Listening bingo maker

How to play listening bingo

Give each child a card and a pencil, or a handful of dry beans for markers. Play a piece of classical music. A child marks a square when they hear what it says. The first to fill a row, a column, or a line from corner to corner calls "Bingo."

With one child, skip the race. Play for a full card instead, and see how many pieces it takes.

Which cards to make

Things to hear works with any piece. The squares name what the music does: a loud part, a pause, a tune that comes back. Children do not need to know any instruments.

Instruments works best with a video, or with a piece that names its players. Peter and the Wolf, Carnival of the Animals, and The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra are good choices. Our guide to the four instrument families helps a child tell them apart.

Pieces that fill a card fast

Pick music with many changes. In the Hall of the Mountain King goes from soft to loud and from slow to fast in under three minutes. The first movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 has pauses, loud parts, and one instrument alone. The piece picker lists more.