Valentine’s Day Bingo

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! How are you celebrating? Chocolates and roses? Netflix and popcorn? Ok, that’s us every night. The Netflix and popcorn part. 🙂 Maybe you’re hosting a dinner for a special someone, your family, your roommates, or a group of friends? Allow me to tempt you with this easy, low-cost way of gussying up your table for the day… it’s not too late! You can read all about yesterday’s table setting here.

Sadly, this post is not about dinner. Although I could go for surf and turf and chocolate covered strawberries, now that I’m thinking about it… 😉

Nope, this post is about work. All of us Youth Pastors/Directors out there know that even though most of you all are celebrating the red, white, and pink, WE will be spending the evening at Youth Group. Sundays are work days, no matter the holiday! So, in the spirit of giving you a different kind of insight into our lives AND throwing out a fun idea for a Valentine’s Day-themed game to my fellow ministry friends who need a last minute fix, today’s post is all about Valentine’s Day Bingo!

We had a lot of fun with this one and it’s pretty easy to set up… let me show you how we did it.

THE SUPPLIES

For this game, you’ll need a whole bunch of Conversation Hearts. You know those cheesy little guys that taste like chalk, but are still a thing for some reason? Yep, those. You’ll need a decent sized bowl-ful for each team. In addition to the hearts, you’ll need a blank game board. I used this one from The Party Animal Blog. Last, but not least, you’ll need bandannas… one for every two people, as they are going to pair up for a good ‘ole fashioned three legged race.

THE SET-UP

Before you start, go through your Conversation Hearts and write one saying in each empty heart on the game board. I found it easiest to do one and then make colored copies- enough for one for each team. Set up a row of tables on one side of the room (where the game boards will be) and another row of tables on the other side (to hold the bowls of hearts). Divide the teams up evenly and have them pair up within their team. Pairs should tie their legs together as you would for a three legged race. Teams should be lined up on the side of the room with the game boards.

HOW TO PLAY

The object of the game is for teams to complete their Bingo board first. You can do multiple rounds and choose any type of “Bingo” you want. We did a full row, a diagonal row, four corners, and even full board!  On “GO”, the first pair in each team will race (three-legged race style, of course) across the room to their team’s respective bowl of hearts.

Together, the pair will hunt through the bowl of hearts to find one that will help their team with “Bingo”.

When they find a heart, they need to bring it back to their team to play it on the board and then tag the next pair. We always play that every person on the team has to go before anyone can go again. First team to finish “Bingo” wins!

This is an easy, light-hearted game that anyone can play and we had a great time playing it last year! For all of you visual learners, here’s a quick video clip of the Conversation Heart madness. 🙂

That about wraps up all the Valentine’s Day talk for this year… have a fun day and eat an extra piece of chocolate for me!