Nintendo's Legend of Zelda summer bingo quest is back for the season

Nintendo is promoting its Legend of Zelda-themed summer bingo printable on the Play Nintendo portal for the 2026 season. The free papercraft download gives kids a mix of indoor and outdoor activities to complete before school starts back up.

A Korok in the middle

The Legend of Zelda summer bingo challenge takes the open-world exploration of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom and translates it into household chores and backyard tasks. The center free space is a Korok, naturally. From there, players try to get five in a row by completing various physical quests.

The squares include classic outdoor tasks like "touch grass," "ride a horse," "look for bugs," and "go for a hike." On the indoor side, the board asks players to "help make dinner," "read a book," and "build a pillow fort." You just need a printer, some paper, and a crayon to mark off the squares. The PDF file is a quick download directly from the site.

The art style on the bingo card heavily leans on the aesthetic of the Switch era. Breath of the Wild completely redefined the series in 2017 by focusing on systemic, physics-based exploration. Tears of the Kingdom expanded on that in 2023 with vehicle building and vertical traversal. The bingo card strips all of that complex rendering away and distills the core loop down to simply wandering around outside.

Not exactly a new initiative

You might be wondering if this is a new thing or if Nintendo has had this for a while. It is actually a recurring seasonal activity. The Play Nintendo website has been hosting these kinds of printables for several years. The portal is a safe, dedicated space for younger audiences to engage with Nintendo properties off-screen. It is full of papercrafts, quizzes, and puzzles.

Nintendo originally started as a physical playing card company in 1889. Creating paper-based games and activities is deeply embedded in the corporate DNA.

Mario, Pokémon, and Animal Crossing

Zelda is not the only franchise getting the papercraft treatment. The Play Nintendo portal regularly hosts activities based on other major Nintendo games. You can find printables and crafts for Super Mario Bros., Pokémon, and Animal Crossing. The site uses characters like Mario, Pikachu, and Isabelle to encourage reading, drawing, and outdoor play.

Each franchise gets activities tailored to its specific themes. Animal Crossing printables usually focus on daily routines, organization, and village life. Pokémon activities lean heavily into cataloging and discovery. The Zelda activities, like this bingo card, are almost entirely focused on adventure and exploration. For example, previous updates have included Animal Crossing printable calendars and Mario Kart papercraft vehicles. It is a smart way to leverage a massive intellectual property catalog for something other than selling software.

Getting kids outside

I think it's cool Nintendo does quirky stuff like this. The company has a long history of trying to blend video games with physical activity. That design philosophy goes all the way back to the Power Pad on the NES and continues through the Wii Fit and Ring Fit Adventure eras.

Turning the mechanics of a massive open-world adventure game into a literal checklist of real-world activities fits right into that lineage. It gives parents a free tool to keep kids occupied. It also gives kids an excuse to go look under a rock for a bug.