✍️ Best Baby Shower Games Editorial Team · Updated May 2026

Baby Bottle Bowling

Set up ten empty baby bottles like bowling pins. Roll a soft ball at them and try to knock them all down. The kids will lose their minds; the adults will sneak in a turn when they think nobody's watching.

🏃 Active
⚡ Quick
🧒 Kid-friendly
🤝 Low-pressure

⏱ Prep: 5 min
👥 Best for: Any size
🍷 Coed: Yes
📹 Virtual: In person

What you'll need

Six to ten plain plastic baby bottles — a six-pack runs about $10 at Walmart or Dollar Tree, and they all get gifted to the mom-to-be after the game
A soft ball roughly the size of a softball — a foam dodge-ball from Target or a fabric Melissa & Doug ball works perfectly
Painter's tape (the blue stuff from Hobby Lobby) to mark the throwing line
A measuring tape or yardstick to set the eight-foot bowling lane
A pitcher of water for filling each bottle with about a quarter cup
A named prize like a $20 Trader Joe's gift card or a small bottle of wine

Before the shower (setup)

Grab a six-pack of plain plastic baby bottles at Walmart or Dollar Tree — you don't need anything fancy, and they'll all be washed and gifted to the mom-to-be when the game's done. Eight to ten bottles is the sweet spot. Six works if you only have a small space, but ten gives that satisfying "strike" feel when they all topple over. Pick the cheapest bottles on the shelf; the fancy Dr. Brown's anti-colic ones aren't worth $15 each for something you're knocking down with a foam ball.
Pick your bowling lane the morning of the shower. You want hardwood, tile, or laminate — carpet kills the roll and the round dies fast. A hallway with the rug pulled back works, a kitchen-to-dining run works, and a paved patio works if the weather cooperates. Measure eight feet from where you'll set the pins to where the bowler will stand. Lay down a strip of blue painter's tape to mark the throwing line so guests don't drift forward turn after turn.
About thirty minutes before guests arrive, fill each bottle with roughly a quarter cup of water. Empty bottles tip over from the air conditioner — even a sneeze knocks them down. The water gives them just enough weight to stand up but still fall when the ball hits. Cap the bottles tight. Set them up in a triangle at the end of the lane: a four-three-two-one pyramid for ten bottles, or a three-two-one triangle for six. Keep the soft ball, a kid helper (if you've got one — they love resetting between turns), and the prize visible near the throwing line.

Front-door setup for Baby Bottle Bowling — basket of clothespins and a chalkboard rule sign by the entryway — Set up at the front door so the game starts the second guests walk in.

How to play

Once everyone's circled the lane, call the first bowler up to the painter's tape line. They get two rolls per turn. Underhand only — overhand rolls send the ball ricocheting off bottles into a wall or a guest's drink. After the first roll, count the bottles that went down and leave them lying there. Set up the rolled-down bottles for the second roll only after every bottle has been knocked over or after both rolls are used. Write the player's total bottles on a small scoreboard or just call it out and have the host remember.

Pass the ball to the next player and reset the bottles into the triangle. A kid is the best person for this job — they treat it like a real Saturday-morning bowling alley. Continue around the room until every player has had five turns, or just go until you've burned through twenty minutes and the kids are about to revolt. The vibe is loose; nobody's tracking strict ten-frame scoring like real bowling.

After everyone's gone five turns, add up the total bottles knocked down across the whole game. Highest total wins. If two adults tie, run a single-roll bowl-off between them — one ball each from the painter's tape line, most bottles down takes the prize. Hand the prize over in front of the room. The bottles all go in a bin and travel home with the mom-to-be, washed and ready for actual use.

A hand lifting a clothespin off another guest's shirt — the steal moment in Baby Bottle Bowling — The moment of the steal — someone slipped, someone caught it, pin changes hands.

Variations to try

Solo strike round. One ball, one roll, ten bottles. Whoever knocks down the most in a single throw wins. Faster, more dramatic, and great as a tiebreaker for the main game. Best for a tight twenty-minute window.
Team bowling. Two teams of three or four. Each player rolls once. Combined team total wins. Pairs grandma with her grandkid for a great Costco-card-versus-bragging-rights moment.
Trick bottle. Fill one bottle three-quarters full of water so it doesn't fall easily — it just wobbles when hit. Don't tell anyone. The first guest who notices halfway through the game gets bonus laughs.
Pyramid stack. Skip the bowling triangle. Stack the bottles in a four-three-two-one pyramid lying down (like a Costco soda display). Different physics — one roll can take the whole tower out if you hit the bottom corner right.
Backyard or driveway version. Move the lane to a paved driveway or smooth patio. Use a rubber ball instead of foam. Better for kids who want to throw harder. Skip if you're in a windy backyard — empty bottles blow over before the first roll.

Pro tips from hosts who've actually run this

Fill each bottle with a quarter cup of water. Empty bottles fall from a sneeze; a full bottle won't fall at all. A quarter cup is the magic middle.
Soft ball only. A baseball or basketball will scuff floors and send bottle caps flying — a foam dodge-ball from Target ($3) is the perfect weight.
Eight feet from line to pins. Closer is too easy for adults; farther is impossible for the kids. Mark it with painter's tape so guests don't drift.
Stick with hardwood, tile, or laminate. Carpet slows the ball to a crawl and ruins every roll past the first turn.
Recruit a kid as the pin-setter. They genuinely love that job, the round speeds up, and it gives the kids in the room something to do between turns.
Two rolls per turn is the right pace. One roll feels rushed; three rolls makes adults check their phones.
Pair with [[pacifier-toss]] for a twenty-minute "baby gear as toys" games block — both run in the same space with no new setup.

Common mistakes to avoid

Skipping the water in the bottles. Air-light bottles tip from a breeze and the game dies in three rolls.
Setting the throwing line too close (under six feet) — every player knocks all the pins down on roll one and the round has no tension.
Using a hard ball. Tennis balls bounce wildly off plastic bottles and once one cracks a picture frame the host is done.
Playing on carpet. The ball slows down so much that the bottles don't even wobble — adults check out by turn two.
Forgetting to wash and gift the bottles to the mom-to-be after. They're shower decor for an hour, then they're actual diaper-bag bottles for the next six months.

Best prize for this game

Pick a prize that suits a casual filler-tier game — no need to go big. A $20 Trader Joe's gift card hits for a coed crowd, and a $15 Target gift card is the easy fallback. A small bottle of wine for an over-21 crowd or a Yankee Candle classic (Vanilla Cupcake is the safest pick) both work too. If there are kids playing, have a separate kid-friendly second prize — a $10 Target gift card or a small candy bag from Trader Joe's — so the five-year-old who outscored grandma walks away with something too.

→ More baby shower prize ideas, by budget

Our verdict

Almost zero prep, wildly photogenic, and it works for any age in the room — the only baby-shower game where a five-year-old can beat grandpa fair and square.

Baby Bottle Bowling — FAQ

What size ball works best for baby bottle bowling?

About the size of a softball — roughly six inches across. Too small and the ball weaves between bottles without hitting them; too large and you knock everything down on every roll. A foam dodge-ball or kickball from Target is the perfect weight and won't damage anything if it bounces.

How far should the throwing line be from the bottles?

Eight feet for adults, five feet for kids under ten. If you've got mixed ages, set two lines — adults at eight feet, kids at five. Painter's tape on the floor makes the distance clear and saves you from arguments later in the game.

Can I use real bowling pins instead of baby bottles?

You can, but the baby-bottle theme is the whole point of the game. Wooden mini bowling pins from Amazon work fine if you don't want plastic bottles around, but ten plain bottles from Dollar Tree are cheaper and they all get used by the mom-to-be after.

How long does the round take?

About fifteen to twenty minutes for six players with five turns each. If you've got more than ten players, drop to three turns each — otherwise the round runs forty-five minutes and the back half of the room loses interest.

Where do I get cheap empty baby bottles?

Dollar Tree carries them for a buck a piece, Walmart has six-packs of plain plastic bottles for around $10, and Amazon sells eight-packs for $14. Skip the fancy brands like Dr. Brown's or Tommee Tippee unless they're on clearance — you're not nursing with these, just bowling them down.

Is this game safe for a coed shower with adults and kids together?

Yes, easily. The soft ball, light bottles, and short eight-foot lane mean nothing's going to get hurt. The only real risk is an adult getting too competitive and elbowing past a five-year-old — keep the tone light and the kid-set throwing line short.

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About the author

Best Baby Shower Games Editorial Team — Party planners, parents & writers. We’re a small team of party planners and parents who’ve hosted — and been guests at — dozens of baby showers. Every game here is sorted by what actually lands in a real room, not by what just looks cute on a Pinterest board.