All Saints Day - Alphabet BINGO

Today is the Feast of All Saints.  Nowadays people celebrate the day before All Saints (All Hallow's Eve of Halloween) as if it's more important than All SAINTS Day, but that would be like celebrating Christmas Eve with tons of fun and glitz and forgetting CHRISTMAS DAY.  So, don't miss out on celebrating on this wonderful Church feast day!

We have very young children around here, so our celebration will geared in that direction.  My mother in law sent this book, An Alphabet of Catholic SAINTS by Brenda and George Nippert, and it will be used over and over again today especially.

One game we plan to play together today I thought I'd share with all of you is an All Saints Day Alphabet BINGO.  I got the idea from my mother in law.  She has an actual Saints Bingo set that she purchased somewhere, but I don't have one, so (OF COURSE) it's time to make my own.  In the future, I plan to make more long-term, durable cards and include more Saints as the kids grow, but this BINGO version is perfect for kids 2-5.  

1. Start with a blank BINGO sheet (this is the same template we used for my sister's baby shower).  One can easily make their own by inserting a table into a Microsoft Word Document.  :)

2. Next add letters and a coordinating Saint.  (I used the book for this, though you could easily use the internet of course as well).  Here's the quick list of Saints from the book:

A-Anne         B-Bernadette        C-Cecilia         D-Dominic      E-Elizabeth Ann Seton

F-Francis      G-George           H-Helen          I-Ignatius          J-Joseph

K-Kateri Tekakwitha      L-Lucy      M-Martin de Porres       N-Nicholas     O-Odilia

P-Patrick      Q-Mary, Queen of Saints        R-Rose        S-Sharbel       T-Therese

U-Ursula       V-Vincent de Paul      W-Wenceslas    X-Francis Xavier   

Y-Joseph Yuen    Z-Zita

I only had to make two cards (I made three and figured I'd do one for Ava myself or let the hubby)

3. Make coordinating letter call-out cards. 

4. To play: Mix up the call-out cards and pick them one at a time.  Call out the letter and say the Saint's name who goes with that letter.  My 4 year old will be able to mark her card just by hearing the letter, but I'll put the call-out card in front of my 2  1/2 year old to allow her to try to match the letter to one she sees on her card.  While they look and mark their cards, read the coordinating page from the Saint alphabet book so the kiddos can learn about the Saints more while they play. 

5. Prizes.  You can go pick up holy cards for cheap and let the kids choose a holy card each time they get a BINGO, or you can use Halloween candy for prizes and have one holy card/religious prize for a blackout.  Get creative and have fun learning about the Saints and the alphabet.  

Other All Saints Day ideas!  

1. Dress up as a Saint.  This year we had St. Cecilia, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, and St. Agnes. 

          

2. Goody bags- One thing I tell the small ones to give a reason why Halloween is all about candy, candy, candy is that Hallowed means Holy.  Halloween and All Saints Day are supposed to celebrate holy people (the Saints).  Holy people act like Christ and are "sweet", so we get sweet treats to remind us to be holy and sweet to others.  I meant to get holy cards for the Saints they chose to dress up as to put in their goody bag, but the Catholic bookstore in this area is a bit of a drive and I just didn't get to it in time.  Next year.  

3. Say some special Saint prayers.  Perhaps look up prayers related to the Saints the kids chose to dress up as or find a Litany of the Saints or make up your own!

4. Make sure you get to Mass!  It's a Holy Day of Obligation!

5. Get TONS more fun resources here at Catholicicing.com

Happy Feast of All Saints!