Bird Bingo

It was a sunny day and the teddy bears were sitting out on a bench in the garden. Bees were buzzing, butterflies were fluttering and birds were singing and flying around. It was very peaceful. So peaceful in fact that many of the bears were beginning to fall asleep.

Bubbles suddenly sat up straight and pointed at the bird feeder. "What's that bird on there?" he asked. Nobody seemed to know. "Is it a robin?" asked Harry, seeing a hint of red in the bird's feathers. "Is it a pigeon?" asked Henry, who really only knew the name of one bird.

"No to both of you," replied Bubbles. "It's a bullfinch!"

"It seems that we're not very good at recognising our birds," said Scary. "Maybe we should learn some of their names." The other bears didn't seem very enthusiastic.

"How about we play a game - and learn which birds are which at the same time?" asked Bubbles. "There may even be a prize in it for someone. And think how much it will help when we do the RSPB Bird Watch next year."

Now the other bears were becoming more interested. "OK," said Harry. "I'd like to learn some bird names, and I like the idea of winning a prize for it." He smiled.

Bubbles and Scary laughed. "Well, if that's what it takes," said Bubbles, "I'll go and find a game we can all play." He ran off inside and came back very shortly with a sheaf of papers and a big box of coloured counters. Everyone gathered around him.

"This is something I call Bird Bingo," explained Bubbles. "You each take a piece of paper and a handful of counters. On your sheets of paper there are pictures of 16 different garden birds in a grid of 4 by 4. The idea is that you cover with a counter the picture of the bird that matches any you see in the garden.

Under each picture there are some characteristics about the bird such as the colour of its feathers or the length of its tail so you can check you have chosen the correct bird. There is also the name of the bird so you can learn it for future use. The first person to fill in a row, horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins a prize. If anyone manages to cover all of the pictures they receive a big box of chocolates."

Everyone was fully awake by now and very excited, except for Harry who looked a little glum.

"What's up, Harry?" asked Scary, noticing Harry didn't look too happy.

"I'm not sure I'm quick enough to see a bird and then match it to the pictures," complained Harry. "Everyone else will be much faster than me."

"Oh, is that all?" said Scary. "I tell you what - how about you and I become a team and work together. Then we can help each other."

Harry's face brightened at this and he nodded enthusiastically. "Thank you, Scary," he said, "I'd like that."

A few of the other bears decided to team up in twos too and very soon they were all keenly looking out for the first bird visitor.

"Look!" shouted Richard. "There's a bird on the bird feeder." A very prettily coloured bird was clinging to one of the feeders and eating peanuts. "Now, which one is he?" Richard murmured, looking down the pictures on his sheet of paper.

All the other bears were trying to find the right picture too. Lots of little paws began to move counters onto their papers to cover the picture of the bird they thought it was.

They all sat quietly for a long while, pointing at different birds as they flew into the garden. Good job the bears had filled all the bird feeders that morning! It was amazing the number of birds that visited.

Too soon they all heard Henry shout "Bingo!" They all stopped what they were doing and looked over to Henry. He had teamed up with Edward and they called Bubbles over to check their counters. He eventually agreed that they had seen the four birds they had marked off in a diagonal row on the sheet of paper.

"Well done!" he exclaimed, and presented them with some sweeties.

The bears continued their game well into the afternoon. Everyone managed to find at least one row of 4 birds, so everyone won some sweeties. But no-one managed to cover every single picture.

Bubbles explained that sometimes a certain type of bird just didn't come into gardens every day, so there might be a chance that not all the birds on their sheets of paper would visit. But, so as not to disappoint anyone, and because they had all joined in to play the game so readily, he declared that he would open the big box of chocolates and everyone could share them! Thanks, Bubbles!

If you would like to play the Bird Bingo game, you can download the Bingo sheet here.

Have fun!