Lotería Card Making - Mexico Bingo Cards

Lotería has been a fun game my family plays at parties and gatherings. Nowadays, lotería cards can be easily printed from the internet and virtual apps have been made but I still find the crafty side of me having fun making the cards. I didn't find many guides online to help make the bingo cards. I figured it's such common knowledge and so many different ways it's likely you know someone that will give you advice. Anyhow, I've been trying to share more on Instructables and decided to make a guide for others that might have never heard of lotería/Mexican bingo.

Some background info, the set I am most familiar with is the “Don Clemente Gallo” edition. However, there are various iterations by different artist and art styles. So, if there's a particular set of character's you want to craft with, go for it! This particular set, I've seen used for giftwrapping, purse prints, t-shirts, earrings, and tons more. Pop culture has adopted lotería as a fun way to share Mexican culture. There was even a Google Doodle back in 2019 dedicated to lotería, visit here. So, I encourage you to try this out with a group of friends and play some games, and if you want, make it interesting by putting some prizes for the winner!

I can see finding the images on a paper roll like me might be difficult for some. I live near the border and can easily find them by visiting Mexico or flea markets. If you don't have easy access to the paper rolls locally, try looking for them on Etsy or Ebay. I've seen a few posts that can ship them to you. Send me a message and I can try to help in anyway I can.

• Loteria images, 54 different characters
• Cardboard, approx. 8.5" x 5.5" per card
• Scissors
• Mod Podge
• Brushes
• Newspaper to keep surfaces clean

Optional, but very helpful

• Utility knife
• Paper sheet cutter
• Straight edge

I used old shipping boxes from my online orders, but you could use cardstock, poster board, anything the glue will stick to. The cardboard is used as backing to glue the image tiles onto. The cards should be slightly larger than a 4x4 grid of the image tiles. I made a "master" card as a reference to make cards similar size.

I used a paper cutter to cut the images into individual tiles, but could easily be done with scissors. I chose to not cut on the black border so the cutting would go faster.

Now that the tiles are cut, put some Mod Podge glue onto the cardboard and use the brush to spread it evenly. You can apply the glue in sections as you go since it can dry fast if it's a thin layer of glue.

Take the individual tiles and start placing them on the cardboard to form a 4x4 grid. Be careful to not place duplicates on the same card. Place the tiles as random as possible to create variety between cards. Once all 16 tiles are on the card let the glue fully dry, about 30 - 60 minutes.

Once the glue is dry, put another layer of Mod Podge on top of the images to create a protective layer. The glue dries clear and a bit glossy so you'll be fine as the glue dries. You'll want to wait for the glue to dry after placing the tiles because if you apply the protective layer too soon the tiles will curl up from the wet glue.

I made the cards quite a bit bigger than needed to be so there was a thick border. I used a straight edge and utility knife to decrease the margin size. Trimming gave the cards a much cleaner look. Now your cards are complete, let's play some BINGO!

You'll need a deck of cards with the 54 different images, which you can find when you purchase the paper roll with the images. There's also several apps available that will shuffle the deck and announce the cards for you. You'll also need some tidbits to mark your card during the game. I've used pennies, beans, bottle caps, anything works that is removeable after each game. Each person playing should get at least one card and if you have extras everyone can get multiple cards to play.

One person will be calling the cards from the deck one by one, this is where app comes in handy. They can play the round but some people opt out so they don't get distracted and miss a tile on their game card.

To win, you need to make certain patterns, for example, 4-in-a-row and diagonals. Visit this link to see a useful GIF of all the possible ways to win. When you get a winning pattern, say bingo to let everyone know! If you have a tie, you can let players continue the until one gets the next winning pattern. Or continue drawing cards from the deck and the player that fills a tile on their card first wins. Or let the game end in a draw, it's not necessary to have a single player win too.

Some variations on the rules can help keep the game interesting. You could limit the possible ways of winning to make the game go longer or make the game goal to fill every tile on the game card. Just have fun and practice your Spanish at the same time.