Sometimes, dressing up in fancy costumes and attending theme parties isn’t everyone’s thing, especially for fussy children. Have a relaxed party and chill out with your child and his or her friends with a bowling theme party.

Preparing for Your Bowling Party

Before sending the invitations, it’s best that you book a reservation at your nearest bowling alley first. You can book a few lanes or the whole place for a day, depending on how many guests you are expecting. You should also ask the management how far you can go out when it comes to party games, decorations and other house rules when it comes to parties. You don’t want to end up unwittingly making any sort of damage or breaking rules.

When you’ve ascertained the set rules, mention them in the invites. Invitations for bowling parties are common and can be bought at your nearest party supply shop, but making them can be pretty easy too. Make invitations shaped like bowling balls or bowling pins, because they’re simple shapes with templates you can look up on the Internet. Don’t forget to design them accordingly, the bowling ball with the three finger holes, and the two red stripes for the bowling pins.

You can even assign teams for your child’s guests in advance. If you are willing, you can even have personalized uniforms for your very own kid’s league.

Bowl Them Over with Your Decorations

Color motif for bowling parties is red, white and a bit of black thrown in. Combine these colors in your streamers, balloons and banners. Have your banner read “Have a Bowlin’ Good Time!” or anything that will welcome your guests.

Other design ideas are putting up different bowling shirts on the walls, or giant cutouts of bowling balls and bowling pins. You can also stringing together circle-shaped bowling balls in different colors to make the venue more colorful.

For the eating area, set up tables with red-and-white checkered tablecloths and miniature bowling pins and bowling balls centerpieces. Another idea is to have halved bowling balls with glowers placed inside the finger holes. Scour some flea markets for these items.

Bowling Party Games

Typical bowling showdown between teams,are fun and can be the main event of your party, but there other fun things you can do at the bowling alley, like:

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  A fancy new way to get a strike
  Zany Bowling. Instead of doing the typical bowling, why not hype up things a little and ask everyone to do the zaniest way of releasing the ball into the lane? You can ask your guests to bowl through their legs, do a silly walk as they approach the lane, bowl with their “weaker” hand, or bowl in slow motion.
• Betting Pool. Before the party starts, hand out slips of paper to your guests as they arrive. Ask them to bet on which player will score the most and which team will win. You can also think of other betting categories that can range from serious to silly.
• Special Awards. You can have special awards for your bowling night. Hand out slips of paper for everyone to fill out for categories such as “Looks Best in Bowling Shoes,” “Best Ball Release,” and “Most Gutter Shots”. Tally the votes and announce the winners before the party ends. It’s sure to bring lots of laughs to everyone.
• Bowling Candids. Have a digital camera or hire a photographer to shoot candid photos of the participants while they are bowling. Print and distributed them later on as party souvenirs. (Tips on how to take good photos)
• Pin the Ball on the Strike. A bowling version of the classic Pin the Tail on the Donkey, make a poster with ten bowling pins arranged. Have the kids try to pin the paper bowling ball right on the center of the bowling pins to make a “strike”. The one who pins nearest the center wins.
• Blind Bowling. Take your guests’ bowling skills to another level by having the participants’ eyes blindfolded before taking a shot at those bowling pins. It sure puts another meaning to “blind shots”!
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  A bowling pin pinata for the kids
  Bowling Pin Pinata. In a bowling party for kids, have them take another shot at those pins by having a pinata shaped like a bowling pin. Fill it will toys, candies and confetti.
• Odd Pin Bowling. If the bowling alley’s management permits it, you can have a round of odd pin bowling which involves replacing bowling pins with odd objects such as milk cartons, books, plastic vases with flowers, and the like. Each participant will then take turns trying to bowl down these odd objects.

Yummy Bowling Treats

All these activities are sure to make everyone hungry! Here are some suggestions on what for your bowling party menu. Most of them should be snacks so it would be easier to eat and carry around, which people bowling are bound to do.

• Vegetables and Dip. Make your menu healthier by putting carrot, celery and other vegetable slices in one dish with different dips.

Check out this recipe for veggies and dips.

• Edible Balls and Pins. You can play around with the idea of balls and pins with your food, too. Meatballs, upright wieners, shrimp balls and eggs can all be decorated in such a way that will suggest a bowling theme in your food.
• Sandwiches. Cut out your sandwiches in circle and bowling pin-shapes for a more fun look.
• Bowling Alley Food. Pizza, nachos, tacos, hotdog sandwiches and cheeseburgers are all part of the genuine bowling experience. Don’t let your guests miss out on it.

Serve yummy and cheesy pizza for the guests

Delicious and tasty hotdog sandwiches

Enjoy these crunchy nachos with its tasty dip

• Red-and-White Delights. You can have a lot of fun playing with the red and white color motif when it comes to desserts. Pair vanilla ice cream with red fruits like apples and strawberries. You can also use jell-o or red candies for the same effect.
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  A yummy bowling birthday cake
  Bowling Cake. Your nearest cake shop will most likely have a cake just for your bowling party, with frosting shaped like bowling balls and pins. If not, you can always get candles shaped as such.
• Drinks. Have lots of soda or red fruit punch at your party to quench your guests’ thirst.

Bowling Party Giveaways

Have an awards ceremony at the end of your bowling party, and commend the best and the most unique players you’ve had for the night. Be sure you have enough trophies to hand out for your winners.

For a kids’ bowling party, their goody bags can include mini-bowling sets, marbles, candies, yo-yos, chocolate coins and whistles. You can also have medals for special awards your guests won throughout the night.

Bowling parties are always great with a little bit of healthy competition, but the most important thing is to have lots of fun. Parents will also love the fact that their kids can have their first bowling experience. It can even be something you can do regularly. So put on your bowling shoes and enjoy the party! If you enjoy reading this article, you’ll surely be interested in learning how to bowl a strike.