I first came across Mathsbox.org.uk when looking at some TES resources (TES requires registration but all resources are free). Games of Bingo have been a great success this year with my Year 8 class and also my Year 11 students. Each time the students have been highly motivated and asked if they could continue playing to try and achieve ‘Full House’. With Year 8 we used Bingo games for practising directed numbers and substitution in algebra; with Year 11 a Bingo game provided a great way to revise completing the square. Mathsbox is now a subscription site (good value in my opinion) but there are free samples to try including a bingo game on solving linear equations. I like the Settlers, activities which could be given to a class immediately they enter the room for a lesson, giving a calm and productive start to a lesson. (See also ‘Bell Work‘).

For a collection of online Bingo games try these on MathsStarters.net.

There are many free Bingo resources on TES; note how the search can be narrowed by Key Stage. We could even play Bingo with our older students! some differentiation revision perhaps or Composite Functions? Note that this resource does not require separate Bingo cards, students are asked to select from choices given on the first slide. Some of the TES resources as well as being excellent in their own right provide you with a template for creating your own resources. Try Damian Watson’s Expanding Double Brackets for example – you could easily alter the PowerPoints and the Excel / Word files of Bingo cards. Another set of 10 bingo games comes from Anthony Biggs.

Year 8 – after playing Bingo using the Mathsbox Bingo Resources:
‘It’s great fun, everyone enjoys it. In order to win we have to do the Maths and since everyone wants to win we do lots and lots of exercises –  a fun way of learning!’

‘The bingo is a great idea as it is fun and good for the class and still teaches and helps the students learn.’

‘This really helps me learn about positive and negative numbers.’

‘I like bingo as it is fun. It helps with maths as it allows you to learn to work out sums quickly and it is hands on and interactive It also adds the competitive edge to maths.’

‘I like this because it allows you to relax and have fun whilst being educated’.