Take a journey down memory lane with Musical Bingo! This heartwarming and sociable activity not only stirs up memories but also encourages reminiscing, creating a joyful and engaging atmosphere for everyone involved.
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Take a trip down memory lane with Musical Bingo! This sociable activity fosters reminiscing, creating a joyful and engaging atmosphere for all.

Object:

  • Foster social interaction.
  • Stimulate the senses.
  • Spark reminiscing.

Materials:

  • White paper
  • Recycled cardboard
  • Box or tin with a lid
  • A musician who plays the piano/guitar/ukulele to accompany the singing.
  • Token prizes for the winners: a small bag of marshmallows, chips, chocolate, etc.

Instructions:

  • Download the provided song card and calling card examples and template.
  • Create song cards tailored to your residents' musical preferences. Include six songs on each page. Print and laminate them for durability.
  • Design 'calling cards' featuring your selected songs. Laminate and cut them out neatly.
  • Place calling cards inside a secure box or tin with a well-fitted lid.
  • Create song covers (bingo chips) for each participant using recycled cardboard. Cut rectangles measuring 6 ½ inches long by 1 inch wide (16 cm by 2 cm). Residents can then paint and decorate their covers, promoting creative expression.

How to play the game:

  • Give each resident a song card and six song covers.
  • Pull a calling card from the box and read it out loud for all to hear.
  • Participants holding the corresponding card cover it.
  • Engage everyone in a short, lively sing-along, accompanied by the musician. The sing-along aspect is very important, it adds another dimension to the game.
  • Call the next card!
  • Celebrate each 'Bingo!' exclamation by awarding the lucky winner a small token prize.

Tip: Consider incorporating internationally recognized songs like 'Volare,' 'Santa Lucia,' 'Amapola,' 'Hava-Nagila,' or 'Never on Sundays' to appeal to a culturally diverse group. These tunes may have unfamiliar lyrics, but everyone can join in with humming or cheerful la-la-la-ing. You'll be amazed at how much fun it is to hum along to 'Hava-Nagila'!

Files included:

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Musical Bingo Song Cards

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Musical Bingo Calling Cards

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Comments   Post a Comment

Nicola 14th Feb 2018
This is a great idea. I've used this and created my own bingo cards with songs that we sing using a free app that makes the bingo cards for you so that its relevant to my group.
Sally 26th Jan 2018 Volunteer
Hi, this site is new for me and is a super wonderful resource. We adapted this musical bingo to musical tic tac toe, though for the dementia residents, it was a bit of a challenge (though I thought it would be easy). We used songs as He's Got the Whole World, Daisy, Daisy, Clementine, and other familiar "folk" songs - it was great to see the expressions as we sang each song when the title was called.
Talita 27th Jan 2018
Tic tac toe, what a great adaptation! Thanks for your feedback Sally!
Millie 28th Jun 2017
I didn't know how to play musical bingo and was interested in making and using with my residents. Thank you very much for sharing this!
Talita 3rd Jul 2017
Thanks for your feedback Millie!
Shelley 29th Sep 2016 Music therapist
I have great success with this activity for intergenerational programs. In December we have a version that includes classic holiday carols such as Oh Come All Ye Faithful, and more spirited songs like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. As a Music Therapist myself, I play the piano, providing me the ability to decide what song I play next based on the mood/tone of the group, If the children are getting a little rambunctious after singing about Frosty, we tone it down to some more traditional carols that they need to ask the resident's about. I love to develop themed music bingo cards, one of our favorites is using the melodies from beloved TV shows.
Talita 3rd Oct 2016
Hi Shelley, this sounds wonderful. How lucky your clients are to have a pianist in their midst! Great idea to involve children in this activity!
Patricia 24th Jun 2014 Co Ordinator
Thank you for more ideas! Always much appreciated! Other games I have from here are very well accepted & enjoyed immensely!
Gail 28th May 2014 Manager
We've created a slightly different version of this game with the Bingo Cards having pictures on them (some of our clients are quite vision impaired and can see plain black and white pictures better than words) Each picture reflects a song ie rainbow=Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Soldier=War songs. We haven't tried it yet but I'm sure it will be popular.
Joanne 9th Nov 2012 Leisure and Lifestyle Co ordinator
This game is always enjoyed. I made up bingo cards with 16 different songs on each and use milk bottle lids as counters. The music cd that I use is the one called 'Musical Quiz on CD'. The residents really enjoy this and we usually take an hour before someone has the whole card filled. The idea is to have a full house as it were. We usually end up singing some of the songs as well.
Valerie 20th Apr 2011 Diversional Therapist
This is very interesting I shall try this with our residents for something very different. thank you very much.
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