Ocean animal bingo for kids: twenty-four picture cards to print, with whale, dolphin and shark and crocodile on bright cards for preschool, kindergarten and parties. Print up to 200 different cards with calling cards to cut out, or play online, where each picture is read aloud. Free, with no sign-up.
Ocean animal bingo: printable cards and online game
Below are a 4 by 4 card with words, a 3 by 3 picture-only card, the calling cards and the online game.
How to play ocean animal bingo
Give each child a card, draw a calling card and say the word, and children cover that picture if it is on their card. For a harder game, give the clue instead and let them work out the word: “The blue whale is the biggest animal ever known” is the whale, and “Built by tiny animals called polyps” is the coral. The first child to cover a full row, column or diagonal calls bingo and reads the covered pictures back to check.
Ocean animal bingo win patterns to try
One line, four corners, two lines and blackout all work with this pack, and the picture bingo for kids page has the table of patterns. A blackout on a 5 by 5 card covers 24 of this pack’s 24 pictures, so that game lasts until almost the whole pack has been called.
All 24 pictures in the ocean animals picture bingo pack
These are the 24 pictures that can appear on a card. The word column is what the game says aloud and prints under each picture, and the last column gives a clue to talk about.
| Picture | Word | Group | Clue to talk about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐳 | whale | Mammal | The blue whale is the biggest animal ever known |
| 🐬 | dolphin | Mammal | Breathes air and talks in clicks and whistles |
| 🦈 | shark | Fish | Has a skeleton of cartilage, not bone |
| 🐙 | octopus | Mollusc | Has eight arms |
| 🦑 | squid | Mollusc | Has eight arms and two longer tentacles |
| 🦀 | crab | Crustacean | Walks sideways on ten legs |
| 🦞 | lobster | Crustacean | Has two big claws |
| 🐠 | tropical fish | Fish | Lives on warm coral reefs |
| 🐡 | pufferfish | Fish | Puffs up with water when scared |
| 🐢 | sea turtle | Reptile | Comes ashore to lay eggs on the beach |
| 🦭 | seal | Mammal | Has flippers and a thick layer of blubber |
| 🐚 | shell | Shore find | A hard home for soft animals such as snails and clams |
| 🪸 | coral | Reef | Built by tiny animals called polyps |
| 🦐 | shrimp | Crustacean | Flicks its tail to dart backward |
| 🐟 | fish | Fish | Breathes underwater with gills |
| 🪼 | jellyfish | Soft-bodied animal | Has no brain, bones or heart |
| 🦦 | otter | Mammal | Sea otters hold hands while they sleep |
| 🐧 | penguin | Bird | Cannot fly but swims fast |
| ⛵ | sailboat | On the water | The wind pushes the sails |
| 🌊 | wave | On the water | Made by wind blowing across the water |
| ⚓ | anchor | On the water | Stops a ship from drifting away |
| 🏝️ | island | On the water | Land with water all round it |
| 🧜 | mermaid | Make-believe | A story creature, half girl and half fish |
| 🐊 | crocodile | Reptile | Some kinds live in salt water |
The 24 pictures fall into these groups:
| Group | Number | Which ones |
|---|---|---|
| Mammal | 4 | whale, dolphin, seal and otter |
| Fish | 4 | shark, tropical fish, pufferfish and fish |
| On the water | 4 | sailboat, wave, anchor and island |
| Crustacean | 3 | crab, lobster and shrimp |
| Mollusc | 2 | octopus and squid |
| Reptile | 2 | sea turtle and crocodile |
| Shore find | 1 | shell |
| Reef | 1 | coral |
| Soft-bodied animal | 1 | jellyfish |
| Bird | 1 | penguin |
| Make-believe | 1 | mermaid |
Wikipedia’s marine life article describes the plants and animals that live in the sea.
Under the sea bingo: an ocean theme preschool plan
Ocean bingo is easy to stretch into a full lesson, and sea animal bingo works as a quiet game after a story about the sea.
Under the sea bingo fits neatly into an ocean theme week. On day one, play with the 3 by 3 picture-only card and talk about where each animal lives. On day two, sort the animals into sea mammals, fish and shell animals. On day three, use the 4 by 4 card with words so children link each picture to its written word, and finish with a sea animal craft. The pack has 24 pictures, so the game stays fresh all week.
How many different ocean animal bingo cards are there?
Cards are built from this pack’s 24 pictures in random order. The table shows how many different cards that makes:
| Card size | Pictures | Free space | Different layouts | Different sets of pictures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 × 3 | 8 | free star in the middle | 29,654,190,720 | 735,471 |
| 4 × 4 | 16 | no free space | 15,388,105,201,717,248,000 | 735,471 |
| 5 × 5 | 24 | free star in the middle | 620,448,401,733,239,439,360,000 | 1 |
Play ocean animal bingo online
Press Create game on a tablet or phone and share the link: each picture is read aloud and children tap it on their own card. The guide to playing bingo online with friends covers hosting.
Ocean bingo and sea animal bingo learning ideas
Ocean animal bingo is a favorite for ocean theme preschool units, and it builds vocabulary about sea life, from whale and octopus to coral and anchor. Try these ways to turn the game into a lesson:
- Sea creature sounds: blow bubbles for the fish and make a “whoosh” for the whale.
- Mammal or not? sort the pictures into sea mammals (whale, dolphin, seal and otter) and everything else.
- How many arms? count the arms of the octopus and squid and the legs of the crab and lobster.
- Under the sea scene: after the game, make a collage of the animals on a blue background with shells and sand.
- Beach walk: play before a trip to the beach or an aquarium and tick off what you see.
- Protect the ocean: talk about why coral and turtles need clean water.
Ocean animal bingo: frequently asked questions
Which pictures are in the ocean animal bingo pack?
There are 24: whale, dolphin, shark, octopus, squid, crab, lobster, tropical fish, pufferfish, sea turtle, seal, shell, coral, shrimp, fish, jellyfish, otter, penguin, sailboat, wave, anchor, island, mermaid and crocodile.
Which group has the most pictures in ocean animal bingo?
Mammal is the biggest group with 4 of the 24 pictures: whale, dolphin, seal, otter. The next biggest is Fish, with 4.
Which pictures are easy to mix up?
Fish, tropical fish and pufferfish, octopus and squid, whale and dolphin, and crab, lobster and shrimp are the groups that need a moment of talk before the game. Talk through the differences before the first game, then use the clue column to check that everyone has the right word.
Which card sizes does the ocean animal bingo pack support?
A 3 by 3 card uses 8 of the 24 pictures, a 4 by 4 card uses 16 and a 5 by 5 card uses 24, so every card is a different mix.
Pictures: Twemoji by X Corp, licensed CC BY 4.0.