You don’t need a bowling alley for little ones to bowl… and you don’t need it to be night to bowl in the dark.
With a small investment and some imagination, you can turn your basement (or any darkened room) into a fun at-home glow-bowling alley. You’ll need:
- 5 empty water bottles (500ml or 1L)
- 25 glow-sticks (multi-coloured, if you can!)
- 1 ball (the lighter the better) around the size of a soccer ball
How to put it together:
1) Choose a space in your house (or your back yard, if your kids are old enough to be active after dark) that can be darkened: the darker the better, but you want everyone to still be able to see everyone else.
2) Clear the space you’ll want for your bowling lane – you can decide how long this should be according to the players’ ages.
3) Fill the water bottles 2/3 full with water, then crack 5 of the glow sticks to activate them. Insert one glow stick into each water bottle, fill the remaining space with water, and close the bottles tightly.
4) Set up your water bottles as the five “pins” at one end of the play space.
5) Activate the remaining glow sticks, and place them in two rows of 10, one on either side of the “pins”, to create a glow-in-the-dark alley.
6) Have the players take turns bowling the ball toward the pins, and record their “scores” – one point for each pin they knock over.
You can give this activity a “party” atmosphere with music and healthy snacks – and lots of cheering and celebrating, of course!
