Games With Bottles for Kids
Whether you are trying to be innovative or save money, glass and plastic bottles can become excellent toys for your children. They are easily replaceable if broken and can amuse your children for less than a few dollars. With a bit of preparation, you can design games with bottles for your children that keep them entertained for hours on end.
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Bottle Bowling
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Bottle bowling is one of the most well known games using bottles. For this game, you will need 10 plastic bottles, preferably empty two-liter bottles. Depending on the age of your kids and the weight of your ball, you can decide how much you want to fill the bottles with either sand or water. The more the bottle is full, the harder the game becomes. Line up the bottles like bowling pins, forming a triangle. Divide the kids in half, and give the team whose turn it is a ball. Many types of balls can work, but a tennis ball or heavier ball for filled bottles work well. When it is one team's turn, the first child should stand a designated length away from the pins and try to knock them over with the ball. When that child is done, keep score of how many pins were knocked over. It is then the next team's turn. When the game is over, the team with the highest total score wins.
Ring Toss
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This game is very much like the game played at carnivals. Take as many bottles as you have and set them up a set distance away from the children. Give each child a ring, either one purchased from plastic or you can also make a ring from PVC piping. Bracelets also work excellently. There are several variations to this game. In one variant, set up several bottles, but put a marking color on the farthest one. Tell the children they get five points if they get the ring on any bottle, but get 20 if they get it on the last bottle. If you only have one bottle, give each child a few rings and have them try to get them all on the bottle. Play several rounds and the child with the highest score wins. This game can be played with bottle plastic and glass bottles.
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Pigs to Market
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In this racing game, you will need chalk or rope, broom handles or sticks for each child and plastic two-liters bottles for each players. You will also need sand, dirt or water to fill each bottle. Fill each soda bottle with sand or dirt and screw on the cap. Line the children up behind a "starting line" and designate a "finish line" about 20 feet away. Mark the lines with the rope or chalk. Place a bottle in front of each player, which will be called a "pig." Give each child a broom or stick. Each child must push their "pigs" with their brooms or sticks until they get to the finish lines. Bottles filled with water behave very erratically, so the game can be very amusing. The first player to reach the finish line wins the game.
Ball Catchers
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A variant of catch, this game can be played with plastic two-liter bottles instead of gloves. To make the "ball catchers," wash and dry the bottles. You may want to first cut off the bottom half of the bottle. Once finished, you may also want to decorate the bottles with colored electrical tape or paint markers. Give each child a bottle, and tell the child to hold it at the more narrow end. The children can play catch together. If you want a more competitive game, the children can stand a few paces apart. Tell each child on one side to toss the ball to the child on the other side. If the child drops it, that pair of children is "out." Tell the remaining children to each back up one step and then to toss again. If a child drops it, that pair is "out" and the remaining children again back up one space. The last pair of children standing are the winners.
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References
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