Kids Bowl Free – A Neat Idea For Summer Fun
If you have some self restraint in using it, that is. But I think we’ll be trying it out this summer.
My son brought home a flyer yesterday for a program called Kids Bowl Free. The program is a nationwide one, and it has a branch in our neighborhood. Basically, the program is this. You register your child (or children) and receive via email or by logging into your account, 2 free bowling games per day for each child for the entire summer. Our local program runs from May 1st to August 31st, but dates vary depending on location. You can use as many or as few of the coupons as you’d like (you get one coupon per child for each day good for two free games). Shoe rentals for the kids are also free at our local center, not sure if that is at all centers or not.
Of course, the bowling centers are not completely altruistic, they are doing this to gain business. Most parents would probably want to actually bowl with their child versus just watch them bowl. The program does cater to this as well – you can purchase a family pass good for up to four adults of your choosing to bowl with your children for $23.95 for the entire summer. Now, if you’re only going to go once or twice, this is not at all a good deal, but if you plan to make a weekly (or more) event out of it, this is a great discount.
I am sure that the participating centers have snacks and such they hope you buy, and that you love bowling there so much you keep bowling after the program is over. It is a great marketing ploy. But it also, to me, sounds like a really fun program! We love to bowl, and I even have my own ball and shoes so I wouldn’t have to rent shoes (I am not sure if the shoe rental for adults is free with the family pass or not). Times of participation vary per center so you’ll have to call and find out. I grew up bowling every week with my parents, so this sounds like a fun way to keep that tradition alive.
I am not in any way affiliated with this program, I just got a flyer about it from my son’s school and wanted to share it with my readers. If you’ve done the program before, share your experiences! I would love to hear how well (or not well) it worked for you!
May 14th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
My brother did this a couple of summers when he was younger. He and my husband’s cousin were on a bowling league during school, and so his mom and my mom would meet every couple of weeks at the bowling alley to visit and catch up while the boys bowled. Plus, we did buy the family pass so that if they wanted to bowl, or if I wanted to come, or just take little brother by myself, we could bowl all we wanted. It was a lot of fun!
May 14th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I just love this idea. It is just in time to help make our summer a lot more fun. I lost my income and was totally bummed that my son would miss out on fun. I signed up for this for my son and two of my grandchildren, I am going to buy the family plan so that my daughter, her husband and I will be able to go too. Now I just need to find an inexpensive source for bowling shoes, they charge $3.50 a day at our bowling alley.