Printable Numbers Bowling

It's been awhile since I made a game for multiagers. Numbers Bowling is one, though. Preschoolers can practice counting and numeral association and older siblings can work on their division skills.

Here's how we played.

Print the alley lane. Grab 10 pennies (or buttons, or other small round do-dads). (Download the file free from Google Drive here.)

For preschoolers, print the dotted bowling pin cards. I made two copies. (Download the cards free here.)

For older kids, print the division problem bowling pin cards. One set is all you need. Although, if you want to amp up the challenge, print two copies of page 7 (the gutter ball cards). Download the division cards for free here.

That's it. You're ready to play. Well … you might want paper and pencil to keep score.

If using both decks, make sure the cards do not become mixed. Each player draws only from their deck.

To begin the game, Player 1 draws five cards. Preschoolers will look at one card at a time, count the dots on the pins, and find that numeral on the alley pins, covering it with a game piece.

Older kids must solve the division problems to "knock down" (i.e. cover up) the pins. The division deck contains gutter ball cards. There's two ways to play with these: 1) when a player has a gutter ball card, they get no pins/points that round, or 2) the gutter ball card just gives the player one less chance to knock down pins that round.

Players draw two sets of five cards (10 total) per round. The number of pins covered after the 10 cards are played is the player's score for that round.

Play as many rounds as you wish. Preschoolers have shorter attention spans, so if they're playing with siblings, keep the game short. Remember, learning stops when you lose their attention.

The player with the highest score at the end of the game is the winner.