Hi everyone,
A group of kids that I get to teach are getting older and need a little bit more than just singing, dancing and jumping around.
I would really like introduce bingo and concentration into their class time but I have a few student who just can't handle not winning.
To the point where there are a few tears and they need a bit of chill out time.
I think I know what to do with concentration. when they get a match, I ask for the cards and at the end, no one can count their pairs and claim to be the winner.
Does anyone have any ideas on bingo?
Either changing the rules, changing the kid's minds or giving some advice on how I can fix my own teaching methods?

Welcome to the forums

I have some crying and frustration episodes, but the students usually bounce back. If it's really bad, I may talk to them about it in their native language (Japanese,) but not everyone has that luxury. I usually explain about winning and losing, but more so that we just play the games to have fun practicing. The real goal is not to win games or get stickers, but rather, the goal is to learn and grow.

That is usually met with the reaction you might expect. "Whatever, Mark, I want the stickers!"

But I think they get it deep down somewhere.

What I usually do is just keep playing bingo until everyone has at least made 1 bingo. I then announce to the group that the next card will be the last card. I give out small stickers for each bingo line. So, if the student has 3 bingos, they would get 3 stickers. This is a little less competitive since the players aren't really trying to beat each other. They are just trying to get the most bingo lines that they can.

They of course have lost or won in the overall, but it seems to work for me.

With older groups I make it more competitive. I tell them that when I get bingo, the game is over. So, there are times when students lose and walk away with nothing, but they are usually older and at least don't start crying.

I do the same for concentration. I award stickers for the number of pairs each student makes.

I'm a little careful about watching and making sure one student isn't losing repeatedly at the same game, over and over again. Concentration is a game that some people are just bad at. So, if I have someone like that, I'll try to avoid the game if possible.

Where are you teaching? What are your group sizes?

Thanks Mark for sharing some very good information.
I'm located in Kakegawa teaching a range of ages with the group size from 4 to 6. For the younger kindergarten students parent(s) and siblings are invited to come along, so the classroom can get a little bit busy. The school is still in its infancy and has been running for about 4 months.
I sat down last night and had another crack at the issue. The older kids get it and the competition is passionate but more lite hearted. It is the kindergarten students that seem to revert back to their baby stage "crying fits".
I actively encourage the parents to participate (ie help their child answer what the flashcard is or even explain in Japanese) so I think I will try to get the kids to compete against their parents. Then have some group games where the parent(s) and child are teammates but there is no scoring system.
I think then once they get comfortable with winning and losing with their parents maybe we can "level up" and get them to compete against each other. When that happens I can use your advice to get them "over the line".

I've come back to your method many times and really like the concept but have just not had enough experience to be able to present it in a fun way. From next year, I would like to change that and use more of your training method. My students are so happy with learning English and they have made progress, but really I would like them to progress a little bit faster.