BLOGS > NOVEMBER 30, 2020
BY SHANNON MCCLINTOCK MILLER
December is here and we are just a few weeks away from winter break. Each year, I love dreaming up new ideas and resources to share with our students to use over the holiday.
I have created bookmarks, a Buncee newsletter, and even an Animoto video filled with creative and engaging ways to keep our students reading, learning, creating, and having fun during our time away from school. I want it to be something easy and fun, and something they can do independently or with a family member.
This year, it is especially important to me to bring special places and resources together for our students, as we will be home and often looking for things to do with and without technology. As I was brainstorming and sketching up ideas this week, I thought to myself, “Why not turn this into two Winter Break Bingo Cards?” One could be a paper card and one could be digital to make sure all students can be included in this special winter activity.
The first My Winter Break Bingo card can be printed on paper and passed out or sent home before winter break. You will find it here to print as is or make changes to fit your needs.
To save money on printing, I did change the colors a bit and printed in black and white.
I included all three of the ones to possibly print here. These could be emailed home for families to print, too.
The other bingo card is digital in the form of a choice board, a lot like what I did for the Educator and Librarian Self Care Choice Board and post that you will find here. You will find My Winter Break Bingo choice board here. This is the link you can share with your students to do online. If you’d like to make any changes you will find that link here.
I also turned the digital bingo board into a bookmark to pass out to students right before winter break. I included a short url with bit.ly (bit.ly/mywinterbreakbingo) and the QR code to the digital bingo choice board. You will find the bookmark here to print and hand out to your students, too.
By creating these, I am giving them access to a variety of ideas, resources, and experiences this holiday season.
I hope that your students and families enjoy using the My Winter Break Bingo cards. It’s always important to keep sharing our love of reading and learning with our students, all throughout the year. And what better gift to give them this holiday season?
Shannon McClintock Miller
Director of Innovation of Instructional Technology and Library Media
Van Meter School, Van Meter, IA
Shannon McClintock Miller is the Future Ready Librarians® and Project Connect Spokesperson working with librarians, educators, and students around the world every day as an international speaker, consultant, and author who has a passion for education, librarianship, advocacy, technology, social media, and making a difference in the world and lives of others, especially children. Shannon brings a special expertise and vision to conversations around school libraries, education, technology, creativity, and student voice.
Follow her blog for more ideas and inspiration.
July 17, 2026
Public libraries have spent the past year navigating a book vendor market in motion. If your library has been searching for a public library book vendor with real staying power – one whose ordering technology actually fits how your team...
Read more
Powering Summer Reading Through Partnership and Purpose
July 9, 2026
That’s the impact of this year’s Book Up Summer program, an annual literacy initiative led by Washington-based nonprofit Page Ahead that helps low-income students choose and take home books for summer reading.For the fifth consecutive year, Follett Content supported the...
Read more
New from Follett Content: tonies + Book Bundles Built for Library Circulation
June 23, 2026
New tonies® + Book Bundles from Follett Content are a playful addition to your Library of Things, turning storytime love into everyday reading – all without screens. The unique pairing of audio figurines and print books creates a novel new way...
Read more
An Author Interview with Pedro MartÍn
June 5, 2026
Pedro Martín is the Newbery Honor Award, Pura Belpre Author and Illustrator Award-winning creator of the graphic memoir MEXIKID, based off his online comic series of the same name. In this extraordinary graphic memoir companion, MEXIKID DREAMS, hilarious family hijinks, immigration...
Read more
We're Book People: The Summer Reads That Made Us Readers
June 5, 2026
Maybe it was a rainy afternoon, a long road trip in the back of the minivan, or a reason to convince mom for a trip out of the house to the library. For most of us who found our way...
Read more
An Author Interview with Kim Michele Richardson
June 2, 2026
My Kentucky Moonlight School is a delightful picture book based on the early 20th century’s real-life Moonlight Schools. Pairing engaging, authentic text with vibrant, energetic artwork, best-selling Kentucky author Kim Michele Richardson crafts a heartfelt and timely reminder of the power of...
Read more