A DIY Halloween Bingo Game for Kids (With Free Printables!)

Halloween is on the way again, and this year we thought we’d get into the spooky spirit with a creative twist on an old game night favorite.

This DIY Halloween bingo activity is perfect for parties or as a classroom game – and also a fantastically cozy way to spend chilly October evenings making something special with your kids.

With free printables and a chance to customize their own bingo game boards, kids will love getting crafty and playing their way through the Halloween season!

It also makes a great Halloween drawing prompt, giving kids a chance to get creative as they fill their boards with spooky characters, fun colors, or festive designs.

We’ve brainstormed lots of ways kids of all ages can personalize their boards too – taking out some of the guesswork so you can sit back and watch the fun without stressing about the process.

Happy Halloween (and happy gaming)!

To make your own Halloween bingo game, you’ll need:

Note: We prefer to shop locally or use what we have at home, but this list contains Woodpeckers Crafts, Etsy, Blick Art Materials, Bookshop.org and/or Amazon affiliate links for reference. As affiliates (and Amazon Associates), we make a small commission on qualifying purchases.*

How to Make Your Own Halloween Bingo Game – DIY Instructions

Download the blank game card templates (optional).

If you’d like somewhere easy to begin, start by downloading the free printable DIY Halloween Bingo set.

The set includes 1 sheet with 2 blank Halloween Bingo cards, a page of blank calling cards, and an optional sticker template page you can populate with pictures or designs to be printed onto Avery sticker labels and used to fill the empty spaces on your cards.

Print or draw your Bingo cards.

Print the Bingo cards, calling cards, and sticker template on regular paper or cardstock for durability. Remember to choose borderless printing.

You can also create your very own bingo cards by using a ruler to make a simple grid. You can draw a traditional 5×5 grid, or go smaller with something like 3×3 for younger kids.

Another kid-friendly alternative is washi tape! Use a roll (or two or three) in Halloween colors or patterns to create your grid on a full piece of cardstock.

Fill in the blank bingo card spaces.

Here’s where the creativity begins: For the blank Bingo cards, let kids fill in the spaces with their own unique Halloween icons, symbols, or art. I’ve shared MORE icon creation ideas below for kids who aren’t as thrilled at the idea of drawing enough to fill up lots of empty spaces.

Note: if you think you’ll be using these kid-made game cards again and again, you can cover them in self-laminating sheets.

Set up the game.

Our free printable set includes a page of square cutout templates you can use to re-draw (write, stamp, or sticker) all of the Halloween icons, words, or symbols that you’ve filled your game cards with.

Fill them in, cut out the calling cards, and shuffle them well.

These cards will be called out during the game, and players will mark their corresponding spaces.

Layout a bingo card and markers (see our DIY bingo marker ideas below) so all the pieces are ready for the players.

Start playing!

Once the Bingo boards are all ready, it’s time to play!

The game proceeds like classic Bingo – the designated “caller” draws one calling card at a time, and players mark their boards if they have the matching icon, word, etc. Don’t forget to put the called cards to the side so you don’t call them twice!

Traditionally, the first player to get five in a row (across, down, or diagonally) wins, but you can make the game easier or more complicated by coming up with your own “win” patterns.

6 Creative Ways to Fill in Your Bingo Game Boards

Depending on how excited your kids are about drawing, or how many cards you need to make, you may want (or need!) some other options to keep the creation of your game a kid-friendly process.

Here are a few ways your kids can personalize their set of bingo cards without hand-drawing on each card…

1. Use mini Halloween stickers to fill in the bingo spaces.

Use mini Halloween sticker sets! When printed at full size, the blank spaces are 3/4-inch circles. Using a variety of sticker sets, your kids can stick them down right on top of the empty circles.

2. Use a set of mini Halloween stamps.

Use a set of self-inking mini stamps (like the set of 24 I linked to in the supply list) that feature classic Halloween-themed images like ghosts, pumpkins, etc.

3. Fill in the blanks with Halloween words.

Skip the artwork altogether and use your game boards to celebrate the plethora of Halloween-specific words we typically only get to use in October. “Banshee, gargoyle, vampire…” or phrases and greetings like, “boo!” or “trick or treat!”

4. Color the spaces in with unique Halloween colors.

Fill each Bingo space with 24 (or more) different Halloween or fall-themed colors, giving each hue in the palette a fun, seasonally appropriate name (just like the pros!).

5. Use your favorite Halloween characters.

Invite your kids to be inspired by their favorite October series, movie, book, or comic characters.

6. Make spooky silhouette bingo spaces.

Instead of detailed drawings, encourage kids to create simple black silhouettes of Halloween items (like a bat, witch hat, or pumpkin) using black markers or construction paper cutouts.

DIY Halloween Bingo Marker Ideas

Don’t have traditional bingo markers or ink daubers handy? You don’t need anything special – in fact, household items like coins, buttons, legos, etc. work great.

If you’d like to stay in keeping with the theme though, here are some easy Halloween-themed bingo marker ideas…

• Halloween candy or candy corn
• Mini fake spiders or bugs
• Pumpkin seeds (plain or painted for fun colors)
• Halloween stickers (put them on small paper squares to make them easy to move around)
• Egg carton witch hats or ghosts
• Googly eyes
• Acorns