Weather bingo for kids: twenty-four picture cards to print, with sun, rain and thunderstorm and coat 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.
Weather 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 weather 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: “Gives light and warmth and drives our weather” is the sun, and “Easy to see on a clear night” is the moon. The first child to cover a full row, column or diagonal calls bingo and reads the covered pictures back to check.
Weather 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 weather 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☀️ | sun | Sky | Gives light and warmth and drives our weather |
| 🌧️ | rain | Rain | Falls when the water drops in clouds get too heavy |
| ⛈️ | thunderstorm | Storm | Brings rain, thunder and lightning together |
| 🌩️ | lightning | Storm | A giant spark of electricity in a storm cloud |
| ❄️ | snowflake | Snow and ice | Each flake is a tiny ice crystal with six sides |
| ⛄ | snowman | Snow and ice | Made by rolling snow into big balls |
| 🌈 | rainbow | Sky | Appears when sunlight shines through raindrops |
| ☁️ | cloud | Sky | Millions of tiny water drops floating in the sky |
| 🌪️ | tornado | Storm | A spinning funnel of wind that touches the ground |
| 🌫️ | fog | Sky | A cloud that touches the ground |
| 💨 | wind | Wind | Moving air |
| 🌤️ | sun and cloud | Sky | A partly cloudy sky |
| 🌙 | moon | Night sky | Easy to see on a clear night |
| ⭐ | star | Night sky | Easier to spot when the sky is clear |
| ☂️ | umbrella | Weather gear | Keeps you dry in the rain |
| 🌡️ | thermometer | Measuring | Measures how hot or cold the air is |
| 💧 | raindrop | Rain | One drop of falling water |
| 🧣 | scarf | Weather gear | Keeps your neck warm in cold weather |
| 🧤 | gloves | Weather gear | Keep your hands warm in the cold |
| 🕶️ | sunglasses | Weather gear | Protect your eyes from bright sun |
| 🥶 | freezing | How it feels | Cold enough that water turns to ice |
| 🥵 | boiling hot | How it feels | A very hot day |
| 🌬️ | blowing wind | Wind | Strong wind that moves trees and kites |
| 🧥 | coat | Weather gear | Keeps you warm and dry |
The 24 pictures fall into these groups:
| Group | Number | Which ones |
|---|---|---|
| Sky | 5 | sun, rainbow, cloud, fog and sun and cloud |
| Weather gear | 5 | umbrella, scarf, gloves, sunglasses and coat |
| Storm | 3 | thunderstorm, lightning and tornado |
| Rain | 2 | rain and raindrop |
| Snow and ice | 2 | snowflake and snowman |
| Wind | 2 | wind and blowing wind |
| Night sky | 2 | moon and star |
| How it feels | 2 | freezing and boiling hot |
| Measuring | 1 | thermometer |
Wikipedia’s weather article explains what causes rain, wind, clouds and storms.
Weather activities for kids: a five-day weather unit
Weather bingo works well as the finish of a short weather unit. The pack has 24 pictures, which cover sky, rain, storms, snow, wind and what we wear. Spread them across a week and use the game on Friday as a review.
| Day | Topic | Pictures to talk about |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Sun and clouds | sun, cloud, sun and cloud, sunglasses |
| Tuesday | Rain | rain, raindrop, umbrella, rainbow |
| Wednesday | Wind and storms | wind, blowing wind, thunderstorm, lightning, tornado |
| Thursday | Snow and ice | snowflake, snowman, freezing, scarf, gloves, coat |
| Friday | Review | Play weather bingo with all 24 pictures |
Seasons bingo: sort the cards by season
Turn the game into seasons bingo by asking which season each picture belongs to. Snowflake, scarf and gloves are winter, rain and rainbow suit spring, sun and sunglasses suit summer, and wind and fog suit autumn. Many pictures belong to more than one season, which makes a good discussion.
How many different weather 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 weather 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.
Weather bingo for preschoolers and learning ideas
Weather bingo is a favorite for weather and seasons units, because the pictures and words cover everything from sun and snow to tornadoes and the clothes we wear. Try these ways to turn the game into a lesson:
- Weather report: children take turns as the weather reporter and call the pictures like a forecast.
- What to wear: after each call, ask what you would wear: a coat, sunglasses, gloves or an umbrella.
- Season sort: sort the called pictures into spring, summer, autumn and winter, and talk about why.
- Weather chart: use the pictures to record the real weather each morning for a week.
- Make a rainbow: shine a torch through a glass of water onto white paper, then find the rainbow card.
- Cloud watching: lie on the grass, look for shapes in the clouds and find the cloud card on your board.
Weather bingo: frequently asked questions
Which pictures are in the weather bingo pack?
There are 24: sun, rain, thunderstorm, lightning, snowflake, snowman, rainbow, cloud, tornado, fog, wind, sun and cloud, moon, star, umbrella, thermometer, raindrop, scarf, gloves, sunglasses, freezing, boiling hot, blowing wind and coat.
Which group has the most pictures in weather bingo?
Sky is the biggest group with 5 of the 24 pictures: sun, rainbow, cloud, fog, sun and cloud. The next biggest is Weather gear, with 5.
Which pictures are easy to mix up?
Rain and raindrop, wind and blowing wind, thunderstorm and lightning, and sun and sun and cloud are the near-duplicates, and freezing and snowflake both mean cold. 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 weather 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.