In our fast-paced world, taking time to prioritize self-care can often fall to the bottom of our to-do lists. However, self-care is essential for maintaining our physical, emotional, and mental well-being. One engaging way to ensure you make time for yourself is by creating a self-care bingo board. This fun and interactive tool can help you track your self-care activities, and perhaps more importantly, remind you to indulge in these necessary practices.
If you’re not satisfied with the numerous self-care bingo boards you can find online, here are some creative ideas to help you design your very own self-care bingo board.
Physical Self-Care Activities
Physical self-care involves activities that improve your physical health. Walking for 30 minutes not only helps you stay fit but also boosts your mood – even if you can’t get out and walk for one reason or another, find ways to get your body moving regardless! Yoga sessions are great for flexibility, strength, and relaxation. Part of your self-care bingo board can include a slot for a relaxing bath, adding Epsom salts or essential oils for an extra touch of luxury.
Don’t forget to sleep. Getting at least 8 hours of sleep to ensure you get enough rest is vital for overall health.
One of the most critical self-care bingo board ideas involves getting your recommended hydration is key. Water not only keeps your body in top condition, but can help with focus, mental clarity, and overall wellbeing.
Emotional Self-Care Activities
Emotional self-care focuses on managing and expressing your emotions. Here are some ideas.
Journaling
There are hundreds of different ways to do it, but journaling is a highly effective form of self-care. Writing down your thoughts and feelings can be incredibly therapeutic. Dedicate even a few minutes each day to journaling, even just to mark down things you’re grateful for.
While you don’t need to make a specific time for it, make sure you’re sprinkling in a few moments of your day to experience and embrace gratitude. It will lean your brain toward looking for the positive, rather than the negative. Journaling is a fantastic way to do this. If you don’t know where to start with journaling, we’ve got you covered.
Meditation
If you’ve never tried meditation, now might be the time to do so. Meditation is a practice that’s persisted for thousands of years. The term refers to multiple practices that focus on mind and body integration with the goal of calming the mind and boosting your wellbeing. According to the National Health Interview Survey, 17.3% of U.S. adults practice mediation.
Guided meditation can be helpful for focus, stress relief, and just slowing down for a few minutes. Try it at the very beginning or end of your day. You can find hundreds of different types of meditation, from affirmations to ones to help you through trauma.
Music
Yes – even putting on your favorite tracks can count as self-care! Listening to your favorite music can be a powerful tool for managing emotions. Gather all of your number one, no-skip favorite songs into one playlist and let it boost your mood. This isn’t just a speculative self-care bingo board idea, either – music can help your blood flow, decrease cortisol levels, and increase serotonin levels in the blood.
For bonus benefit, get up and dance a little – there’s no better way to get your body moving, and moving to your favorite music can be a great way to release stress. If you’re into habit-stacking, this is an ideal self-care bingo board idea that you can layer over another activity, like journaling or cleaning up.
Mental Self-Care Activities
Mental self-care involves activities that stimulate your mind and keep your brain active. Consider these ideas.
Read
70% of people who go to bookstores browse books but don’t buy any. Break the habit and pick up a book! Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, reading is a great way to engage your mind—it stimulates the brain, improves focus, and helps reduce stress. That’s right; a study conducted by The University of Sussex suggests that reading can reduce stress levels by up to 68%. Not only that, but by diving into a novel or exploring a topic that interests you, you open up new perspectives and let your imagination soar. It can even help increase empathy.
For your self-care bingo board, consider adding a square that challenges you to “read for 30 minutes” or “finish a chapter.” This can encourage you to build a daily habit that not only relaxes but enriches your mind.
Learn
Taking an online course or picking up a new hobby is a powerful way to keep your brain active. Learning stimulates neural pathways and can boost confidence as you master a new skill. Whether it’s learning a language, exploring photography, or even trying your hand at coding, each new challenge builds resilience and cognitive flexibility, and should stand as a clever method of self-care.
Adding a “learn a new skill” challenge on your bingo board can serve as a fun reminder to keep pushing your boundaries and exploring new interests.
Challenge Yourself
Engaging in crosswords, Sudoku, or jigsaw puzzles not only provides a mental challenge but also enhances problem-solving skills and memory. These activities are great for breaking the monotony of everyday routines, encouraging you to think differently, and sharpening your focus.
A square on your self-care bingo board that invites you to “complete a puzzle” or “try a brain teaser” can make your mental wellness journey both fun and rewarding.
Plan Ahead
It might seem strange, but planning your day or week can actually have a huge impact on your life. Setting aside time to organize your schedule can be a transformative self-care practice. Planning helps to reduce stress by bringing clarity and structure to your day, making you feel more in control and prepared for upcoming tasks.
Consider including a “plan your week” slot on your self-care bingo board, where you spend a few moments reviewing your goals, scheduling priorities, and ensuring a balanced mix of work and relaxation. This intentional planning can lead to improved productivity and reduced anxiety.
Unplug
This one’s tricky, but it’s so, so necessary. Taking breaks from social media and digital devices is essential for mental clarity. Constant connectivity can sometimes overwhelm your senses, making it harder to focus and relax. Dedicating a specific time in your day to disconnect—be it through meditation, a walk, or simply enjoying a quiet moment—can significantly lower stress levels. You might include an “unplug for an hour” challenge on your bingo board, serving as a gentle reminder to switch off and give your mind the break it deserves
Want to go even harder on this one? It might be time for a digital detox.
Creative Self-Care Activities
Creative self-care involves expressing yourself through creative outlets. Consider these activities. Draw, paint, doodle, take pictures, write songs or poetry, sculpt, build, engage in fiber crafts (like knitting, sewing, crochet), or anything that sparks joy in you. Even if you’ve never done it before, try it. You never know what might be your next big hobby! Art can be a wonderful way to express your emotions.
You need to eat to live, so why not include your daily meals in your self-care bingo board ideas? On top of nourishing your body, get creative and a new dinner recipe. Experimenting in the kitchen is not only about fueling your body; it’s also about engaging your senses, learning new techniques, and even discovering cultural stories behind the food.
Lastly, create a vision board. Visualizing your goals and dreams can be a powerful motivational tool.
How Does Self-Care Bingo Work?
Self-care bingo is really about keeping track of your daily good habits. At the end of the day, check in on your self-care bingo board and see if you were able to nab a bingo by doing five of the activities in a straight line. You can set up a new board each day, and then see what you’ve done by the end of the day.
If you weren’t able to get to all of the activities or score a bingo, don’t beat yourself up. Focus on what you might be able to do better tomorrow instead. If you did get a bingo (or even better, a ‘blackout’ where you’ve filled the entire board), reward yourself in a way that makes you happy. That, too, is an act of self-care.
If you aren’t sure about some of these self-care bingo board ideas, keep in mind that self-care works differently for everyone. You can get creative and insert slots that work best for you, thinking outside of the box with unique self-care ideas that suit your life.
Creating a self-care bingo board is a fantastic way to prioritize your well-being and ensure you’re taking time for yourself. Incorporating a variety of physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and creative self-care activities, you can create a balanced and fulfilling self-care routine. Remember, self-care isn’t selfish, it’s essential. So grab some markers and a bingo board, and start planning your self-care journey today. Your mind, body, and soul will thank you.