Silly & Fun Bowling Night

What’s more fun than going to a bowling alley?

Playing giant bowling!

Every month our Young Adult group meets to fellowship, get into the Word, and have fun playing different games. We always plan a dinner that tastes great, and is easy to make. We also like to have bible studies, times where we can encourage each other and share what the Lord has been teaching us lately, watch sermons.

We also like to have fun!

Our group loves improv, so many times the games are some type of improv game. However, while searching the internet, we found a giant, inflatable version of bowling, with the bowling pins and ball.

With a little brain storming, we decided on playing three different versions of bowling. We found a miniature set (the ball was the size of a marble), and used a child’s plastic bowling set (that a friend had) for the third game. It is fun to go bowling, but even more fun when you can come up with your own versions of bowling games!

Below are the 3 games we played and the instructions. You certainly don’t have to play the games exactly as we did (even we changed the games as we went), but this can be a great starting point to spark your creativity!
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These are the bowling games we decided on:

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Miniature Bowling

Set up the two sets on a card table on opposite sides, so the teams are facing each other. Have everyone line up and at the same time have the first player of each team roll the marble and knock over as many pins as they can. If not all are knocked over, the next person in line tried to knock the rest over. Both teams continue to bowl until one team’s pins are all knocked over and are the winner. Each round played gave the winning team a point.

You can play different types of rounds.
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We also did a round where after they knocked down all of the pins, the next player in line had to stand them up again, and they continued the game until all the pins were knocked down a second time. Tip: We purposely didn’t give much instruction to see what creative ideas the teams came up with. One team had the player that just bowled go to the other side and catch the marble to hand it to the next player. Another time, they had a designated player to catch the marble to make their turns go faster. 

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Plastic Bowling

We used our friend’s child’s smaller plastic bowling set (the ball was probably 7 or 8 inches).

​Have one player from each team sit next to each other. Have on player roll the ball and knock as many pins down as possible and then let the opposing player have a turn. Instead of letting them go twice as in normal bowling, have the players bowl back and forth until all of the pins are knocked down. The player that knocks down the last pin is the winner. We played until everyone from both teams had a chance to bowl, and each round gained the winner a point for their team.

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Giant Bowling

This game evolved a bit, as the blow up pins did not want to stay standing (they had water in the bottom of each to weigh it down, but they didn’t stand up straight).

Have everyone go outside. This is a timed game. One team will choose 6 people (because we had 6 pins) to stand anywhere they want in the playing field (the yard). The remaining players are defending the pins from the other team. The opposing team has the inflatable ball and is trying to hit the pins. Every time they hit a pin, that player is out. When a player catches the ball, they cannot run, and must stay planted until they pass the ball, or try to hit a pin. Players without the ball may move around. Once all of the pins have been hit, stop the time, and switch sides. Whichever team hit all of the pins the fastest won. We gave 3 points to the winner of this game as it took longer, and we only played one round.
 
Doesn’t this all sound silly and fun?
 
We think it’s a great idea for a Teen Night, Young Adult Night, or Family Fun Night. Let me know if you try it by commenting below. Pictures would be great, too.
 
Warmly,
Marla 

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Marla Stevens is a homeschool grad with a piano performance/business major from Stetson University. With a passion for worship and young people, Marla serves on the worship team, leads the choir, and is a young adult ministry leader, as well as a former teen ministry leader. She is an 

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