Emotions bingo

How to play emotions bingo in class

Each student covers the feeling you call, and the first full line wins. For the basic rules, see how to play bingo. There are three ways to call:

• By word. Read the label out loud. Readers find the word, which every square shows, even under a picture.
• By face. With an illustrated PDF, cut out the squares on the call sheet and draw one from a bowl. Hold the picture up, and students match the face.
• By scenario. We suggest this one for grades 2–3. Read a short situation you wrote, and students cover the feeling it brings.

A few scenarios to start with: "Your friend shares a snack with you" (happy), "Your block tower falls down again" (frustrated) and "You hear a loud noise at night" (scared). Tick the feeling you had in mind on the call sheet. Then let students talk about other answers.

CASEL's SEL framework lists identifying one’s emotions under self-awareness.

Feelings to include by grade

For pre-K, stick to basic feelings like happy, sad, angry, scared and surprised, with one face per square. In kindergarten and grade 1, show a face and its word, and add feelings like proud or nervous. In grades 2 and 3, call by word or scenario, with feelings like frustrated or left out.

How many feelings you need for 30 cards

A list of 6 feelings can't make even one 3×3 card, since a card with a free space needs 8. A 4×4 card needs 16 and a 5×5 card needs 24.

Card count matters too. No two cards in a deck share a complete winning line, so a short list runs out of different cards fast. The app tells you how many cards your list allows. With exactly 16 feelings on 4×4, every card holds all 16 in a different layout, and more feelings make cards that differ in content too.

The AI suggests 30 items for your emotion bingo cards. You can edit the list up to 60 items, with labels of 40 characters max.

Which grid to pick

This page starts at 4×4: 16 squares and no free space, so every square is a feeling. We suggest 3×3 for pre-K and for small speech or counseling groups. We suggest 5×5 for grades 2 and 3, with a longer list.

Our simulation (10,000 decks per setup, 100 games each) of 30 players with a 40-item list, free space on 3×3 and 5×5. A shorter list ends sooner.

Ties happen. With 30 players, two students can finish different lines on the same call in about 17% to 18% of games. Decide ahead how you'll handle a shared win.

Keeping feelings bingo gentle