Bowling party games
BY A PROFESSIONAL PARTY PLANNER
Ideas include:
Bowling party games at a bowling alley
Bowling party games at home
Bowling party games for kids
Themed bowling party ideas
Outdoor / indoor bowling alley games for home
affiliate disclaimer
This post contains affiliate links so I may earn a small commission on any products purchases at no extra cost to you.
i’m matt james
professional event producer
welcome
the idea
CRAZY BOWLING
This is perfect for kid’s birthday parties. After a few frames of regular bowling, introduce different handicaps such as bowling:
You could prepare the handicaps for these bowling party games in advance by writing them on bits of paper and having each kid draw one out of a hat.
the idea
RACE AGAINST THE BALL
Kid’s can get a bit restless waiting for their turn to bowl. So while someone else is bowling, use the time it takes for the bowl to travel down the lane to complete different challenges. As soon as each person has let go of the ball, the other kid’s must perform a challenge but stop when the ball hits the pins. Some examples are:
You could also provide small prizes or party favors for the winning person in each round.
the idea
THEMED BOWLING PARTIES
If you’ve added a theme to your bowling party, such as Harry Potter Bowling or Star Wars Bowling (see the Themed Bowling section of the Bowling Party Ideas page for more info), you can extend this idea to your bowling party games.
Make up a master score card menu in advance with each score corresponding to a different baddie. For example, you might need three strikes to kill Lord Voldermort (Harry Potter) or Darth Vadar (Star Wars). Or just one strike to kill a Dementor (Harry Potter) or a Clone Trooper (Star Wars).
You can play this like Bingo so that each person has to ‘kill off’ at least one of each different type of baddie by achieving that score. The first person to kill the highest scoring baddie can win a prize.
the idea
TRUTH OR DARE BOWLING
This is good for older kids, teens, or adults. Simply assign odd numbers as ‘Truth’ and even numbers as ‘Dare’ then let each person’s score determine which they have to do. A strike could make the person exempt from either.
don’t miss a thing
follow me on social
Keep up with my latest ideas by following me on social media
the idea
BINGO BOWLING
For adult bowling party games, you can mix it up with some bingo bowling. Prepare some pieces of paper arranged into grids ahead of the party and write or print different results into each box of the grid. For example strike, spare, gutter ball, two consecutive strikes, or individual scores such as 2 or 8. These will act as the bingo cards.
Split everyone into teams and have them cross off each result on the bingo card as they score it. The winner is not the team who bowls the highest score, but the one who completes their bingo card first.
the idea
PRIZE GIVING
Arrange some certificates / trophy’s to give out at the end so that everyone is rewarded for something—no matter whether it’s a good or bad thing. For example, award something for:
Click on these links for cheap plastic trophies, bowling award ribbons, bowling medals, and bowling-themed temporary tattoos.
IN this section
bowling PARTIES AT HOME
This list of bowling party games is really only suitable for parties in the comfort of your own home.
the idea
MAKESHIFT BOWLING
Mix things up by playing a few sets of makeshift bowling where you swap the traditional bowling pins for unusual items. Some examples are:
You can also introduce some different sized balls to bowl with such as tennis balls, beach balls, golf balls etc.
the idea
INFLATABLE BOWLING
These giant inflatable bowling sets, available here, are great to use for bowling party games at home and a particularly useful for younger children.
the idea
themed BOWLING parties
If you’ve applied a theme, such as Harry Potter or Star Wars, you can decorate the bowling pins by turning them into characters relevant to your theme. A simple way to do this is just to cut out pictures from the web and stick a different characters face onto the top of each pin.
For more information on this and to see some photos examples, see the Theme section of the Bowling Party Ideas page.
Alternatively, there are lots of themed bowling sets for kids that you can buy for between $10 – $20 such as Disney Princess, Spiderman, Toy Story, Hello Kitty, Spongebob Squarepants, Monsters, and Farm Friends. Click here and use the search box to find a specific theme.
the idea
VIDEO GAME BOWLING
If you have a Nintendo, Xbox, Playstation or similar there are quite a few different video bowling games available here—so try some virtual bowling.
the idea
super-soaker BOWLING
You don’t just have to bowl with balls! Try knocking down the pins using a Super-soaker style water gun, available here.
the idea
BOWLING PARTY pinata
Once you’ve knocked down all the real pins, have a go at a bowling pin shaped piñata. Check out the different options here and also here.
related content
more bowling party ideas
Hit the ‘Read More’ button below to check out my main page of bowling party ideas.
