Free Describing 3D Shapes Bingo Game for Kindergarten

Work on identifying 3D shapes or describing 3D shapes with a free printable bingo game for kindergarten.

Here is a bingo game that I made for my kindergarten class to play in small groups. Let me show you how to play it, how to make it, and give you the free download.

Bingo is such a classic game, right? This is an easy 3D shapes activity for kindergarten to plug-and-play into your lesson plans.

Here are three things I want you to know about these bingo cards:

1. The bingo cards feature both real-world examples and simple 3D shapes
2. Some shapes are rotated since students are supposed to be able to identify them no matter the orientation
3. The cards are designed to get bingos fast so all kinders get a turn to describe during one of our small group math lessons

That way we really are working on the standards.

Now, let's talk about how to play the game.

How to play

The rules are pretty similar to a regular game of bingo. There is a caller who has calling cards and players who each have a playing card.

In order to practice the standard of describing 3D shapes, we won't simply be calling out the shape names. If the goal is to describe shapes - then that's exactly what the caller has to do.

The caller should pick a card from the draw pile and describe it so that the players can find the correct matching shape and cover up one match on their gameboard.

For example, if the caller picks a sphere card, he or she should describe it like, "Cover the shape with no edges, 0 vertices, and 1 curved face."

Then, the players should either cover up the real-world sphere (the Earth) or the simple sphere.

This continues until one player has three spaces in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) covered up and that player calls out, "Bingo!"

The player with the bingo has won the round and a new caller is selected (maybe even the person who won) - and the players swap playing cards. Shuffle the calling card draw pile.

Helpful tips

Here are a few things that might be helpful to know if you're going to play 3D bingo with your class.

• You can use this game simply by calling out shape names too if you have students who are ready for 3D shape identification, but not describing them yet.
• The teacher should start as the caller and model describing using proper vocabulary like vertices, faces, edges, etc. Then, when students are ready they can take turns being the caller for each round. {{Informal assessment... boom!}}

How to make 3D bingo

Now that you know how to play, let's make it. Here's what you need to do.

First, download 3D shapes bingo. [terms of use] [downloading help]

Then print the playing cards for your small group - there are seven different cards. You can print on any paper - colored paper, construction paper, etc. (No need to laminate the cards if you use construction paper -they'll hold up just fine when used by a couple of groups over a few years.)

If you don't want full-sheet size bingo mats, change your printer settings to print multiple pages on one paper, which would make a nice half-size bingo card.

Print the calling cards as well and cut those apart.

Grab some counting chips, linking cubes or gold coins for manipulatives to cover up the playing cards and you're ready to play.

This game stores really well in a gallon-size Ziploc bag.

Let's wrap it up

There yo uhave it - a bingo game for kindergarten small groups to work on describing 3D shapes. I hope those tips for how to play it, how to make it, and the free download have you set up for success.

Want more 3D shape activities for kindergarten?

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