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A few years ago, I was looking for ways to decorate for my kiddos’ birthday party. It was then that I came across making ice balls to line the walkway to the house. It was so cute. So, when the town asked my Scouts to come up with a winter activity for kids for the Winter Festival, I thought of the ice balls. Which then made me think of using the ice balls for ice bowling. 

With just a few materials, you are ready to start ice bowling. It requires little prep, but it is a lot of fun! Ice bowling is perfect for busy moms trying to find fun activities for the kids or for some group/organization they are involved with (like Scouts and 4-H for me). 

Table of Contents

• Ice Bowling- A Fun Winter Activity for Kids
  • Materials Needed for Ice Bowling
  • Directions for Ice Balls
  • Tips and Issues Encountered
• Directions for Bowling Pins
• Let the Ice Bowling Fun Begin (Winter Activity or Cool Summer Fun)
  • Suggestions on How to Set Up Ice Bowling
    • In the Snow
    • On Grass
  • Playing Ice Bowling:

Ice Bowling- A Fun Winter Activity for Kids

Okay, so let me share how to get started with ice bowling. It really is one of the easiest winter activities for kids that doesn’t rely on snow. 

Heck, it doesn’t even need to be winter! Ice bowling would be a fun summer activity too.

Materials Needed for Ice Bowling

• Balloons
• 10 Water bottles (16 oz are fine)
• Food coloring (optional)

That’s it! That is all you need to get started. 

Directions for Ice Balls

Again, there are very few steps to creating this winter game.

1. Take a balloon, wrap the opening around the end of a faucet, and put a small amount of water in the balloon.

2. Next, gently remove the balloon and add several (I did 10) drops of food coloring. Skip this step if you aren’t coloring your “bowling” balls.

3. Replace the balloon on the faucet and fill the balloon to the desired size of the ice ball. Little hands might have trouble with big balls so take this into consideration. If you colored the water, shake the balloon to mix the food coloring. Tie it off when done.

4. It is time to freeze your water balloons. First, you can set it in a bowl so the bottoms don’t become flat. Then, place them in the freezer or outside. How long it takes depends on the size of your ball and the temperature. I would give it at least 24 hours.

Tips and Issues Encountered

I placed the water balloons in a bowl to prevent one side from becoming completely flat. 

However, I found that you probably want to rotate the balloons, so the bottom of the balloon in the bowl isn’t insulated.

If you are placing the ice balls outside to freeze, DON’T place them in the snow (unless you rotate them). Snow DOES insulate pretty well. 

I placed a water balloon in the snow to cradle it. I thought, “I’ll have a nice rounded ice ball when I place the balloon in a little pocket in the snow.” 

Wrong.

It snowed overnight, and the temps did drop to around 0. So it should freeze at those temps, right?

Nope!

Less than an inch of snow covered the balloon, but it kept it from freezing. Life lesson learned. Snow really can insulate things. Sigh.

Also, the food coloring never seems to color the whole ice ball for me. It pools in one location but has tendrils that spread out. It is still beautiful. 

Directions for Bowling Pins

The bowling pins are super simple. But, first, you need ten regular-sized water bottles (16oz) and freeze them.

You can fill old water bottles with water or use new ones.

I recommend leaving space at the top of the water bottles. It will help prevent rounded bottoms.

Also, make sure to place the bottles upright to freeze correctly. We froze ours in the freezer. You could possibly do this outside too. 

Even if they don’t freeze all the way through, it is okay. Whatever ice is in it gives the bottles some weight.

Let the Ice Bowling Fun Begin (Winter Activity or Cool Summer Fun)

Now that you have your ice balls and pins, it is time for some fun! As I mentioned, this can be a fun winter activity for your kids, a winter festival idea, a co-op group activity, or any other kids’ organization. 

However, this could be an enjoyable activity on a hot summer day. There’s nothing like an ice bowling ball in your hands to cool you off. 

Suggestions on How to Set Up Ice Bowling

In the Snow

If you are setting up outside in winter, I highly recommend making a bowling lane. It will cushion the ice ball, especially with little kids. Believe me; someone WILL throw it. Plus, packed-down snow won’t work too well. The ice, as it melts, picks up the snow, and it becomes a giant snowball. 

1. We used large sheets of cardboard to make a small lane. We placed the cardboard on top of the tarp to protect it and keep it from getting wet fast. You could even wrap the tarp on top of the cardboard to keep the top from getting soggy. We didn’t, but the cardboard held up for 2 hours. 
2. If you don’t have cardboard, you could try putting down a tarp on top of the snow. It will help the ice balls roll better.

In either case, you may want to place snow down the sides of the lane as bumpers. It really helped us. 

On Grass

Now, if you are doing ice bowling in the summer, you’d want to do it in the grass. However, if you are afraid of the kids throwing the ice ball too hard, you could put down a cardboard bowling lane. Make sure to pick up the cardboard bowling lane when finished, so you don’t kill your grass. 

Playing Ice Bowling:

1. You could play it by bowling rules. In this case, everyone gets three tries to knock down as many pins. You count how many pins knocked down, which is your score for that round (or frame). Then it is the next person’s turn. After ten frames, you see who has the most points. This is a simple way to keep score for kids. 
2. A non-competitive version allows the kids to roll until they knock down all the pins. We played this way at the Winter Festival in town. We didn’t have huge lines, so having kids keep bowling until they knocked down all the bottles was fine. 

Since it was a fun festival for the town, kids picked out a prize for playing. We bought a package of pinata prizes (mix of toys and candy) for the kids. It worked out well. Some chose candy while others liked the whistles (sorry parents) and tops. 

All in all, ice bowling is a fun and easy winter activity for kids/ Plus, it is a fun way to cool off in the summer heat! Kids of all ages can have a great time playing.

{RELATED: 10+ Super Snow Activities for Outdoors and Inside}

So, get some water bottles and balloons for some weekend fun!

Happy Homeschooling!