Among the joys of winter are ice and snow sports! The combination of sun and snow is just perfect to enjoy a day outdoors.

Select a day with sunshine to have a Snow Bowling tournament along with other fun snow activities with your community residents.

While bowling is usually an indoor sport, bowling outside in the snow can be simply spectacular!

Break the Ice

Locate a large open space with lots of snow. Make a lane (or multiple lanes) through the snow using a shovel. Smooth down your bowling lane using a large wooden board or sleds. Then set up your 10 pins in a 1/2/3/4 triangle.

Use real bowling balls and bowling pins for tournament play!

***TIP*** Call bowling alleys for supplies! They often sell or donate used bowling pins for cheap.

Image Source: Vilaswi

How to Play

For fun (and not tournament play) make two teams of people and allow each person to have two turns to hit as many pins as possible. Make a note of the team with the most pins knocked over and offer a gift at the end. Also, to make the event more thrilling, you could put a time limit on the shots each player can take.

The winning team can then be further divided into two teams who will play against one another. Similarly, individual competitions among community residents can also be held.

If you have a limited number of players, you can also start a true bowling game. Here are some scoring rules for briefing your residents. It may be helpful to print out and laminate a few copies. You can also download and print your score sheets here.

***TIP*** Remind the residents to wear non-slip boots, warm coats, and waterproof gloves to avoid accidents and frostbite.

Pair Bowling with Other Snow Activities

The event may also be paired up with other games such as snow tug-of-war. Tug-of-war is fun as it is! Imagine the amusement of people plopping down in heaps of slushy snow. 

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For snow tug-of-war you will need:

·         A large open space of snow

·         A long rope

·         Two (roughly) equal size and strength teams

Here’s a video showing how fun a game of snow tug-of-war can be.