Mummy Bowling Game Printable: Scorecards for a Spooky Strike
Wrap the Pins, Roll the Ball, Knock Down the Mummies
Bowling is fun. Mummy bowling is bowling with a costume on. You take ten empty bottles, wrap them in white streamers until they look like mummies, stand them up in a triangle, and roll a ball at them. The pins wobble, the streamers flutter, and when you get a strike, a whole row of mummies goes down at once. Kids love making the pins. Adults love knocking them down. Everybody wins.
What makes this game work at a party is that the setup is half the fun. Wrapping the bottles is a craft project in itself — give each guest a bottle and a roll of streamers, and in ten minutes you have a full set of mummies, each one slightly different, each one with its own personality. Then you bowl with them.
What You Need
You’ll need ten empty plastic bottles (water bottles or soda bottles, labels removed), white streamers or toilet paper, tape, googly eyes or black paper for the eyes, a soft ball (a small playground ball or a foam ball works best indoors), and one scorecard per player. A strip of tape on the floor marks the throwing line; a hallway or a backyard path makes a natural lane.
Wrap each bottle from the bottom up, overlapping the layers slightly, and leave a small gap near the top for the eyes. Tape the loose end down so the wrapping doesn’t unravel mid-game. Stand a finished pin up and roll the ball at it once to test — if it tips easily and the wrapping stays put, the pin is ready. If the wrapping catches under the base, trim it or re-tape it.
Setting Up the Lane
Arrange the ten pins in a triangle, just like real bowling: one pin in the front row, two in the second, three in the third, and four in the back. Leave a little space between bottles so a good roll can actually scatter them. Put small pieces of tape on the floor under each pin position so resetting between turns is quick.
For younger children, use six pins instead of ten (rows of one, two, and three) and move the throwing line closer. For adults, move the line back and use a slightly heavier ball. The lane should be level — a slope turns the game into a lesson in physics nobody asked for.
The Scorecard
Use this simplified bowling scorecard — it’s real bowling scoring, minus the headache. Each player gets two rolls per frame, and there are five frames per game (ten if your group is patient). A strike is all ten pins down on the first roll; a spare is all ten down across both rolls.
MUMMY BOWLING SCORECARD
Player name: ______________
Frame 1 — Roll 1: ___ Roll 2: ___ Frame total: ___
Frame 2 — Roll 1: ___ Roll 2: ___ Frame total: ___
Frame 3 — Roll 1: ___ Roll 2: ___ Frame total: ___
Frame 4 — Roll 1: ___ Roll 2: ___ Frame total: ___
Frame 5 — Roll 1: ___ Roll 2: ___ Frame total: ___
GRAND TOTAL: ___ Strikes: ___ Spares: ___
How to Play
Players take turns in order, two rolls per frame. After each player’s rolls, reset the pins to the triangle. Count the pins down after each roll, and mark the scorecard before the next player bowls — it’s much harder to remember scores after three people have played. The highest total after five frames wins.
Add a house rule for strikes: when someone bowls a strike, everyone shouts “MUMMY DOWN!” It’s silly, it’s loud, and it’s the kind of thing that makes a party game feel like an event. For a tournament, run a bracket: winners advance, losers become the cheering section, and the final is played with the whole party watching.
Ways to Change It Up
Play “mummy madness” rules: one pin in each set is the “golden mummy” (mark it with a gold star or a different-colored eye), and knocking it down is worth 5 bonus points. Play glow bowling by putting a glow stick inside each bottle and turning the lights down — the glowing mummies are a fantastic effect for an evening party. Or play in teams: each team’s total counts, and the team with the highest combined score wins, which keeps everyone involved even after a bad frame.
For a classroom, skip the scoring and play “first to ten”: the first player to knock down ten pins total across their turns wins, which keeps the game short and the energy high. For a trunk-or-treat, set up the lane next to your car and let kids play a frame at a time as they pass by.
Free Printable + Premium Bundles
The pin guide, lane setup, scorecard, and rules above are free to print and use at your party. If you want a polished, party-ready mummy bowling kit with matching scorecards and pin labels in Halloween colors, grab the full premium printable bundles at Fukroo on Etsy. Print, wrap, roll, and knock those mummies down.
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