Up-Cycled Water Bottle Backyard Bowling

Don’t throw away your used water bottles! Save them and dress them up to make this fun Backyard Bowling game!

Summer, summer, summer!!! I seriously love this time of year as much as my kids do! (Maybe more!) How great is it to not have to worry about school, have lazy unscheduled days, swim, eat ice cream…. all the things!!

However, there comes a time in every summer where the boredom monster strikes… suddenly there is nothing to do. Forget that they have a closet full of toys, some of which haven’t seen the light of day yet this season, they are B-O-R-E-D!!

I’ll be the first to admit that our back yard isn’t this the most fun. It’s kind of small, we don’t have a pool or a trampoline. The boys don’t have friends within walking distance and so sometimes finding something to do outside takes a little creativity.

Well one thing our yard does have is a nice long, flat, straight sidewalk, not quite long enough for biking or riding a scooter down, but just about the perfect length for a bowling alley!!

Years ago we had one of those sets with the plastic pins but somewhere along the way it got pitched, given away or donated. So we decided to go ahead and make our own!!

Here’s what you’ll need-

6 plastic bottles- all the same size & shape (mine are small Smart Water bottles)

White Spray paint – I used Krylon

Accent paint colors- acrylic paint

Small paint brush

Heavy foam balls (mine are t-ball balls from Walmart)

Sand or water

This really is a super simple project! If the boredom monster is knocking hard at your door you could even skip the painting, but the bright colors do make it more fun!

The first step is to peel the labels off your bottles, wash and dry them.

Now to spray them with white paint. I cut a whole in the top of a box to balance them in, alternately you can just hold them but you’ll probably end up with white fingers.

Start with a super light coat first and then let it dry. Follow up with 2 or 3 more coats letting them dry in between until the bottle is well covered.

Now its time to decorate! Using your accent colors paint away! You can make stripes, polka dots, splatters, whatever sounds like fun! Let the kids paint them! Don’t forget to paint the lids too!

Once they’re all decorated and the paint is dry you’ll want to add a little sand or water inside them to weigh them down just a little. You only need to fill them up about 1-2 inches, just enough to make them stable and a little harder to knock down! Once you start playing you can always adjust the amount to make it harder or easier to knock them down!

Now you’re all set! To play line them up in lines of 3, 2 & 1. Make a line with chalk or use a crack in the side-walk to set boundaries that you can’t step over & bowl away!!

If you want to keep score you can or just play for fun, either way it’s a great way to spend a summer afternoon!!

If you’re looking for more great summer projects, activities and treats make sure to hop over to Nap-Time Creations and check out her awesome summer fun series! I’m excited to be featured this week and there are so many other great ideas from previous weeks, you won’t be bored!!