Bowling: An Educational Game Format - A Fun Game for Older Students

One of the keys to using games with older children is to make the rules a bit more involved. A generic game children like to play is bowling. I call it generic because any skill cards can be used to play it.

TO MAKE

Draw a pattern of squares or rectangles on a sheet of paper calling it the playing card. The pattern is like the arrangement of bowling pins. One square in the first row, two in the second, three in the third and four in the fourth row.

The skill cards can be anything!! (Examples: math facts--give solutions to, names of states for the child to name the capital, dates--give event, spelling words--child spells). The skill cards should be sized slightly smaller than the spaces on the playing card grid. I like to put the answers on the reverse side of all skill cards. This eliminates the need of using answer keys which can be misplaced.

TO PLAY

The skill cards are shuffled and placed in a draw pile. As a child comes up to "bowl," ten cards are drawn and one is placed in each square. The skill cards are placed question side up.

Looking at one card at a time, the child gives the answer. If correct, the card is removed from the board. If incorrect, the card is replaced. After all 10 cards have been read, score is given. If all 10 were correct a "strike" would be recorded. If less then 10 cards were correctly answered, the number correct is recorded and the child tries to get a "spare" by "bowling his second ball."

To do this he goes back and does the cards he missed. If he now answers them correctly, they are removed. If he empties the playing card, he would score a "spare." If a mistake is made again, just the number of correct responses would be recorded. (Scoring is exactly like regularly bowling.)

To print a score sheet you can go to:

http://www.printablepaper.net/preview/BowlingScoreSheet

This game can be played alone, by making it self correcting. Put the answers on the backside of the cards. I usually do this to ALL my skill cards used to play bowling. In this way, when a child gives an answer he can turn over the card and know if his response is correct. If he is incorrect, he immediately is given the correct response thus learning as he goes. When he "bowls" his spare, he will probably now give the correct response. This helps to get the information firmly stored in his mind.

I knew I had a winner years ago when I made my first bowling game!
My nephew was learning his states and capitals. So the skill cards each had the name of a state on them and the capitals on the back.

I played with him and since I know my capitals I scored a perfect 300 game. He, of course, scored much lower.

I left the game with him and returned home. My sister called me the next morning to tell me he had been at it since he woke up. He was determined to get a perfect game.

Jonathan made a realization:
After he had played complete games several times, it dawned on Jonathan that if he made a mistake, he could just quit and start a new game.

Was he cheating? Of course not, not since the REAL object of the game is to learn his capitals, NOT score 300.

Jonathan wins in more ways than one!
Later, that same morning, he called to tell me he had gotten a 300 game........that meant he had done all 50 states twice through with no mistakes. He felt he was a winner for scoring a perfect game. His mother and I knew he had also won by discovering a fun way to drill new information.

Did he have them learned? Well, he may forget some, but his mom challenged him to a game occassionally and he often beat her.......