I saw a BINGO game in a catalog a few backs and really wanted to purchase it. . .until I saw the price. It was close to $100. So I decided to put my crafty hat on and make my own. I made my first board in Microsoft Word, then printed it out, cut it apart and then randomly drew my words that I wanted to use (plus several additional ones not on my first board) to then make another 24 different boards. I made a total of 25 because I can get that many kids in my room during lunch bunch. After printing out each board, I had them laminated and trimmed so I could reuse them and wipe them off if the kids got sticky fingerprints on them. To make the pulls, I used my mod podge and clear glass stones (2 bags from the dollar store), like I did for my question stones in this post. I bought multicolored mini glass stones on sale for $2.00 at the craft store. So my total cost for the project was $4.00. I think you can agree that is quite a savings! 
My lesson plan is as follows:
Purpose: To understand not everyone feels the same way at the same time and to be able to say something positive to others can make a huge impact on how their day turns out.
To Begin: Ask everyone to respond to the following question and statement:
(If have a white board, write the icebreakers on the board)
“How Do I Feel Today?”
“I Feel My Best When. . .”
After everyone has answered, pass out the BINGO cards and play BINGO.
When you have a winner, have everyone take a turn and say something positive about the winner.
Wrap Up: Ask everyone:
“How does this feel to listen to everyone say something nice about you?”
and because some students will feel uncomfortable ask:
“Why do you think some people are uncomfortable listening to something nice being said about them?”
The kids had a great time playing today. I love listening to them give compliments and listen to one another. What made me smile the most was when one of my 6th graders said, “I’m not shy in here because I’m comfortable with you all.” And the message from another group that was left on my whiteboard when I wasn’t looking:
Just too cute!
Anyway, what do you think of my game?
