Activity 59 – Home-made Bowling!

Age Range – Preschool and Up

Areas Being Developed – Motor Skills (gross, fine, and eye-hand coordination)

Tired of looking at all those empty or half-empty water bottles (12, 16, or 18 oz size)?

Start collecting groups of ten.

To play: Set up a group of ten empty bottles in one part of the room. Use a ball of choice (rubber or plastic). Take turns trying to knock over the bottles with the ball. You should each stay behind the pins when it is not your turn to be able to roll the ball back to the player who is taking his or her turn. While there are two tries per player in regular bowling, you can both take as many tries as you need to get them all down. There is no score-keeping… just the fun of knocking down the pins.

Enrichment…

Collecting a set of matching bottles is an important part of this activity. If half-empty bottles are a problem in your house, require a bottle to be truly finished to be eligible for a “play pin” for a set. If leaving empty bottles around is a problem, set up a special place for your child to store his or her collection of ten.

Ideas of March!

If it crossed your mind that buying a play set might be easier or better, rest assured that having your child participate in this creative process of making one is worth its weight in gold. Buying some toys serves a purpose, but figuring out ways to “re-use” household items to make new toys provides a joy all of its own. Switch now to thinking of other games that you can put together in this “make-your-own” way.