How to Host a Message Board Bingo Game

For several years, I have been hosting monthly bingo games on the message board for Coordinates Collections, a monthly scrapbooking kit company. If you are interested in starting this on a message board you visit, or if you run a message board and would like to implement this fun activity, here are some tips for running a bingo game on a message board. If you are already doing a message board bingo game, you'll find some tips you may not have thought of, as well as some cool theme ideas.

Different Ways to Run a Message Board Bingo Game. On the Coordinates Collections message board, I run one bingo game monthly. I generally create a list of 100 words relating to a theme. From that list, participants select 40 to be their bingo "card". They email their lists to me.

Each day, or each weekday, I "call" 3-5 words by posting them in a specific thread (ie. labeled "September Bingo Calls") in the bingo forum of the message board. I also copy and paste the newly called words into a comprehensive list on the first post of the thread so participants can double check their words. Participants reply saying "I got two words today! I'm up to 22" or something to that effect. Some days I will make a bonus post with an extra word or two. Calling the words at this rate will generally allow for a winner towards the end of the month.

Some months I run a variation of the bingo game called Speed Bingo. The only difference is how many words I call and how often I call them; any number of words can be called at anytime. I generally do this in months such as December when people don't want to be involved in a bingo game over the holidays, or if I have something going on and need to shorten the game. Speed Bingo is a fun, fast-paced variant of the message board bingo game.

Another way to do a bingo game on a message board is with fewer words. For example you could provide a list of 40 bingo words and have the participants select 25. This is a good idea if you want to do a specific theme but can't come up with 100 words. With fewer words, you need to call them at a slower rate than 3-5 per day. 1-3 words called per day, with bonus words, is a better rate.

Selecting a Bingo Theme. The most obvious theme ideas for a monthly bingo game are to do with the month or season. For example, in December you could host a Holiday Bingo Game with words having to do with the holidays and winter. In July you could do a Summer Fun theme, or a Back-to-School Bingo for September. But don't let your imagination stop there. The possibilities are endless.

Can you list 100 sports words? What about movies, books, or cartoon characters? One of my favorite bingo themes to use is ice cream flavors. You could also do candy, places, pantry or kitchen items, or animals.

Another good theme idea is to connect it with the theme of the message board you are on. For example, at Coordinates Collections I've done scrapbooking words. You would be surprised how easy it is to list 100 of something, especially if you search the internet for some help.