¡Lotería! This is a classic Mexican bingo game that is played all around the country especially at parties or when celebrating Holidays. It’s not bingo exactly, but they are pretty similar, so I will explain how to play below.
This is a super fun game that I’ve adapted to play in the classroom. Check out this post to see why I love it so much, and why you should too.
This Lotería game teaches all kinds of Spanish vocabulary and give a little taste of Mexican culture. I’ve created Seasonal Lotería Games that you can play in your classroom or at parties all year long. P.S. I’m always working on making more Loteria games to add to this bundle, so keep an eye out for those.
Plus, just because I made these games with classroom use in mind, they are still so much fun to play anywhere at any time!
The Premise of the Game
Game Set Up and Materials Needed
Assign one person to be the “Caller” or “El Gritón” in Spanish. If playing in the classroom, this person is usually the teacher. This person does not use a game board. The caller holds the deck of cards or controls the Google Slide presentation (more on that below).
Each remaining player needs a game board. Each player will need 16 dry beans, tokens, rocks, or other small objects to use as placeholders.
How to Play: Lotería Rules
The caller begins by shuffling the deck, lifting the top card, showing it to the group, and calling out its name. Each player should look over their board to see if they have the referenced image. If they do, they should place a token over that image on their own board.
The game continues until one player fills a complete row of four with tokens (or whatever game pattern is being used), and calls out, “Lotería!” Double check their game board. Whoever fills their board and says, “Lotería!” first wins the round! Play again and again using different game patterns.
Also, remind players to pay close attention to the words being called out, so they don’t miss anything.
Google Slides Call Cards
This is obviously not included in most Loteria games, but I created them for my games. If you are playing Loteria with a set other than the ones I’ve created, you can go ahead and skip this section.
I wanted to add an extra little something to my Loteria games to make them more user friendly especially in larger rooms like classrooms. I created google slide call cards that can be randomized and displayed on a projector screen.
To use these, you need a google account (which you probably already have), and a slide randomizing extension that is super easy to download. The one I use is called “Slides Randomizer.”
How to Install the Slides Randomizer Extension
Click the extensions Tab at the top of the page next to tools and help. Click “Add-ons”. Then select “Get Add-ons.”
Search for “Slides Randomizer,” and select the one you want. Click Install. This will download the extension to Google Slides.
Once downloaded, click the extensions tab on the Google Slides Ribbon. Select “Slides Randomizer.” Then select “Randomize Slides”. Follow the prompts if any. It should ask “Would you like to keep Slide 1 as the title slide?” Select “no.”
Once you do that, put your presentation in present mode, an you’ll be ready for a ton of fun!
Be sure to randomize the presentation every time you play, so you don’t get stuck with the same cards in the same order every time.
If these instructions don’t make sense (I apologize), feel free to watch a video about how to install a google slides extension. There are tons of them on Youtube. This tutorial is the one I used, and it is super helpful.
Different Game Patterns
The great thing about this game is that you can play with tons of different game patterns. I’ll show you the nine most common, but you can feel free to make up any pattern you want! You just have to decide which one you want to use before you begin each round and make sure everyone is on the same page!
You wouldn’t want to run into any confusion at the end of the round with one person blacking out their board, and another making the letter N, and another getting 4 in a row! That would be so chaotic! Anyway, some of my favorite Loteria game patterns are:
Row
Column
Four Corners
Letter N
Square
Diagonal
Letter X
Letter Z
Blackout
I hope you found these instructions helpful. You will play Loteria over and over and over again because it is just so much fun!
Check out my Lotería Games in my Shop!
