new for us friday: more bingo we love (and giveaway!)

Soon after Brady arrived, my always-find-everything-cool in-laws gave us a game that Maddy and Owen cannot seem to get enough of—Dog Bingo.

Yes, Dog Bingo!

We are lovers of any bingo game over here, but this doggone game takes the cake. (C'mon, I had to!)

It’s created by Lucy Hammett, who is the Bingo-Game-Queen of the Universe. And it gets even better—when I wrote to tell THE Lucy Hammett how much we love her Dog Bingo, she offered to give one of her awesome bingo games away to one of my readers!

Here’s the skinny:

• Dog Bingo: The premise of Dog Bingo is the same as every other bingo game ever made, but what makes this game super-awesome is that there is something to learn around every corner.

The boards are covered with everything dog—dog breeds, dog terms, dog photos and dog relatives. The cards are covered with the same photos on the boards, but what I love is that each card has a few really interesting dog "fun facts".

Maddy, now being able to read most of the facts on her own, might flip a card and say, Bulldog! Hey, Mommy, did you know that the bulldog . . . . "

It’s so cool. I love it.

Owen's rockin' double dog bingo boards.

Both she and Owen are now able to pick out more dog breeds than many people I know—myself included. It’s empowering for kiddos to be ‘experts’ at something—whether it’s dinosaurs, flowers, planets, or sports—it doesn’t matter. And I really think that this game—which mirrors the format of all of Lucy Hammett’s bingo games—is fantastic.

It supports early learners’ interests, and it facilitates early literacy skills by pairing a picture with the name of the dog. Emerging readers can see the photo of a breed they recently learned (say 'Yorkshire Terrier') and recognize that the first letter of the breed is 'Y' with the second word beginning with a 'T'. They'd then put together what they know about the letter sounds and knowledge about the photo to determine that this dog was indeed the Yorkshire Terrier. Hooray! Voila! The first steps to reading, right here!

Overall, here’s the skinny on Dog Bingo:

We love:

• The colors, the clear print, and the sturdiness of the game pieces;
• The dogs! The dogs! The dogs!
• That the facts about dogs are interesting, relevant, and are easy to understand for all levels of dog-lovers;
• The variety of facts—from information about breeds, dog behavior, and dog history—our dog-knowledge base is rich and varied.
  

We wish:

• That Brady was included in the game—where’s the golden-doodle, labradoodle mix? (Just kidding! Well, kind of. . . );
• That some of the pictures were a little more clear—but that’s just my picky opinion, not my kids’, mind you. . .
  

Here's the Giveaway:

Interested in scoring a Lucy Hammett Bingo Game for your classroom or family?

If Dog Bingo isn’t your thing, that’s fine! The winner of this giveaway will be able to choose any bingo game he or she wants! Seriously—that’s pretty cool. There’s Cat Bingo, Butterfly Bingo, Bug Bingo, Ocean Bingo, Reptile Bingo, Space Bingo, United States Bingo, Weather Bingo—you name it, most likely she’s got it.

All you have to do to win is leave me a comment (with your email address!!) letting me know what bingo game suits your fancy.

Please hop over to Lucy Hammett’s website if you’d like to check out the other bingo game options. This giveaway will end at midnight on Friday, July 30, and the winner will be chosen by random.org.

Good luck, thank you for reading, and happy bingo-playing!

Fyi: Lucy Hammett did not pay me to write this post or do this giveaway. She did, however, kindly offer to give away one bingo game to one of my readers because she’s just that cool and (most likely) wants to spread the bingo-love. My opinions are all my own, influenced only by my three little bingo players and bingo-playing husband.