Bowling Toys to Make

Milk Carton Bowling

• Half-gallon and quart milk cartons make good bowling pins. Paint white with a red stripe around the top to resemble real bowling pins. Add sand or pebbles to the milk cartons when the paint is dried and seal the top with glue to prevent spilling when knocked down. If using a beach ball as the bowling ball, omit or lessen the amount of sand or pebbles. If using a plastic ball, add just enough sand or pebbles to make knocking down the milk carton pins challenging.

Soda Bottle Bowling Toys

• Make bowling pins out of plastic soda bottles by pouring some sand in the bottom of them and screwing the lids back on. Use 2-liter bottles for young children to make a larger target to hit. Omit the sand so the bottles are easier to knock over. Give younger children larger plastic balls to use to roll and knock over pins. For older children, use smaller balls and make the pins out of smaller soda bottles with the bottoms filled with sand or pebbles. The older the children the more sand you can use to weight the bottles down.

Toilet Paper Roll Bowling Toys

• Bowling pins made from toilet paper rolls is a toy idea for younger children. The rolls are set up in the bowling triangle (4-3-2-1) and a tennis ball is used to roll at them. The fact that toilet paper rolls are lightweight and fall easily makes them especially appropriate for young children. Set up the rolls a few feet away and give the child a tennis ball to start knocking over pins and bowling.

Water Balloon Bowling Toys

• A different take on bowling toys is to use water balloons in place of a bowling ball. The objective of the game is the same; roll a water balloon bowling ball down the alley and knock over bowling pins. Water balloon bowling is best played outdoors. Use soda bottle bowling pins or toilet paper rolls as pins. Do not put sand in them so the balloons have a better chance of knocking some down before breaking.