First Day of School Bingo Card Generator
First Day of School bingo cards in seconds: 40 ready-made entries (Has moved houses, Likes to dance and Collects something among them), 24 on each 5x5 card with a free center, up to 30 unique cards free. With 30 players the first line usually comes after about 12 calls, roughly 2 minutes at 10 seconds a call.
| B | I | N | G | O |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Can whistle | Likes to sing | Can do a cartwheel | Has been on a plane | Can ride a bike |
Is the youngest child | Plays an instrument | Has moved houses | Speaks two languages | Has a pet fish |
Has a nickname | Knows a joke | FREE | Likes math | Ate cereal today |
Has a sibling | Likes broccoli | Visited a farm | Has a cat | Likes pizza |
Likes spicy food | Has a garden | Is left-handed | Has been to a beach | Likes science |
Free: up to 30 different cards per set. Pro: up to 1,000.
Free sets stop at 30 different cards. Your 30 cards are ready to print or download now.
Pro ($19 one-time) opens soon: up to 1,000 different cards per set and 2 or 4 cards on a PDF page. No payment is taken now.
Edit words (40)
Cards update as you type. Long entries shrink to fit their square; a very long single word is split over two lines with a hyphen (up to 40 characters each). The PDF uses a built-in font: emoji and non-Latin scripts print best with Print cards.
Caller sheet
Every call in a shuffled order. Tick each one as you read it out; the same share link always gives the same order.
Updated
About First Day of School bingo
A find-someone-who bingo for the first day of school: each square describes a classmate, such as has a sibling, speaks two languages, is left-handed or can do a cartwheel, and students walk around collecting a different name for each square. It breaks the ice in a new class, helps teachers learn names and gives ESL students natural speaking practice with questions.
This First Day of School list is 40 entries long and a 5x5 card with a free center takes 24, which leaves 16 off each card. That is why one entry (Born in summer, say) appears on about 18 of 30 cards: card 1, for instance, has no Born in summer or Loves to draw.
Play it like classic bingo: one person reads the 40 entries in the shuffled order of the caller sheet, everyone marks matching squares, and a full row, column or diagonal wins.
All 40 First Day of School bingo words
Every entry from Ate cereal today to Wore new shoes, grouped by first letter. Edit them in the generator above: drop Likes to dance if it does not suit your group, or add your own.
- A: Ate cereal today
- B: Birthday this month, Born in summer
- C: Can do a cartwheel, Can ride a bike, Can swim, Can whistle, Collects something
- F: Favorite color blue
- H: Has a cat, Has a dog, Has a garden, Has a nickname, Has a pet fish, Has a sibling, Has been on a plane, Has been to a beach, Has moved houses
- I: Is left-handed, Is the oldest child, Is the youngest child
- K: Knows a joke
- L: Likes broccoli, Likes math, Likes pizza, Likes science, Likes spicy food, Likes to dance, Likes to sing, Lost a tooth, Loves to draw
- P: Packed own lunch, Plays an instrument, Plays soccer
- R: Read a book in summer
- S: Speaks two languages
- V: Visited a farm
- W: Walked to school, Went camping, Wore new shoes
First Day of School bingo at a glance
| Entries | 40 words and phrases |
|---|---|
| Card | 5x5 card with a free center: 24 of the 40 |
| How it is played | A caller reads the shuffled caller sheet |
| Different cards possible | about 3.90 × 10³⁴ (order matters) |
| Different selections | 62,852,101,650 sets of 24 entries |
| Shortest entry | Can swim (8 characters) |
| Longest entry | Read a book in summer (21 characters) |
| Multi-word entries | 40 of 40, such as Has a sibling and Likes pizza |
| Good for | Classrooms, kids, teens and ESL lessons |
| Occasion | Back to school |
| Category | Holidays & seasons (51 themes) |
How long First Day of School bingo lasts
This list was simulated 150 times in random call orders on its first 60 cards. A room of 30 usually has a line by call 12, which is about 2 minutes at 10 seconds a call, and a full card by call 36 of 40.
| Players | First line | Line, 80% range | Blackout | Blackout, 80% range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 players | 15 calls | 10-18 | 37 calls | 36-39 |
| 30 players | 12 calls | 8-15 | 36 calls | 35-38 |
| 60 players | 11 calls | 8-13 | 36 calls | 34-37 |
| 1 card (exact average) | - | - | 39.4 calls | of 40 |
How to host First Day of School bingo
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Print the First Day of School cards
Give each player one card; a free set prints up to 30, no two alike. Card 1 above starts with Can whistle, Likes to sing, Can do a cartwheel, Has been on a plane and Can ride a bike.
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Print the caller sheet
All 40 entries appear on it in shuffled order, opening with Has a dog, Lost a tooth, Can do a cartwheel, Visited a farm and Can whistle; tick each one as you read it out.
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Model the question form first: 'Can you whistle?' or 'Do you have a pet fish?', then let students ask in pairs and write the classmate's name in the square.
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Set a rule that each classmate's name may appear only once on a card, so students talk to many people instead of filling a row with one friend.
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Finish by calling a few squares, like 'Speaks two languages' or 'Collects something', and invite the named students to share one sentence with the class.
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Call until someone shouts bingo
With 30 cards, expect the first line near call 12 (Likes spicy food in this set's order) and a blackout near call 36; check the winner's squares against your ticked list.
First Day of School bingo variations
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First Day of School variation
Teacher edition: add a round where students guess which squares are true for the teacher, such as 'Has a cat' or 'Likes spicy food'; the teacher reveals the answers and the closest card wins.
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Blackout round
Card 1 needs all 24 squares, Can whistle to Likes science; on average one card fills after 39.4 of the 40 calls (98% of the deck).
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Quick 4x4 round
A 4x4 card needs 16 of the 40 entries and no free space; one card is full after about 38.6 calls instead of 39.4.
First 15 calls of this First Day of School set
Seed "first-day-of-school" gives this order, the same one the caller sheet prints. With these calls, card 22 of the first 30 completes row 2 (Likes spicy food, Has moved houses, Likes pizza, Lost a tooth and Can whistle) on call 15, and card 17 is the first full card on call 37.
| Call | Entry | Cards marked (of 30) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Has a dog | 15 of 30 |
| 2 | Lost a tooth | 14 of 30 |
| 3 | Can do a cartwheel | 15 of 30 |
| 4 | Visited a farm | 18 of 30 |
| 5 | Can whistle | 18 of 30 |
| 6 | Likes broccoli | 18 of 30 |
| 7 | Read a book in summer | 16 of 30 |
| 8 | Likes pizza | 22 of 30 |
| 9 | Walked to school | 21 of 30 |
| 10 | Is the youngest child | 18 of 30 |
| 11 | Has a garden | 17 of 30 |
| 12 | Likes spicy food | 16 of 30 |
| 13 | Born in summer | 19 of 30 |
| 14 | Likes to sing | 17 of 30 |
| 15 | Has moved houses | 20 of 30 |
Themes like First Day of School bingo
Ranked by category, occasion and audience; none of them repeats an entry from this list, so pasting two into the Edit words box gives a longer game.
Frequently asked questions
How many words are on the First Day of School bingo list?
40, from Ate cereal today to Wore new shoes. A 5x5 card with a free center uses 24 of them, so each card leaves out 16. The shortest entry is Can swim (8 characters) and the longest is Read a book in summer (21).
Are all First Day of School bingo cards the same?
No. Card 1 and card 2 of this set share 17 of their 24 squares, and every card is checked so none of the 30 in a free set repeats. About 3.90 × 10³⁴ different arrangements are possible from the 40 entries (62,852,101,650 different selections of 24).
How many First Day of School bingo cards per person?
One card each is standard. In 150 simulated games of this list, 30 players on one card each got a first line after a median 12 calls; with two cards each (60 in play) it came after 11, and 10 single cards took 15. Two cards suit adults who want a faster game; young children do best with one. A free set of 30 covers 15 players on two cards each.
How long does First Day of School bingo take?
A First Day of School game with 30 players usually reaches its first line after 12 calls (8-15 in 80% of simulated games), about 2 minutes at one call every 10 seconds. A blackout takes about 36; with 10 players the first line needs about 15.
Can I print First Day of School bingo cards for free?
Yes, up to 30 unique cards per set at no cost and without an account. Pick how many you need, then use Print cards or Download PDF: each card gets its own page with the title “First Day of School Bingo” on top, and the caller sheet lists all 40 entries in this set's shuffled order.
How do I make my own First Day of School bingo cards?
Start from this list: the 40 entries are already in the generator, so delete Collects something or any other entry, type your own one per line and the cards update as you type. Keep at least 24 entries for 5x5 cards (16 for 4x4); the share link reprints exactly the same set.
Related
More Holidays & seasons bingo
- Football Watch Party bingo 46 words
- Fourth of July bingo 42 words
Patterns to call on First Day of School cards
- Picture frame pattern 16 called squares, for a second round
- All winning patterns