Guest Post: Cheesy Movie Bingo for Teens

Guest Post: Abby Seymour, Teen Services Librarian, E.D. Locke Public Library

Once a month I have an after-hours program for teens (in grades 6-12) and though I didn't blatantly tie it to Valentine's Day, it worked well for a February movie night. You could truly do this program any time of year though. 

Description: Every teen gets a blank BINGO sheet. As a group, they come up with a list of all the cliches, tropes, and recurring themes of cheesy Hallmark romance movies. For example, the group came up with her foot popping when they kiss, watching a sunset, getting flowers, crying in the rain, etc. They need to come up with enough to fill out the bingo sheet. Try to think of a few examples ahead of time in case your teens run out of suggestions. I didn't have this problem but it could happen! After they fill out their bingo sheets, that's when you reveal the movie. I really recommend waiting until after they fill out their sheets because that way they can't try to predict the movie and also proves that that these cliches really do apply to any of these movies. I picked a few options and had the group vote on one but it would also work if you choose the movie ahead of time yourself.

Supplies: Blank bingo sheets, pencils, a Hallmark movie, and probably some snacks! FYI- the benefit of showing a Hallmark movie is that you can guarantee that it's going to be appropriate since it's made for TV. 

Outcome: Cheesy Movie Bingo was very successful and all the kids had a blast making fun of this movie! I really tried to emphasize that they did not have to like romance movies to come to this program--in fact, it was better if they didn't! Every single teen got bingo because they were so spot on with their predictions. Having the bingo element really did keep them occupied and more invested in the movie.