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Make a Bowling Set: Easy Indoor Game for Kids

1/21/14 - By Anna Fader

This free and easy bowling game will get your kids moving indoors on a cold or rainy day. Even babies can have fun knocking down the pins and it's great for motor skills. I've found setting up this bowling game for my kids can often inspire them to come up with other games on their own. Score!

We have lots more ideas for indoor games to get kids moving, and check back tomorrow for another new activity idea. 

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1. Find some empty plastic water bottles or use whatever containers you have around the house. A real bowling alley has ten pins, but six works fine for an at-home game. 

2. If the bottles topple too easily, filling with a little bit of water will anchor them better. 

3. Set up in a triangle at the end of a hall or against a wall, aim and bowl. Babies and toddlers can use a larger ball, while older children may find a tennis ball more challenging. 

Bowling Rules - Small children probably won't care about scoring; they'll just enjoy knocking down the pins. But to get a real game on here's how you play: 

Pick a number of rounds to play. Ten is traditional. 

Each turn the player gets two tries to knock down all the pins. Each pin knocked down is worth one point.

If you knock down all the pins in one throw that's a strike and ends your turn, but your next two throws count double (as part of the strike score, plus as they would for the next turn.

If you bowl a spare, knocking down all the pins using both your bowls, your next one bowl counts double.

Whoever has the highest score at the end of the rounds wins. 

Happy bowling!

Find more fun things to do in Boredom Busters Activities Guide.

Boredom Busters Indoor Activities Preschoolers Kids

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