Balloons Over Broadway Vocabulary Bingo | A Thanksgiving Activity & Game

Bring vocabulary to life with this interactive, hands-on Vocabulary Bingo game designed specifically for Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet!

Whether you're planning your Thanksgiving literacy lessons, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade units, STEM tie-ins, or read-aloud comprehension activities, this vocabulary review game keeps students engaged while reinforcing key academic and story-specific words.

Students fill out their own 25-grid Bingo board using the provided word list, then listen closely as you read definitions aloud. It's a fun, low-prep way to build word-definition matching skills and explore the history, engineering, and creativity of Tony Sarg!

What’s Included

• Printable Vocabulary Bingo Sheet (25-grid layout with student instructions built directly onto the page)
• Complete Balloons Over Broadway Vocabulary List (Features key terms like engineer, invention, mechanical, helium, tethering, parade, puppet, marionette, and more)
• Teacher Call Sheet & Definition Cards for seamless game management
• Easy-to-Follow Setup & Instructions for whole-group or small-group play

Skills Reinforced

• Vocabulary recall, recognition, and context clues
• Word–definition matching
• Active listening comprehension
• Text-to-word connections
• ELA, STEM, and Social Studies cross-curricular connections
• Thanksgiving & parade-themed literacy

Perfect For

• Balloons Over Broadway read-aloud companion activities
• Thanksgiving week literacy centers & whole-group review
• STEM / Engineering tie-in lessons
• Fast finishers & partner games
• Emergency substitute plans

Why You'll Love It

This interactive Bingo game transforms vocabulary practice into a memorable, high-engagement activity. Instead of passive memorization, students actively listen for definitions and reinforce academic terms used across ELA, science, and social studies. It requires minimal prep—just print, distribute, and play!

A read-aloud copy of Balloons Over Broadway is recommended but not included, a link is provided within.

If you use this resource, please leave a review — it helps other teachers find it and lets me know what to create next. Thank you for supporting independent educators!

©  The Bewitched Teacher. For single-classroom use. Please purchase additional licenses for sharing with colleagues.