ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do Bingo Card Generator
ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo cards in seconds: 40 ready-made entries (Play badminton, Go cycling and Go climbing among them), 24 on each 5x5 card with a free center, up to 30 unique cards free. With 30 players the first line usually comes after about 12 calls, roughly 2 minutes at 10 seconds a call.
| B | I | N | G | O |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Helmet | Go diving | Go jogging | Go skateboarding | Racket |
Play cricket | Coach | Go swimming | Do taekwondo | Do karate |
Play table tennis | Medal | FREE | Play rugby | Play volleyball |
Do aerobics | Play golf | Go cycling | Play hockey | Team |
Play tennis | Go climbing | Go surfing | Play badminton | Referee |
Free: up to 30 different cards per set. Pro: up to 1,000.
Free sets stop at 30 different cards. Your 30 cards are ready to print or download now.
Pro ($19 one-time) opens soon: up to 1,000 different cards per set and 2 or 4 cards on a PDF page. No payment is taken now.
Edit words (40)
Cards update as you type. Long entries shrink to fit their square; a very long single word is split over two lines with a hyphen (up to 40 characters each). The PDF uses a built-in font: emoji and non-Latin scripts print best with Print cards.
Caller sheet
Every call in a shuffled order. Tick each one as you read it out; the same share link always gives the same order.
Updated
About ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo
ESL Sports Bingo teaches the verb that goes with each sport, a classic error for English learners: “Play tennis” for ball games, “Go swimming” for activities ending in -ing, and “Do karate” or “Do yoga” for disciplines. It adds words like “Referee”, “Whistle” and “Medal”, and suits teens and older kids who already know the sport names.
This ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do list is 40 entries long and a 5x5 card with a free center takes 24, which leaves 16 off each card. That is why one entry (Play baseball, say) appears on about 18 of 30 cards: card 1, for instance, has no Play soccer or Play basketball.
A host reads out one entry at a time from the printed caller sheet (all 40 of them, shuffled); players daub the square if their card has it and call bingo on a full line.
All 40 ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo words
Every entry from Coach to Whistle, grouped by first letter. Edit them in the generator above: drop Go cycling if it does not suit your group, or add your own.
- C: Coach
- D: Do aerobics, Do archery 🏹, Do boxing 🥊, Do gymnastics 🤸, Do judo, Do karate 🥋, Do taekwondo, Do yoga 🧘
- G: Go bowling 🎳, Go climbing 🧗, Go cycling 🚴, Go diving, Go horse riding 🐎, Go ice skating ⛸️, Go jogging, Go running, Go skateboarding, Go skiing ⛷️, Go snowboarding 🏂, Go surfing 🏄, Go swimming 🏊, Goal
- H: Helmet
- M: Medal 🏅
- P: Play badminton 🏸, Play baseball ⚾, Play basketball 🏀, Play cricket 🏏, Play golf ⛳, Play hockey 🏒, Play rugby 🏉, Play soccer ⚽, Play table tennis 🏓, Play tennis 🎾, Play volleyball 🏐
- R: Racket, Referee
- T: Team
- W: Whistle
ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo at a glance
| Entries | 40 words and phrases |
|---|---|
| Card | 5x5 card with a free center: 24 of the 40 |
| How it is played | A caller reads the shuffled caller sheet |
| Different cards possible | about 3.90 × 10³⁴ (order matters) |
| Different selections | 62,852,101,650 sets of 24 entries |
| Shortest entry | Goal (4 characters) |
| Longest entry | Play table tennis (17 characters) |
| Multi-word entries | 32 of 40, such as Play soccer and Play basketball |
| Picture squares | 26 of 40 entries have a symbol, e.g. ⚽ Play soccer, 🏀 Play basketball, ⚾ Play baseball |
| Good for | ESL lessons, classrooms, teens and kids |
| Category | Language arts & ESL (61 themes) |
How long ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo lasts
This list was simulated 150 times in random call orders on its first 60 cards. A room of 30 usually has a line by call 12, which is about 2 minutes at 10 seconds a call, and a full card by call 37 of 40.
| Players | First line | Line, 80% range | Blackout | Blackout, 80% range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 players | 15 calls | 10-18 | 38 calls | 36-39 |
| 30 players | 12 calls | 9-15 | 37 calls | 35-38 |
| 60 players | 10 calls | 7-13 | 36 calls | 34-37 |
| 1 card (exact average) | - | - | 39.4 calls | of 40 |
How to host ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo
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Print the ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do cards
Give each player one card; a free set prints up to 30, no two alike. Card 1 above starts with Helmet, Go diving, Go jogging, Go skateboarding and Racket.
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Print the caller sheet
All 40 entries appear on it in shuffled order, opening with Go climbing, Go swimming, Referee, Whistle and Play basketball; tick each one as you read it out.
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Call only the sport, such as “skiing” or “judo”, and let players find the right square, so they must decide between play, go and do themselves.
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Write three columns headed play, go and do on the board, and add each called collocation to its column so the pattern builds up during the game.
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Ask a winner which sport on their card they would most like to try, and have them answer with the right verb, such as “I want to go surfing”.
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Call until someone shouts bingo
With 30 cards, expect the first line near call 12 (Do boxing in this set's order) and a blackout near call 37; check the winner's squares against your ticked list.
ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo variations
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ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do variation
Wrong-verb challenge: the caller sometimes says a wrong collocation, such as “play swimming”. Players mark only when the phrase is correct, and anyone who spots the mistake can correct it aloud for a free square.
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Blackout round
Card 1 needs all 24 squares, Helmet to Referee; on average one card fills after 39.4 of the 40 calls (98% of the deck).
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Picture bingo for pre-readers
Use 3x3 cards with the 26 entries that have a symbol, such as Play soccer, Play basketball and Play baseball.
First 15 calls of this ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do set
Seed "esl-sports" gives this order, the same one the caller sheet prints. With these calls, card 30 of the first 30 completes row 5 (Play tennis, Go running, Go snowboarding, Go skateboarding and Go swimming) on call 10, and card 1 is the first full card on call 38.
| Call | Entry | Cards marked (of 30) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Go climbing 🧗 | 19 of 30 |
| 2 | Go swimming 🏊 | 21 of 30 |
| 3 | Referee | 23 of 30 |
| 4 | Whistle | 17 of 30 |
| 5 | Play basketball 🏀 | 16 of 30 |
| 6 | Go running | 23 of 30 |
| 7 | Go cycling 🚴 | 19 of 30 |
| 8 | Play tennis 🎾 | 21 of 30 |
| 9 | Go skateboarding | 19 of 30 |
| 10 | Go snowboarding 🏂 | 17 of 30 |
| 11 | Racket | 19 of 30 |
| 12 | Do boxing 🥊 | 17 of 30 |
| 13 | Helmet | 25 of 30 |
| 14 | Medal 🏅 | 13 of 30 |
| 15 | Go surfing 🏄 | 18 of 30 |
Themes like ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo
Ranked by category, occasion and audience; none of them repeats an entry from this list, so pasting two into the Edit words box gives a longer game.
Frequently asked questions
How many words are on the ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo list?
40, from Coach to Whistle. A 5x5 card with a free center uses 24 of them, so each card leaves out 16. The shortest entry is Goal (4 characters) and the longest is Play table tennis (17).
Are all ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo cards the same?
No. Card 1 and card 2 of this set share 17 of their 24 squares, and every card is checked so none of the 30 in a free set repeats. About 3.90 × 10³⁴ different arrangements are possible from the 40 entries (62,852,101,650 different selections of 24).
How many ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo cards per person?
Usually one. Extra cards speed the game up only a little: on this list a first line took a median 12 calls with 30 cards in play, 10 with 60 (30 players on two cards each) and 15 with just 10. Two cards suit adults who want a faster game; young children do best with one. A free set of 30 covers 15 players on two cards each.
How long does ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo take?
An ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do game with 30 players usually reaches its first line after 12 calls (9-15 in 80% of simulated games), about 2 minutes at one call every 10 seconds. A blackout takes about 37; with 10 players the first line needs about 15.
Can I print ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo cards for free?
Yes. All 40 entries are loaded above, so choose a card count up to 30 and press Print cards, or Download PDF to print later at one card per sheet (30 sheets for a full set). The shuffled caller sheet prints separately; nothing is uploaded or stored on a server.
How do I make my own ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo cards?
Start from this list: the 40 entries are already in the generator, so delete Go climbing or any other entry, type your own one per line and the cards update as you type. Keep at least 24 entries for 5x5 cards (16 for 4x4); the share link reprints exactly the same set.
Is there a picture version of ESL Sports: Play, Go or Do bingo?
26 of the 40 entries have a picture symbol (⚽ Play soccer, 🏀 Play basketball, ⚾ Play baseball, 🏐 Play volleyball). Print 3x3 cards with symbol entries such as Play tennis and Play table tennis for children who cannot read yet; symbols show on screen and in browser printing.
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