Material required:

• Paperboard, thin cardboard or oaktag
• Markers, crayons
• Tokens
• Goodies to eat

This version of bingo is well suited to groups of pre-readers. Fashion a stack of bingo cards from a piece of paperboard. Use a marker or crayon to divide each card into four sections. Each section should be designated by a different color, and each card should be unique.

Next, cut up small squares of cardboard and color them so they correspond to the cards, but with only one color per square. You'll need a total of three squares for each color you chose to place on the cards. Place the squares in a bag and shuffle them.

Have the caller reach into the bag and call out the color he or she has picked. Whenever a player hears a color on his or her card, he or she covers the corresponding square with a token. Whoever fills up all four squares first calls out "BINGO" and gets to trade in each token for a grape, raisin, or other goodie. Take turns so that each child can be the caller. At the end of the game, you may opt to let everyone eat the leftover goodies.