Each bingo game should have a theme and a learning objective. The preschool curriculum includes size, colors and shapes as well as numbers and the alphabet. Possible themes could include farm animals, sea creatures, healthy food or zoo animals. Relating the themes to the children's everyday lives will engage their interest.
Use both uppercase and lowercase letters on the bingo cards. You can call out the name of the letter or use the sound that it makes. Alternatively, you can sometimes give them the choice whether to cover the uppercase or lowercase letter. Mix letters and numbers on the same card for added interest.
Use pictures instead of numbers or letters. This is where having a theme is most useful. Animals are always popular, but you can also include food items, cartoon characters, stuffed animals or types of vehicles. Introduce the idea of family relationships by having pictures of mother, father and baby animals.
Use a range of shapes on the bingo card. Ask the children to look for particular shapes -- triangle, circle -- or put it in the form of a riddle, "a shape that has three sides."
You can teach the children to understand multi-concept ideas by using combinations of things to look for. Colors and sizes work well with this. Ask the children to find the red triangle or the large square. Take this further by using three concepts at the same time, the large black bear, for example.
Use the names of students in the class on the bingo card. When you call a name, those who have it on their card cover it with a marker and point to that person in the classroom. This is useful at the start of the year for introducing the students to each other.
Make the bingo game interactive beyond the students just placing a marker on the item that you call. Print outlines of letters, shapes or numbers on the cards and give the students some colored pencils. Call out a letter, shape or number and a color and have the students color in the appropriate entry on the card. You could expand this to animals and even combinations of colors -- a blue and pink bear, for example.