How it works
This 50 states bingo printable gives every pupil a different card, up to 60 of them, 2 to a page on Letter or A4. The call sheet lists all 50 states with a box to tick.
Read the full guide
Call the capital, check with the state
In Call the game, each state comes up with its capital and abbreviation under it. Read only the capital and pupils have to know the state. To check a win, have the pupil read each covered state back with its capital. For an abbreviation game, write the two letters on the board and say nothing.
Capitals that get mixed up
Charleston is West Virginia's capital, not South Carolina's, which is Columbia; Columbus is Ohio's. Say those three slowly. Indianapolis and Oklahoma City give their state away, so in a capitals game those two are the easy calls.
- With 25 cards, expect the first five in a row between calls 10 and 19, and the first full card after about 45.
- Eight states start with M and eight with N. Spell an abbreviation call letter by letter: M, O is Missouri and M, S is Mississippi.
Questions and answers
How do you play 50 states bingo?
Call a state by its name, its capital or its abbreviation, and every pupil who has that state covers it. Five in a row, across, down or diagonal, wins. The center square is free.
Are all 50 states on every bingo card?
No. A card has 24 squares around the free center, so it holds 24 of the 50 states, drawn afresh for each card. On about half the calls a pupil has nothing to cover.
What are the two-letter state abbreviations?
The U.S. Postal Service's codes for addressing mail, listed with each state below. For 19 states the code is the first two letters of the name, as in AL, CA and FL; for the other 31 it is not, as in AK, MO and TX.
Is Washington, D.C. one of the 50 states?
No. Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States and a federal district, not part of any state, so it has no square. The Washington on the cards is the state, whose capital is Olympia.