Put a spin on traditional bowling games.
Many children and adults enjoy bowling. When hosting a birthday party or gathering with friends, create a few bowling games everyone can enjoy. Games build social bonds and prevent boredom. A creative imagination, some supplies and a few ideas are all you need to create bowling games. Encourage everyone to play along by awarding prizes to all game winners.
Basic Bowling
Use a basic plastic bowling set to play a game of bowling. Plastic bowling sets are available online and at many toy stores. Set up the pins and give each player five rolls to knock down as many pins as she can. Reset the pins after each roll; a perfect score is 50. Award a prize to the player with the highest score.
Holiday Bowling
Decorate empty two-liter soda bottles to reflect the nearest holiday. For Halloween, paint the bottles to resemble candy corn or ghosts, and roll a pumpkin to knock the pins down. For Christmas, decorate the bottles like Christmas trees and use extra large round ornaments, made of plastic, to knock the pins down. Paint the bottles with a beach scene or suns during the summer and use a beach ball to knock down the pins.
Hawaiian Bowling
For a luau or pool party, try a game of Hawaiian bowling using pineapples and coconuts. Place 10 pineapples in a pyramid shape on the ground and use coconuts to try to knock the pins down. Put four pineapples on the back row, three pineapples in front of those four, two in front of those and one in the very front. Play the game individually or divide the players into teams. Award beach-theme prizes, such as leis, inflatable floats, beach balls and beach towels, to game winners.
Easter Egg Roll Bowling
Try an Easter egg bowling game, played like boccie, during the Easter holidays. Color several Easter eggs and have each guest design his own egg. Tell the players to write their names on their eggs. Place a white egg in the middle of the play area. Mark a line 20 feet from the white egg. Players must stand at the line and roll their eggs toward the white egg one at a time. After all the players have had a turn, the player who has rolled his egg closest to the white egg wins the game.
Frozen Turkey Bowling
Play a game of frozen turkey bowling during the Thanksgiving holidays. Use plastic two-liter bottles or plastic bowling pins and a frozen turkey. Set the pins up in a pyramid shape on the ground like regular bowling pins and mark a line 25 feet from the pins. Players stand at the line and roll a frozen turkey to try to knock the pins down. If you play on a slick surface, the turkey will usually slide. However, depending on the surface you play on, the turkey can roll to knock the pins down. Award prizes for the highest score and the most strikes.
Tags: knock pins, knock pins down, pins down, bowling games, frozen turkey