Book Character BINGO! This was my first virtual event with very low attendance. I had two families play during the event, with about five more play later in the day. I think our virtual programming’s popularity is directly connected to how popular the related franchise is. Pokemon = popular. Dog Man = popular. Generic Book Characters, even with some popular ones thrown in = not so much.
Setup
This program took place on a day I was required to work in our library, so my setup is a bit different. To have a mask off, I have to be in a closed room, and my only real option was the library board room. One wall is a giant window, another is glass facing admin, and the other two are covered in framed awards and maps. I set up in front of the mini dry erase board:
This isn’t the most convenient setup, but it allowed me to have all of my technology connected and have a cute background.
I was planning to livestream from my laptop, but after all the technical issues I had during Dog Man Trivia last week, I decided to use my phone for my cellphone’s internet. Our work wifi is spotty, especially in our filming space, and the publicly circulating hotspots don’t actually work in the library (bad network coverage).
This involved a lot of technology, including:
- Phone on tripod with phone mount for livestreaming
- Laptop for watching stream and responding to comments (off camera)
- Speaker and iPod touch for background music (off camera)
Content
We played three rounds of BINGO, two where we aimed for five in a row, and a final coverall game.
Watch the video here:
All of the BINGO cards have the same 24 characters on them (plus the free space). I include a number beside each character image to help kids and grown-ups quickly find characters they are unfamiliar with. I also used this as an opportunity to book talk some of the characters on the BINGO cards.
Download the BINGO cards here:
Try this link for a lower-quality download (but a smaller file, easier to print).
A full list of the book characters featured (linked to my library’s catalog):
- Dog Man by Dav Pilkey (series)
- Meet Yasmin by Saadia Faruqi (series)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (series)
- The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey (series)
- Smile by Raina Telgemeier (series)
- Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems (series)
- An Elephant & Piggie Biggie! by Mo Willems (series)
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
- Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin and James Dean (series)
- Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry
- Zoey and Sassafras by Asia Citro (series)
- Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney (series)
- Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann (series)
- Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor (series)
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? By Bill Martin Jr.
- Geronimo Stilton by Geronimo Stilton (series)
- The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey (series)
- Don’t Throw It to Mo! By David Adler (series)
- Mia Mayhem Is a Superhero by Kara West (series)
- Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (series)
- Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill (series)
- Sadiq and the Fun Run by Siman Nuurali (series)
- Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business by Lyla Lee (series)
- Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton (series)
I also curated an at-home fun packet, featuring an activity page for each of our book characters. Download here:
And, of course, a Book Character BINGO printable certificate:
