Choose filled or blank cards
Ready-filled bingo is the quickest option: each card has a different arrangement of common baby gifts. A guest marks a square when that gift is opened. The same gift may appear on several cards; the arrangements, rather than the gift lists, are what make the cards different.
Blank bingo gives guests more of a say. Before opening gifts, ask everyone to write 24 different gift guesses in the empty squares. The center is already a free space. Agree whether variations such as a book and a baby book count as the same gift.
A quick rule you can read aloud
“Mark a gift when it is opened. Your middle square is free. Five marked squares across, down or diagonally makes bingo. Call it out so we can check your card.”
Decide whether you are playing for one winner or several. If you keep going, explain whether a previous winner can win again. The parents should be able to open gifts at their own pace; the game can follow along without taking over.
Prepare the cards
Use the generator to add the parent's name, select a color and choose a quantity. Free ready-filled bingo includes up to 12 different cards. For a larger group, blank cards can be reprinted as many times as needed; the complete set includes up to 50 unique filled cards.
Choose two cards per page to save paper. These files use landscape Letter or A4 sheets with 5 × 7 inch cards and crop marks. Print at Actual size / 100%, then cut the cards before guests arrive.
- One card and a pencil for each player.
- A small prize, if you want one.
- A simple rule for checking a winning row.
- A few spare blank cards for late arrivals.
Make it comfortable for your group
Guests can share a card or play in pairs. Nobody needs to explain their squares to the room. If the parents are not opening gifts during the shower, choose a word puzzle or advice card instead: gift bingo needs visible gift opening to work.
Check a winning row against the gifts that have actually been opened. There is no caller sheet for this version; the gifts are the calls. The free center square always counts.
Written for the ShowerPrintables printable set. About this project. For print settings, test one sheet on your printer before making the full quantity.