Benefits of Using Bingo Dabbers in the Classroom

Did you know that there are a ton of benefits of using bingo dabbers in the classroom? They are most definitely not just for arts, crafts, and bingo games.

Whether you call them bingo dabbers, daubers, dobbers, bingo markers, or dot paints, they're a great tool for kindergarten learners. They're compact, easy to use, and most importantly, they are a blast for kids!

Read on for a few of the benefits of using bingo dabbers in your classroom along with fun activities to use all year long.

This article, along with many other articles on The Printable Princess, contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through the links, we earn a small commission. We only share links to resources and products we love.

Benefits of Using Bingo Dabbers in the Classroom

Bingo dabbers are bright and colorful, but that's not all there is to love about them. They also support learning and fine motor skills for young learners.

I have tried a lot of different brands of bingo dabbers over the years. My favorite brand by far is the Do a Dot Art! Markers. The bottles are wide and easy to grip for little hands and they last forever!

Bingo dabbers are way less messy than paint.

Now if that's not music to every kindergarten teacher's ears! That's one of the best things about bingo dabbers. They provide color, fun, and fine motor practice all in one self-contained unit. No paints, brushes, cups of water, or smocks needed!

That also means no spilling, splattering, or washing brushes and paint cups afterwards. Plus, once the bingo dabber paint has been applied to paper, it dries almost instantly. This is one of my favorite teacher-friendly benefits of using bingo dabbers.

They last (almost) forever.

There's nothing more frustrating than getting markers or paints out just to find that they've dried out. With bingo dabbers, as long as you leave the cap on tightly, your supply of bingo dabber paint won't dry out as quickly.

I recommend always storing them upside down with the tip facing down so that the sponge top won't dry out. This also helps the paint go to the end so you don't have to shake it when getting ready to use it.

Teaching your students how to store their bingo dabbers properly requires a bit of modeling and reminding.

It's important to teach students the procedures for how to use bingo dabbers, how to dab (not too hard and not too soft), and how to store them properly.

To help students, it's a great idea to have them practice dabbing on a paper before completing any activities. Plus, this is a fun, no prep activity with extra fine motor practice, too!

Students build hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

One of the greatest benefits of using bingo dabbers is they allow children to practice hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

As they direct the stamp to go where they want it on the paper, they must use their little muscles and hand-eye coordination to maneuver it.

Their dexterity improves as they hold and flip the bingo dabbers, which is an important skill when it comes to handwriting.

These are important foundational skills for many other tasks that require hand-eye coordination, such as playing a musical instrument, using tools, playing sports, and even learning how to use a computer keyboard.

For more tips, tricks and ideas for developing fine motor skills, check out this fine motor blog post.

Bingo dabbers are less intimidating than a pencil.

Some children enter kindergarten with complete mastery of using writing utensils. Others are just not quite there yet.

Bingo dabbers are a no-pressure way for little ones to learn new concepts and communicate successfully without the pressure of an awkward grip.

While penmanship and learning to write are super important skills, bingo dabbers serve as a perfect “introductory” writing utensil.

One of the benefits of using bingo dabbers is that students can practice skills without having to worry about being able to hold a pencil properly. This can sometimes frustrate little learners, especially early on in the school year.

When it comes to focusing on math or literacy skills, it's nice for students to stress less about handwriting and focus on the particular skill being taught.

Just because they may struggle with handwriting doesn't mean they won't excel with other educational concepts.

Using no prep bingo dabber activities for math and literacy are a great way for students to show what they know and practice these skills anytime of year.

Using bingo dabbers reinforces key foundational skills.

Not only are bingo dabbers fun and easy for kids to use, but they help them build key foundational skills, such as one-to-one correspondence, left to right and top to bottom progressions, and patterning.

Students can apply these skills in many other educational areas as well as in the real world.

They require minimal prep.

Bingo dabbers are quick and easy to set up and put away. Plus, you don't need any other materials. No cups, brushes, or pouring paint required. Just take the cap off and they're ready to go!

You can easily store them in a plastic bin or container and set them on your students' desks for easy prep and pick-up.

You can pair your bingo dabbers with the Bingo Dabber No Prep Literacy & Math Activities Year Long Bundle so you'll always have learning activities available to use with your dabbers.

From back to school, throughout the seasons, and all the way through next summer, you'll never be short on developmentally appropriate activities to use with your new favorite tool.

These activities are perfect for spiral review, morning work, centers, early finishers, or even fun intervention or reteaching activities.

Tips for Using Bingo Dabbers

It's definitely important to teach students how to properly use and treat bingo dabbers, but it's also important to talk about and model what using them looks like.

Discuss with students that they need to use a quick, firm dab and come straight back up. You can use the saying, “it’s just a dot, not a lot.”

Stress the importance of dabbing only on the paper and keeping the lid on tight when not using them. You can also model what it should sound like when dabbing to prevent students from pounding the dabbers on the paper.

For a ton of helpful tips on how to set your students up for success with using bingo dabbers, as well as some fun ways to use the dabbers in the classroom, check out this blog post.

Bingo Dabber Alphabet Free Download

If you'd like to try using bingo dabbers and experience these great benefits in your classroom, I have just the activity for you.

You can get your free copy of this alphabet bingo dabber activity delivered straight to your inbox. Just fill out the form below so you can get started dabbing and learning with your students.

Using bingo dabbers in the classroom is so much fun. It's a surefire way to get your students excited about learning, which is what kindergarten is all about!