Facilitation Technique Category: Leisure Education

Title: Leisure Bingo

Source: Dattilo, J. (n.d.). Leisure Education. In Facilitation Techniques in Therapeutic
Recreation (3rd ed., pp. 569-591). Venture Publishing.
Equipment: Paper, marker, stickers
Activity Description:
Leisure education is a term that has a wide variety of meaning, but broadly, it is defined
as a process of teaching leisure-related skills, attitudes, and values to help individuals address
challenges that may arise when pursuing meaningful leisure experiences. The purpose of leisure
education programs is to encourage people to actively participate in physically and mentally
healthy programs, to empower them to make decisions and discover new information and
resources about leisure, and help them navigate through stressful transitions throughout their
lives. The purpose of participating in Leisure Bingo is to learn new and interesting recreation
activities. This activity works best with a large group of people, depending on how many
facilitators and volunteers are available to assist in facilitating the activity, the more participants
that can participate at one time. It is recommended that the ratio of facilitator to participant is
1:10. Prior to the activity, the facilitator prepares the equipment by drawing a large square on a
piece of paper, then drawing 2 horizontal and 2 vertical lines so that the square is divided into 9
equally sized boxes. The instructor writes a leisure-related activity in each of the squares using
both common and slightly obscure recreation activities. Enough copies are made for each person
and distributed. Participants can be instructed that when prompted, the task is to find people who
have participated in various activities on their cards and to ask what benefits they receive from
participating in an activity on the card. The participant will write the benefits in the square with
the activity it corresponds to. Only one benefit is found per square, so that the participant will
talk to 9 different people. When the participant finds the benefit, the person spoken to will initial
that box. This continues until one person completes the card and says Bingo!. The activity is
then debriefed by asking participants if they learned about any new or interesting recreation
activities and are then encouraged to participate with other group members who identified an
interest in similar activities.
Leadership considerations:
A CTRS can be the facilitator of this activity. Regardless of the title, the facilitator should
have some foundational knowledge on the importance of leisure education with different
populations. The facilitator should know the population he/she will be working with to make
appropriate adaptations to the activity before implementing the activity. The CTRS should have
all the materials necessary for the activity prepared beforehand. The CTRS should encourage
participants to understand leisure, consider benefits of participation in leisure, help participants
realize the flexibility of leisure, and identify contexts that are conducive for leisure. The CTRS
should encourage clients to recognize people who could serve as resources, locate facilities
providing recreation activities, understand participation requirements, identify applicable
materials, equipment, and apparel. The CTRS should be aware of the environment and create
option-rich, responsive, and informative environments. The CTRS should also understand what

motivates the group and how they are motivated to be involved in recreation activities, to be
open to making changes as necessary to programs.
Adaptations:
Participants with Lou Gehrigs Disease/Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis:
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrigs disease is a progressive,
neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord ("What is
ALS?"). ALS is characterized by individuals having difficulty walking or doing normal daily
activities, weakness in the legs, feet or ankles, slurred speech or trouble swallowing, weakness in
the hands or clumsiness, muscle cramps and twitching in the arms, shoulders and tongue, as well
as difficulty holding his/her head up or keeping good posture. To adapt this activity to an
individual who has ALS, have larger gripped writing utensils. The CTRS can also adapt the pen
by taking a tennis ball and poking a hole through it, then getting a long pen and putting it
through, so the grip is larger and easier to use. As pinch strength and dexterity decrease,
handwriting may become more difficult. Enlarging the writing utensil with a triangular grip or
cylindrical foam will position the fingers, reduce strength needed, and make writing easier and
more legible. If the facilitator decides that this may still present a challenge to individuals,
instead of having participants initial by the box, the facilitator can provide each individual with
his/her own unique stickers that when they find something in common, they can provide their
unique sticker for the other person to stick onto the square. The CTRS can provide cushions for
support. Due to individuals presenting with the possibility of slurred speech, provide the
participant enough time to speak, resist the urge to finish his/her sentence or offer him/her words
and ask questions to clarify the message from the individual.
Participants who have Myasthenia Gravis:
Myasthenia Gravis is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by
varying degrees of weakness of the skeletal muscles of the body. The muscle weakness can
increase during activity and improves after the individual rests. Muscles that control breathing
and neck and limb movements, control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, chewing,
talking, and swallowing are often affected by the disorder. The degree of muscle weakness varies
throughout individuals. To adapt this activity to an individual who has Myasthenia Gravis, allow
participants the option to use a wheelchair to move around the room, if the individual does not
have one already. Instead of having participants initial by the box, the facilitator can provide
each individual with his/her own unique stickers that when they find something in common, they
can provide their unique sticker for the other person to stick onto the square. Due to fatigability,
it is important to allow for flexible scheduling with individuals, as some days may be better than
others. If practice schedules need to be shorter in time one day or if providing breaks throughout
the activity will be helpful, allow for this. Adapt the environment to allow for open
communication and an opportunity for the individual to feel comfortable to express his/her level
of fatigue. If 9 items are too many for each participant, provide less boxes.
Adaptation References:
-

Dattilo, J. (n.d.). Leisure Education. In Facilitation Techniques in Therapeutic Recreation

(3rd ed., pp. 569-591). Venture Publishing.

Myasthenia Gravis Fact Sheet. (n.d.). Retrieved November 03, 2016, from
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/myasthenia_gravis/detail_myasthenia_gravis.htm
A. (n.d.). What is ALS? Retrieved November 03, 2016, from http://www.alsa.org/aboutals/what-is-als.html
Everyday Life with ALS: A Practical Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2016, from
https://www.mda.org/sites/default/files/publications/Everyday_Life_with_ALS_P532.pdf