Mud counts. So do tulips, tadpoles and the first open window. This spring bingo printable has 118 squares from the garden, rain and mud, animals, days out and the house, with no holiday among them, so it suits any springtime week.
Read the full guide
Indoors: a called game with clues
Give each player a card, press Call the game, then Call the next one. A clue shows under each call, so the caller can read "a shovel for one hand" and wait for someone to say trowel. In our simulation of 4,000 games with 12 cards, the first line took about 38 calls on 5 × 5 and about 15 on 3 × 3.
Outdoors: a card you mark on a walk
Everything in the first three lists, 74 squares, can be found on a walk. Pick Flowers and the garden or Animals and new arrivals in Ready-made list for a walk card. Players mark what they see, hear or smell: a robin, buds on a branch, the smell of rain.
Walk the same route twice, a month apart. In March the card fills with mud and crocuses. By May it wants lilacs and ducklings.
Say before you start that hearing counts: birdsong at dawn, a spring peeper and the first thunderstorm are on the list.
Press Enter after any square in the word list and type your own spring: the creek behind the school, a neighbor's magnolia.
Questions and answers
What counts as a win on a walk?
First to mark five in a row, across, down or corner to corner, calls bingo, and the free center square counts for everyone. On a walk that can take a while, so try four corners or a race to any ten squares.
Can I save the cards as a PDF?
Yes. Print 4 cards opens the browser's print window; choose Save as PDF there to keep a file. This free printable spring bingo needs no account, and cards come two to a page unless you change Cards per printed page under More options.
Why is there no Easter on the list?
Spring holidays have pages of their own, such as Easter bingo, and a card without them works for any office, club or seniors' group. To add them, press Enter after any square under More options and type. Back to the spring list undoes it.
All 118 squares
Flowers and the garden 27
Apple blossomPink-white petals now, fruit by fall.
AsparagusGreen spears that come back on their own each spring.
Bird bathScrubbed, filled and open for business.
Buds on a branchTight knots where the leaves will be.
Cherry blossomIn Japan, gathering under the blooming trees is a centuries-old custom called hanami.
CrocusOne of the first flowers of late winter and early spring, grown from a corm. Saffron comes from a cousin that blooms in autumn.
DaffodilA yellow trumpet grown from a bulb, and the national flower of Wales.
DandelionThe name comes from the French for lion's tooth, after the jagged leaves.
Flower bedRaked, edged and waiting.
ForsythiaA bush whose bright yellow flowers come out before its leaves do.
Garden glovesStiff with last year's dirt.
Garden hoseUncoiled for the first time since fall.
HyacinthA column of small flowers you can smell from across the room.
LilacPurple clusters and the strongest scent on the block.
MagnoliaFlowers the size of teacups.
New leavesThe lightest green of the whole year.
Pussy willowFurry gray catkins that come out before the leaves, named for their likeness to tiny cats.
Show all 118 squares (101 more)
Flowers and the garden, continued
RhubarbSour pink stalks for pie. Only the stalks are eaten: the leaves are poisonous.
Seed packetsA picture on the front, instructions on the back.
SeedlingsTwo small leaves on a thread of stem.
Snap peasPlanted early, because they like it cool.
TrowelA shovel for one hand.
TulipFirst grown as a garden flower in Persia about a thousand years ago. The Dutch craze for the bulbs ran from 1634 to 1637.
VioletsSmall purple flowers hiding in the lawn.
Watering canA spout, a handle and a sprinkle at the end.
WeedsFirst up, last wanted.
WheelbarrowOne wheel, two handles, a full load.
Rain, mud and sky 23
April showersThey bring May flowers, or so the rhyme goes.
Dew on the grassWet shoes before eight in the morning.
DrizzleToo light for an umbrella, too wet to ignore.
First thunderstormThe first rumble of the year.
Last patch of snowGray, shrinking and hiding on the shady side of a building.
Light jacketThe winter coat finally stays on its hook.
Longer eveningsLight in the sky after dinner again.
Morning mistGone by the time the bus comes.
MudWhere the snow used to be.
PollenYellow dust on every parked car.
PuddleA mirror in the driveway.
Puffy cloudsWhite heaps that look like something, if you stare.
Rain bootsMade for the middle of the puddle.
RainbowAlways in the part of the sky opposite the sun, with red on the outside of the arc.
RaincoatA hood, snaps and a drip line on the floor.
Rushing creekSnowmelt and rain, all headed downhill at once.
Smell of rainThe earthy scent of rain on dry ground has a name, petrichor, coined in 1964.
Sneezing fitThree in a row. Blame the trees.
Spring equinoxUsually March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere, and the start of astronomical spring.
Sun showerRain and sunshine at the same moment.
UmbrellaOpens with a snap, flips in a gust.
Warm breezeThe first one that does not make you zip up.
Windy dayHold on to your hat, and your kite.
Animals and new arrivals 24
AnthillA small volcano of sand in a sidewalk crack.
Baby birdsAll beak, and always hungry.
Bee on a flowerBusy, and not interested in you.
Birdsong at dawnThe alarm clock nobody set.
BumblebeeOnly young queens live through the winter. In early spring each comes out to start a new colony.
CalfA newborn in the pasture, staying close to its mother.
CaterpillarEating its way toward wings.
Dewy spider webInvisible until the morning hangs drops on it.
Ducklings in a rowOne parent in front, everyone else in line.
EarthwormOn the sidewalk after every rain. An American robin can find one underground by listening.
FawnSpotted, and hidden in tall grass.
Fluffy chicksYellow, peeping and small enough for one hand.
FoalA newborn horse, mostly legs.
Geese flying northHeaded back the way they came last fall.
LadybugRed, spotted and welcome in any garden.
LambWobbly legs and a tail that never stops.
Monarch butterflyEastern monarchs leave their winter roosts in Mexico in March. The trip north takes two to three generations.
Nest with eggsLook, never touch.
Rabbit on the lawnIt freezes, hoping you have not seen it.
RobinThe American robin lays three to five blue eggs and is among the first birds to sing at dawn.
SnailIt carries its house and leaves a silver line.
Spring peeperA small chorus frog of eastern North America whose chirping call marks the start of spring.
TadpolesYoung frogs, all head and tail. The back legs grow first.
Turtle on a logOut of the mud and into the sun.
Out and about 23
Baseball practiceGloves that still smell like last summer.
BinocularsFor the birds that just got back.
Blowing bubblesA wand, a breath and a breeze to carry them.
Car washGoodbye, road salt.
Farmers marketThe first stalls of the year: greens, eggs and seedlings.
First bike ridePump the tires, find the helmet, go.
Flying a kiteA windy day, a long string and an open field.
Garden centerCarts full of flowers and a very long checkout line.
HopscotchNumbered squares and one small stone.
Ice cream stand opensThe line forms on the first warm Saturday.
Jump ropeCounting out loud is part of it.
Maple sap bucketSap runs as winter ends and spring begins. It takes 20 to 50 parts of sap to boil down to one part of syrup.
Nature walkSame trail as winter, brand new.
Picnic blanketThe ground is still a little damp. Nobody minds.
Planting a treeDig wide, water well, check back in ten years.
PotholeWhat winter left in the road.
Puddle jumpingBoth feet, right in the middle.
Sidewalk chalkGone with the next rain.
Soccer practiceCones, shin guards and a muddy field.
Spring breakA week off, somewhere between March and April.
Street sweeperBrushing up a season of sand and grit.
Swing setThe seats are finally dry.
Walk without a coatThe first one of the year feels like a holiday.
Around the house 21
Closet cleanoutOne bag to keep, two to give away.
Coats packed awaySee you in November.
First cookoutThe grill comes out from under its cover.
First mow of the yearThe mower takes three pulls to believe it.
Flowers on the tableCut from the yard, in any jar that fits.
Laundry on the lineDried by the sun, for free.
Muddy paw printsFrom the back door to the couch.
Muddy shoesLeft on the porch, by order.
Open windowsThe first fresh air in the house since fall.
Patio chairs outWiped down and back on duty.
SandalsA little early, but who is counting.
Screen doorIt slams. It always slams.
Shedding dogEnough fur on the floor to build a second dog.
Short sleevesArms that have not seen the sun in months.
Smell of cut grassSpring, in one breath.
Spring cleaningEvery closet, one weekend.
SunglassesFound in last year's jacket.
Sweeping the porchLeaves from fall, sand from winter.
Washing windowsA winter of grime, inside and out.
Window left open overnightCool air and birds for an alarm clock.
Yard saleEverything must go, mostly to the neighbors.