Regular bowling is a whole lot of fun. That’s why so many people have made it their go-to form of entertainment. But what if you want a little more out of the game, something different and still fun?
You need wacky bowling ideas, of course! And we’ll show you how. Whether you’re planning a bowling party or a get-together with your bowling friends or fund raiser, the wacky bowling ideas in this article will be super helpful.
Contents
- 1 Wacky Bowling Ideas
- 1.1 Key Takeaways
- 1.2 Glow-In-The-Dark
- 1.3 Cosmic Bowling
- 1.4 Dress Up Bowling
- 1.5 Themed Bowling
- 1.6 Goofy Bowling Ball Delivery
- 1.7 Blindfold Bowling
- 1.8 Bingo Bowling
- 1.9 Roll the Dice Bowling
- 1.10 Truth or Dare Bowling
- 1.11 Tag Team Bowling
- 1.12 Bowling Relay Race
- 1.13 The Plank (My Personal Favorite)
- 1.14 Frequently Asked Questions
- 1.15 How Can I Make Bowling More Fun?
- 1.16 How Can Adults Make Bowling More Fun?
- 1.17 How Do You Make Bowling Fun for Kids?
- 1.18 How Do You Play Drunk Bowling?
- 1.19 Related Articles
Wacky Bowling Ideas
Wacky Bowling Ideas include: Glow in the dark parties, Cosmic bowling, dressing-up/Character bowling, themed bowling, goofy delivery, blindfold, Bingo, relay racing, rolling the dice, truth or dare, tag team, or walking the plank.
Key Takeaways
- Wacky Bowling Variations: Includes Glow-in-the-Dark, Cosmic Bowling, Dress-Up/Character, Themed, Goofy Delivery, Blindfold, Bingo, Relay Race, Roll the Dice, Truth or Dare, Tag Team, Walking the Plank.
- Glow-in-the-Dark Bowling: Features neon lanes, fluorescent pins, and balls for evening or late-night games.
- Cosmic Bowling: Offers a club-like experience with neon lights, music, and fog machines; ideal for parties and events.
- Creative Challenges: Incorporates fun elements like Blindfold Bowling, Bingo Bowling, and Roll the Dice Bowling to enhance the game.
- The Plank: A pirate-themed game with eye patches, pirate catchphrases, and a unique scoring system, adding a playful twist.
Bowling doesn’t always have to be by the book. Dive into these unconventional and wacky bowling ideas, designed to challenge the norms and elevate your bowling experience to a whole new level of fun.
Glow-In-The-Dark
Why stick to traditional lighting when you could have glow-in-the-dark lanes, bowling pins, and bowling balls? This is a great option for an evening or late-night game.
Imagine the fun of seeing your ball roll down a neon lane and knock down fluorescent pins. It will be an experience you’ll never forget. Be sure to grab your glow-in-the-dark kit.
Cosmic Bowling
Cosmic bowling is a step up from glow-in-the-dark bowling, and it’s ultra-exciting. With neon lights, music, and even fog machines, you’ll feel like you’re at a club rather than a bowling alley.
Going cosmic is a great option for parties and special events, and it’s sure to be a hit with everyone in attendance. Just don’t forget to call ahead and reserve a lane; cosmic bowling tends to be popular.
Dress Up Bowling
Who says you can’t wear a costume while bowling? Make your next game even more entertaining by dressing up in wacky costumes with your friends. You could all go as characters from your favorite movie or TV show, or get creative and come up with your own characters based on your imagination.
Themed Bowling
Get creative and come up with a theme for your next bowling night. Whether it’s beach-themed, 80s-inspired, or even set in outer space, the possibilities are endless. Consider decorating the lanes and dressing up to match the theme.
You could also incorporate themed challenges or games into your bowling night to make it even more fun.
Goofy Bowling Ball Delivery
Say goodbye to traditional ball deliveries and try out some crazy bowling party games instead. You and your friends can come up with wild ways to get the ball rolling down the lanes. Rolling the ball through your legs is one fun option, and if you need more inspiration, here are a few others to consider:
- Slow motion bowling
- Bowling like a ballerina
- Bowling without putting your fingers in the holes
- Bowling with a hand that you wouldn’t normally bowl with
Don’t forget about bowling safety. Here are some safety tips to keep in your back pocket.
Blindfold Bowling
This wacky bowling idea will definitely test your skills and coordination. Blindfold bowling is exactly what it sounds like – bowling with a blindfold on. You could either take turns being blindfolded or have everyone bowl with one for an added challenge.
It’s a great way to level the playing field and make the game more unpredictable. To be extra careful, you’ll need a designated spotter to ensure everyone’s safety. Ask the bowling alley ahead of time if they allow this.
Bingo Bowling
Bingo bowling is a cool mash-up of bowling and bingo where players bowl to achieve specific results or challenges listed on a bingo card. To play bowling bingo, you’ll need a bowling alley and custom bingo cards with squares representing various bowling outcomes (like “strike,” “spare,” or “2 pins left”).
You can make the custom bowling card yourself, of course. As players bowl, they mark off the achieved results on their cards, aiming to complete a row or column like traditional bingo. Create your custom cards here.
Roll the Dice Bowling
Throwing traditional bowling rules out the window can make for some serious fun on the lanes. Don’t believe us? Try roll the dice bowling, where you roll dice before each roll and try to knock down that number of pins on your first roll.
If you do, you get a strike. This wacky bowling game will require you to manually keep track of everyone’s score, so be sure to have some paper and a pen on hand.
Truth or Dare Bowling
Truth or Dare bowling puts a twist on the iconic game of truth or dare. Before starting, the group decides the rules: knocking down 5 or more pins earns a truth, while less than 5 means a dare.
Tag Team Bowling
In casual bowling at the alley, you are in control of your bowling outcome. This is not the case in tag team bowling, and that’s the fun of it. In tag team bowling, you get with a partner and take turns.
You two will alternate your 2 rolls for each of the first 9 frames. For the last frame, the two of you can decide who will roll that last ball (if needed).
Bowling Relay Race
You can use one or multiple lanes for this game. Designate teams and each team must navigate a bowling lane while attempting to knock down pins in a relay-style competition. To start off, the first bowlers from all teams will all release their first roll together. The next bowler can only bowl once their team’s ball is on the return. From there, the relay begins!
The game involves strategizing, quick ball rolling, and teamwork as players take turns rolling the ball and passing it to the next teammate. The team that completes the relay (all ten frames) in the shortest time while knocking down the most pins emerges as the winner.
Alternatives
Adult options: before each bowler’s turn, they must take a drink!
Kiddie option: complete 5 jumping jacks before they bowl their next ball.
The Plank (My Personal Favorite)
The Plank is my personal creation and fav! It’s a twist on traditional bowling, where players wear an eye patch like a pirate. This added challenge brings a new level of excitement and humor to the classic ten-pin bowling game.
What You Need:
– Standard bowling alley and pins.
– Bowling balls of various weights.
– Pirate-style eye patches for all players.
Game Rules:
- Dress Like a Pirate: All players must wear an eye patch over one eye. This simulates the experience of a pirate, adding an element of challenge by reducing depth perception.
- Teams: Players can play individually or in teams. In team play, the team score is the sum of individual scores.
- Standard Bowling Rules Apply: The game follows the standard rules of bowling, including ten frames, strikes, spares, fouls and open frames.
- Pirate’s Handicap: To add a pirate-themed twist, if a player scores a strike, they shout a pirate catchphrase (like “Arrr!” or “Shiver me timbers!”). The player gets a “Pirate Bonus” of 5 extra points for each strike. No extra points for spares.
- Walk the Plank Challenge: If a player bowls a gutter ball, they must walk a designated line (or “plank”) alongside the alley, mimicking walking the plank on a pirate ship, before their next turn. Whatever you do… don’t walk the plank!
- Treasure Chest Bonus: An unknown pin is the designated “treasure chest” (a marked pin). If a player knocks down this specific pin, they earn a bonus of 10 points.
- Final Frame Showdown: In the 10th frame, players can choose to bowl with their eye patch, as well as their non-dominant hand, for double points, adding a final twist to the game.
- Scoring: Standard scoring applies, with the addition of Pirate’s Bonuses and Treasure Chest Bonuses.
- Winner: The player or team with the highest score after 10 frames wins. In true pirate fashion, the winner gets a pirate-themed trophy or a fun, pirate-inspired prize.
The Plank” offers a playful and adventurous take on traditional bowling, making it an enjoyable game for all ages, especially for those who love a good pirate tale. The use of an eye patch not only adds a physical challenge but also immerses players in a whimsical, pirate-themed experience. Whatever you do… don’t walk the PLANK!
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can I Make Bowling More Fun?
Wacky Bowling Games
Glow-In-The-Dark
Cosmic Bowling
Dress Up Bowling
Themed Bowling
Goofy Bowling Ball Delivery
Blindfold Bowling
Bingo Bowling
Roll the Dice Bowling
Truth or Dare Bowling
Tag Team Bowling
Bowling Relay Race
The Plank (My Personal Favorite)
Your options are endless and will depend largely on who you’re with and the available resources. Since adults and kids usually have different interests, it’s important to differentiate between making bowling fun for adults and kids.
How Can Adults Make Bowling More Fun?
Competition, money, being with friends, party (drinking) atmosphere, or wacky bowling.
Adults can make bowling more fun by adding a competitive edge to the game. Setting a prize for the winner ups the stakes and makes the game a lot more exciting.
You can also have players bring money into the mix. For instance, the person with the most strikes gets the pot money. Everyone chips pay into a pot, and the person with the most strikes at the end gets the money pot. Or you could make it so that if someone gets a gutter ball, they pay into the pot as well. That’ll really get people motivated to do their best.
Adding alcohol to the mix tends to be fun for adults. See adult bowling.
How Do You Make Bowling Fun for Kids?
Wacky bowling, make it competitive, give away prizes, or focus on knocking down pins.
Ways to make bowling fun for kids include, adding a little bit of competition to the game is always a good idea, even for children.
You can give out prizes at the end of each round or have them keep track of their scores throughout the game and see who can get the highest score. Kids love winning prizes.
You can also give out participation stickers to those who tried but didn’t win. From a different standpoint, it could be worthwhile to consider bumpers or ramps to make it easier to bowl. Gutter balls aren’t fun for kids.
How Do You Play Drunk Bowling?
Simply put- you drink an adult beverage as you bowl.
You’ll play the game as you normally would – at least at first. The basic way is after each player takes their turn, they’ll take a certain number of sips from their adult beverage – one sip for each pin they failed to knock down. There are several versions of drunk bowling that can be played.
These games are adult versions of bowling to played by people of legal drinking age at parties or other social gatherings and should be there are designated drivers to get everyone home safely.
Related Articles
At the end of your gathering of wacky bowling, don’t forget the wacky party favors! These wacky bowling ideas you can use to make bowling even more exciting for kids and adults alike. As you can see, there’s no shortage of fun bowling ideas out there. Whether you’re looking for a little bit of extra competition, a twist on the normal rules, bowling birthday party ideas, or just some fun drinking games to liven things up – bowling can be an incredibly fun activity for everyone involved.
I have to be honest, my favorite part the dress up! So don’t hesitate to give these ideas a try next time you head out to the lanes.
Kira Byrd, a Certified Fraud Examiner, holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. With a passion for bowling from her childhood, Kira has poured her expertise and personal experiences into creating and nurturing Bowling For Beginners. Kira’s mission is to meet new bowlers where they are and guide them toward consistently achieving higher scores. With a focus on skill development and strategic techniques, she empowers readers to take control of their game and unlock their true potential.
Bowling For Beginners embodies strict editorial integrity, ensuring reliable and unbiased information. Kira’s commitment to delivering valuable insights and practical strategies is reflected in every article. Here’s an explanation of our editorial policy and how we get money.