Christmas Tree Bowling Gross Motor Activity

Are you looking for a simple game to play at this years kids’ holiday party? Christmas Tree Bowling can be both a craft and a gross motor activity that is sure to be a hit with the kids in your classroom, homeschool co-op or family!

Christmas Tree Bowling

Supplies:

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• 10 Empty green bottles (Sprite or Canada Dry work great!)
• Ornament foam stickers
• Star foam stickers
• Small ball

Prep & Set Up:

To prepare this activity you need to save at least ten green plastic bottles. Then follow the simple directions found HERE.

Set up this gross motor activity in an open space with a smooth, level floor. Arrange the bottle Christmas trees standing in a triangle. Then create a bowling lane, tape might be helpful for defining the lane, but isn’t necessary. Then invite the children to have fun bowling!

How to Bowl:

Bowling is a popular sport played in the United States and worldwide. The game has many official rules but for the purpose of this activity I would keep it very simple. Basically one player at a time has a turn to knock down as many Christmas trees as possible by rolling the ball down the lane towards the Christmas tree bowling pins. Each child gets two tries to knock down all the pins. For each turn, you can record the number of Christmas tree bowling pins the player knocks down. The player with the highest total of Christmas tree bowling pins knocked down after eight or so rounds is the winner.

To make it more challenging:

One fun way to make this gross motor activity more challenging and to increase sensory input is to play with a weighted ball. This will provide some great heavy work for kids who need the extra proprioceptive input. Just be careful playing with weighted balls and make sure the balls are rolled only. I wouldn’t recommend using weighted balls with toddlers or impulsive preschoolers.

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