a card and 9 counters. Then the instructor calls out a definition, question or phrase.
2. The students then should identify the picture or word in their card and cover the space diagonally across a row, or vertically in a column then call a ‘bingo’.
However, if a student calls out and it turns out incorrect they are disqualified from the round.
Skills that Learners Develop
1. Numeracy skills. Learning math becomes easier parents and teachers can use multiplication games to teach the kids. Unlike the normal classroom math solving, bingo is a fun way to develop their memory and detail to attention which is an important concept in mathematics.
2. Improved critical thinking. The game fosters a child’s cognitive skills which they acquire when performing problem-solving strategies and forecasting potential outcomes.
3. Controlled competitiveness. The kids songs can also bring out competition among peers which acts to motivate and help the kids gain confidence in their problem-solving skills. It can also be used to help the kids understand constructive criticism when they make mistakes, therefore, becomes suitable in teaching them how to accept success and failure equally.
4. Communication. Since the game is a team sport it helps the learners know how to express their opinions in a group of their peers and how to arrange their ideas. The game is also important in teaching the learners to consolidate their knowledge of their understanding and what they know to learn new things.