The Color Bowling Alley

Each bottle pin has a color card, and children try to roll the ball to knock down the pin of the color the teacher calls. It works on aim, listening to the instruction and deciding where to send the ball.

How to play

1. The teacher wraps the bottles in four colors of card stock and sets up six lanes with four pins each, one of each color (2 min).
2. In groups of four, each child rolls once and everyone helps stand the fallen pins back up (2 min).
3. The teacher calls a color and everyone tries to knock down that pin; if another one falls, we celebrate that too (3 min).
4. Now each child secretly picks a color, says it out loud before rolling and gives it a try (3 min).
5. We clean up, and each child carries all the pins of one color to the box (2 min).

Rules

• The ball rolls on the floor, never through the air.
• Before rolling, I look at the color I'm aiming for.
• We all set the pins back up together.

Variations

Adaptations

• Visual impairment: give pins different textures (sandpaper, bubble wrap) for the child to touch before rolling.
• Limited mobility: a cardboard ramp to roll from the wheelchair, turned toward the chosen color.
• Autism: a color card in hand so the child doesn't have to remember it.

Learning goals

• Aim a rolling ball at a specific target.
• Pay attention to a color instruction before acting.
• Make simple decisions during play.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Plastic bottles: 24
• Colored card stock: 4
• Large rubber balls: 6

Teacher tip

Empty 50-ounce bottles with caps stand up well indoors. The typical mistake is rolling without looking, so ask them to point at the pin before they roll.

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