Diversity Bingo

To note: a large group of participants is recommended for this activity.

1. Introduce that this is a game of bingo.
2. Give each person a copy of the bingo card (see example on the link)
3. Instruct them to complete the bingo card, by talking with the people in the room and finding out if they meet the criteria in the boxes. 
4. Participants should ask the person to sign their name or initials in the appropriate box, of the criteria they meet.
5. They must talk to as many different people in the room as possible and should be encouraged (depending on group size) to not repeat the same person more than twice on their bingo card.
6. Once a person completes their card, they should shout “BINGO”
7. Once all participants are confident with the approach, the leader can start the activity and encourage them to complete the game of bingo!
8. The person who shouted BINGO must now share the names and interesting criteria about the people they met - the leader should ask for confirmation if this is all correct, before declaring a winner. If not correct, the activity continues until someone else shouts Bingo.

The leader can adapt the approach and number of names required depending on the age section and time allocated to the activity.

Please refer to the Learning Objectives above for each age group when explaining, facilitating, and recapping this activity. Select the questions relevant to the age group and their objectives.

• What did you learn from this activity?
• How difficult or easy was the activity?
• Were you able to identify people similar to you, that have had similar experiences to you?
• Were you able to identify people different from you?
• What differences surprised you the most?
• One thing you learnt about someone else that you didn’t know?
• What similarities surprised you the most?
• Did any differences make you think less or more of a person?
• Why might this be problematic? (Talk about how first impressions are not everything and that we should be accepting of all types of people)
• How can we make the most of those differences and commonalities for our future projects?

Note the fact that everyone in the room is different. Note specifically any differences that are apparent, such as the ages of group members, the neighbourhoods they are from, the types of community they live in, the place they come from, the things they like or dislike, etc.

As the adult leader, you should also encourage other reflection and questions based on your knowledge, experience and desired objectives