by R. Renee Bembry

Created on: February 02, 2009   Last Updated: March 31, 2009

"I got a strike, Mom!" is reason number one to take your family bowling. Children get so excited when they see their balls rolling down bowling alleys heading for triangles of pretty white pins with red stripes. Watching their balls slide into pins sending them tumbling and crashing to the floor brings smiles across children's faces. Almost as exciting as the bowl itself is watching pin grabbers drop down to raise pins that managed to remain standing and to scoop away those that fell to the floor.

Bowling makes for great family time because everyone is together and everyone is paying attention to what the other is doing. Video games are put away and television viewing is widely reduced. Bowling alley atmospheres are completely different from at home environments with all the hard plastic balls rolling on shiny stiff wooden floors crashing into lanes and lanes of awaiting pins.

All that chatter amongst the hundreds of bowlers present plus the music in the background makes entering a bowling alley seem like going to a party. The wide open room feels spacious despite bowlers' limited one or two lanes they occupy while bowling. Bowling alleys these days tend to have colorful decor and flashing neon lights that reinforce that party time feeling.

When families bowl together, parents and children interact quite a bit as parents guide their young as to how to improve their skill. While learning and improving their bowling ability, children learn to be more competitive. Bowling also helps children better their math skills as they read score monitors to discern their scores compared to other scores and determine how many points they need to get ahead - or stay ahead as the case may be.

Speaking of score monitors - score monitors insure bowlers are rewarded with pats on backs when they bowl strikes, spares, turkeys, etcetera, by displaying little cartoon 'way-to-goes!' These displays add to verbal rewards and high fives received from co-bowlers.

Bowling is fun and it is a great pass time. You can have fun without sitting in movie seats or concerning yourselves with the weather. Since bowling alleys offer foods like pizza fries and burgers that kids like to eat, they can bowl and have a meal at the same time. When back at home mom or dad won't have to cook!

Thanks to bowling bumpers, almost any family member able to walk can bowl - even if an older person assists them. Kids can use bumpers and parents can bowl in lanes next them without bumpers.

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