Think of bingo and we conjure up images of elderly people hunched over lots of cards, marking off numbers and meeting up with pals in a large smoke filled hall.

My grandmother used to take me to bingo when I was a kid. You can’t even imagine how I envied her for she could play bingo, while I was just allowed to peep from outside. Bingo has always fascinated me. The fun of yelling bingo, watching callers calling numbers aloud has always piqued my curiosity.

But sadly, I was not as lucky as kids these days are. All thanks to Sir Alan Steer, British government’s behavior expert, who recognized the power of bingo as an effective learning tool and introduced it to children.

He believes that the best way to teach kids and encourage them to learn new thing is to get them involved in bingo. In fact, a lot of teachers are now exploiting with every opportunity to club bingo with studies. So, next time if you see your little one daubing cards in the classroom, don’t be taken aback. He’s studying…nothing more!

We know that teaching becomes simpler if children are taught with examples rather than just textbooks. With the current popularity of bingo, the day is not too far when bingo will become a part of schoolbooks and curriculum too.

However, the role of bingo in education has not been discovered recently. From years bingo industry has been experimenting and in fact, practicing what Sir Alan Steer has said today. Math bingo, science bingo, English bingo, alphabetical bingo etc. are a few examples of how bingo can be used to teach children.

There is no better way to introduce kids to simple arithmetical calculations such as addition, subtraction, division, multiplication than having them play math bingo.

To improve children on the vocabulary front, make bingo cards with words written over them and distribute it in class. Call out the meanings or synonyms of the words and ask students to mark off the corresponding word/s.

Likewise, you can apply this concept to other subjects such as history, science, grammar and so on.

Trends are ever-changing and this goes for everything including bingo. Undoubtedly, bingo industry has witnessed many trends else than just gaming.

No pastime would be complete without its own range of fashion and bingo is no exception. Step out of your home and you’ll see lots of bingo enthusiasts donning bingo clothes and accessories to express their love for bingo. The t-shirts with bingo slogans are most popular. You can find t-shirts ranging from the ones with simple slogans such as ‘I love bingo’, ‘bingo forever’ to the more mischievous ones like ‘life’s a game but BINGO is serious’, ‘Out of my way I’m going to BINGO’ and many more.

Nowadays, players can customize their own t-shirts through online bingo stores and express in their own words what they feel about bingo. Besides clothing, bingo lovers can spoil themselves with myriad of bingo accessories available in the market. Especially the womenfolk can purchase earrings or danglers, necklaces, bracelets, hairpins and lot more. All these accessories are studded with anything from replicated bingo cards, chips, to bingo balls with their lucky numbers written over it.

Funky daubers are another accessory that some bingo lovers might want to own. While some players stick to the conventional round ink stamp to daub their cards, others prefer unique daubers in unusual shapes and colours. Nowadays, bingo daubers come in a spectrum of colours and shapes like lucky symbols, festive shapes or animal faces etc. The more unconventional bingo players even go to the extent of purchasing daubers that flash light, every time a number is daubed.

Already feeling like indulging in some bingo shopping? Do it right away. There is plethora of bingo stores online waiting just for you.