Homemade Equipment Ideas

Equipment Name: Bowling Pin Buddies

Materials Needed: plastic bowling pins and ball pictures of animal "heads, laminator (ideal but not necessary)

Estimated Cost: $1.00

Rationale: This idea helps young kids stay motivated to practice rolling and aiming with a bowling ball by changing the pins into familiar animals or objects.

Directions For Making:

Dress up plastic bowling pins by adding an animal or themed "head" to the top of the pin. Look for simple animal pictures in coloring books or in clip art. Cut out just the head and enlarge until it is large enough to cover the top of the pin, but not so large that it flops over (about 5-6" in diameter, depending on the size of the bowling pin). Copy several of the head pictures onto white paper, then draw in a strip horizontally at the bottom where the neck would be that is about 8 inches long and 1.5" tall. Laminate the entire page, then cut out around the outline of the head and the strip together. The strip at the bottom is then taped around the neck of the bowling pin. If a laminator is not available, copy onto thicker stock of paper. These can be hand drawn as well. I make them in various animals (bunnies, puppies, cats etc.) as well as for themes throughout the year (pumpkins, turkeys, shamrocks, etc.) A fun variation might be to print out pictures of the children in the class and put them onto the pins!

Submitted by Laurie Nelson who is from The Centennial Early Childhood Center in Circle Pines, MN . Thanks for contributing to PE Central! Posted on PEC: 8/21/06.

PE Central
P.O. Box 10262
Blacksburg, VA 24062
FAX: 540-301-0112

http://www.pecentral.org