Best Bowling for Kids Around Boston

Amanda Banta:  Pinz is more than a bowling alley - it's a complete bowling experience. Kids will love the excitement of the lights, the music, the comfy couches in your seating area and enjoying the drinks and food that can be delivered right to your lane. The alley offers tenpin bowling only, which often is a treat for New England kids raised on candlepin. Pinz also hosts birthday parties and has dozens of arcade games for kids who want to keep playing when the bowling fun is done.

Cost: $5-7 per string/person. Shoe rentals: $3.95 plus tax.

Amanda Banta:  Described by many as a "hidden gem" in its town, Needham Bowlaway offers eight lanes of candlepin bowling. Bumpers can be used on all lanes, at no additional cost.

Cosmic bowling is offered Friday through Sunday. See here for their daily hours of operation.

The alley also hosts birthday parties for bowlers of all ages.

Directions: Visitors are advised to use the municipal parking behind the alley, then walk around to the front to enter. See here for more details on getting to Needham Bowlaway.

Cost: $25 per lane per hour; $4 for shoe rental.

Tracy Snyder Molina:  What started as King's Bowl with one location in Boston's Back Bay has now become a bowling and entertainment chain with several locations throughout Massachusetts and beyond. Each location has its own unique feel with bowling and location specific games such as billiards and skee ball along with full-service dining and bar areas. Kings can make a great family outing as well as a fun date night or gathering place to meet up with friends.

Cost: $7-$10 per game depending on location, day and time. See website for specific location information. Shoe and sock rentals are available, prices vary.

Amanda Banta:  Round1 is a full-blown entertainment center with a bowling alley guaranteed to knock your kid's socks off. Kids still learning to bowl and anyone who needs assistance can use ramps, bumpers and kid-sized balls. Round1 offers the kid-favorite cosmic bowling as well.

Round1 offers discounts and other benefits to its Kids Club Members, for those 13 and under. Adult memberships available as well. See here for birthday party information.

Cost: $4.50-$6 per string/person. Hourly rates available. Shoe rental: $3.50/person.

Amanda Banta:  If pizza and bowling are an amazing combination for you, head to Sacco's Bowl-Haven. Sacco's is part of the Flatbread Company's Somerville location, a spot where strikes and spares have been thrown down the candlepin lanes since 1939.

Reservations for groups of 8 or more can be booked online. Several lanes are held back each day for smaller groups of walk-in bowlers.

Cost: $30 per lane per hour for up to six people; $3 per person for shoe rental.

Amanda Banta:  With more than 60 lanes, Westgate Lanes is a huge bowling center that offers tons of fun for families in the Greater Boston area. The alley has both tenpin and candlepin lanes, giving families an option to switch up their bowling activity each visit. Westgate has more than 30 arcade games, snack and pub menus, and a full bar.

Cost: $3.25 - $5.75 per string/person. Hourly rates and special pricing available. Shoe rentals: $3.25/person.

Amanda Banta:  Boston Bowl reaches beyond the New England tradition of candlepin and also offers ten-pin bowling, which is not common in the Boston area, at both its Boston and Hanover locations. Bowlers can order up family-friendly snacks and food, and parents can pick up an adult beverage to sip while throwing a few strings. For those early rising kids, Boston Bowl (Boston location) is open 24 hours!

Information for birthday parties and leagues can be found online.

Cost: Prices vary by location. See here for full details for Boston and here for Hanover.

Amanda Banta:  A classic, old school alley feeling welcomes bowlers at Southie Bowl. Wooden lanes of candlepin style bowling can be booked online.

Southie Bowl also hosts birthday parties and leagues.

Cost: $25 per lane per house for open bowling for up to six people.

Amanda Banta:  Olindy's is a well-known spot on the South Shore of Boston. Families flock to the alley for its candlepin bowling, with automated scoring and optional bumpers, and family-friendly atmosphere. The location also has pool tables, dart boards and some arcade games. Olindy's also has kids bowling leagues and hosts parties.

The alley serves kid-friendly drinks, adult beverages and a variety of appetizers.

Cost: $4.95 per string/person. Kids' special $3.95 per string/person daily until 5 pm; for kids preschool to 12th grade . Shoe rental $2.75 per person.

Amanda Banta:  Town Line Luxury Lanes surely brings the luxury to the bowling alley. With automated bumpers, a high quality sound system, comfortable seating and plenty of options for food and drink, Town Line can be a destination for the entire family or a parents' night out.

Friday and Saturday nights at Town Line mean Atomic Bowling - black lights, neon, loud music - everything you need to raise your weekend bowling night up a notch.

Cost: Open bowling starts at $4.25 per person per game. Shoe rentals are $3 per person; if needed, socks can be purchased for $2. See here for full details on pricing.

Amanda Banta:  Timber Lanes keeps the New England tradition of candlepin bowling alive across its 24 hardwood lanes. The alley offers bumpers on all its lanes, allowing even the youngest bowlers to participate in the family fun.

Check here for the alley's daily hours and schedule of events like Moonlight Oldies and Cosmic Bowling. The alley also offers birthday parties and leagues.

Cost: Lanes starting at $39.95, shoe rental included, for six bowlers. See here for full details on cost and online reservations.