Maintain Your Goals With A New Year's Resolution Bingo Card
Reaching your New Year’s goals just got a little livelier and more active with New Year's resolution bingo. As a new year dawns, many people use this fresh start to achieve their goals. For example, in 2025, 21% of adults set their resolution to save more money, according to Statista. Adults wanted to eat healthier, to exercise more and to lose weight at 19%, 17% and 15%, respectively. Other common resolutions include spending more time with friends and family and quitting smoking.
While making a New Year’s resolution can be easy, keeping it may be difficult. It often takes a lot of changes in habits and the creation of new routines. And they’re often abandoned after a few weeks or a few months because they’re too ambitious. That’s where something fun like New Year's resolution bingo comes into play.
Instead of just setting a regular resolution list, New Year's resolution bingo turns it into a game. This gamification leads to a more engaging, fun, and exciting way to reach your goals. So, how do you play? Let's dig into your new favorite game...
Jump to Section
- What Is New Year's Resolution Bingo?
- New Year's Bingo Or A New Year's List?
- How To Create a New Year's Bingo Card
- New Year Bingo Resolution Ideas
What Is New Year's Resolution Bingo?
New Year's resolution bingo combines goal-achieving with the classic game of marking blocks off on a card. New Year's resolution bingo typically features 25 different goals or activities, arranged in a 5x5 grid. What you put in each square can be customized based on your goals or interests. We recommend making your goals SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. So instead of saying "read more," use the SMART method to state something like "Read self-help 10 books to learn more about budgeting and time management by June so that I can start investing my money more wisely to reach my goal of $10k in savings by the end of the year."
New Year's resolution bingo still requires you to commit, but in a less strenuous way. With a mix of ambitious goals that might take weeks or months and mini goals you can achieve in a few days, you can feel more motivated to check that box off. As you complete one of the goals, you can cross it out. Get five in a row, and you’ve got yourself a bingo! One major part of the game is to reward yourself with a treat each time you get bingo. Make it something fun, like a new piece of tech you've been wanting or a vacation to a new destination (which could also be one of your bingo blocks!).
New Year's Bingo Or A New Year's List?
When many people think of resolutions for the New Year, they make a list of goals they want to achieve. Unfortunately, a long list can feel like an overwhelming task to complete. And, without a concrete plan or SMART goals, lists of resolutions can be vague. Large, overwhelming goals, such as simply wanting to lose weight, can be much harder to tackle and stick to than stating them specifically with a measurable timeframe and a nice reward when you achieve them.
The vagueness and lack of concrete plans may lead some to lose motivation. For some, life may get in the way and achieving goals may fall by the wayside as other things take priority. After a few weeks or months, New Year’s goals may no longer be at the forefront. Plus, it can be harder to get back on track after being off your goals, especially when there is no plan or a smaller goal to work toward along the way.
However, New Year's resolution bingo can help you stay on track a little easier. After creating a New Year's resolution bingo card, you can display it somewhere and cross off goals as you complete them. Not only are you motivated to achieve your goals, but you’ll also see the thrill of getting a bingo — the beauty of gamification. You can choose goals — whether they’re big or small — that will help you get five in a row. Being able to choose goals instead of tackling a bunch of them at once can keep you motivated for longer.
If you don’t achieve a goal in one month or it’s not crossed out, you can roll it over to the next month. This lessens the chance of failure, since you’re giving yourself another chance to achieve it. Bingo boards are also a good way to break up larger goals, such as losing weight, into more manageable goals for the month. It makes working towards a larger project feel achievable. You can even do a little bingo card inception by creating a bingo card (or checklist) for each goal on your main New Year's resolution bingo card. More cards, more rewards!
How To Create a New Year's Bingo Card
To create a New Year's resolution bingo card, you’ll need some form of paper and a writing utensil. Or you can use an online editor like Canva. You can create a bingo card on a large piece of poster paper to hang up somewhere, print it out, or put it in an art journal; whichever helps you keep up with maintaining your goals.
Start by creating a five-by-five grid that will serve as your New Year's resolution bingo board. Within each box, write a goal or resolution in a random order. It may be helpful to first write out a list of 25 goals, then fill in the boxes with your ideas after rolling a die. Consider both big and small goals, such as goals you can complete over a few months, as well as a few weeks or days. You can also use this to create small goals that help you work towards a large one.
Once your New Year's resolution bingo is complete, you can start working on achieving and crossing out boxes. After getting five in a row, as suggested before, you may want to treat yourself to a little prize.
We reach our goals a little more easily when we have an accountability partner. If you're more of a social person, you can gather a group of like-minded friends or family members and play New Year's resolution bingo together. Then, at the end of the year, throw a grand resolution party. Set up a PowerPoint Night and serve your most elegant New Year’s Eve cocktails and delicious New Year’s Eve food, and celebrate your achievements together.
New Year Bingo Resolution Ideas
There are plenty of options to put on a New Year's resolution bingo card. It’s important to choose a variety of goals to give yourself options to get a bingo. Think of different categories, such as mindfulness activities, health-based goals and wellness activities, as well as a mix of long-term and short-term goals.
Some general ideas for your New Year's resolution bingo card may include the following (but remember to take these and make them SMART depending on your situation):
- Read 10 books
- Have 5 phone-free evenings
- Try a new walking trail
- Learn how to play tennis
- Run a half marathon
- Try a new restaurant
- Eat more vegetables
- Do yoga 4 times a week
- Visit a new country
- Volunteer once a week
- Save $2,000
- Cook a new recipe
- Go on 3 friend dates
- Start a gratitude journal
- Join a new club
Customize your resolution bingo cards with goals you’re interested in completing to help keep your motivation at a high. Check out more New Year's resolution ideas to inspire your upcoming bingo board.
Instead of writing a long list of resolutions, play New Year's resolution bingo. By gamifying your goals, you may feel more motivated and engaged. This can make you more engaged in sticking with them for months or throughout the year. With New Year's resolution bingo, you can start the year off right and achieve whatever you set your mind to.
For even more fun ideas to welcome in the New Year, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!
