’Tis the season for holiday archery shoots, and in honor of the most wonderful time of the year, why not swap your regular ol’ target some fun, festive and maybe even messy archery targets?
Here are 12 fun holiday archery target ideas:
1. Peppermints
Celebrate the holidays and National Candy Cane Day (Dec. 26) by aiming your arrows at candy canes or peppermints.
2. Fruitcake
The disreputable fruitcake is considered the most dense and least delicious holiday dessert, so instead of eating it or tossing it into the trash, why not use it for target practice? Keep it wrapped in plastic to keep it intact longer.
3. Rudolph
Instead of the bull’s-eye, shoot Rudolph’s nose.
4. Gift Wrapping Bows
Stick small bows on the target face and shoot them instead of aiming at the bull’s-eye.
5. Plastic Ornaments
Here’s a good use for old or broken ornaments! Glass ornaments make for spectacularly shattering archery targets; just be sure to use with supervision (and be ready to sweep up).
6. Balloons
Inflate red, green and white balloons and tape them to the target. For messy fun outdoors, fill the balloons with paint or glitter.
7. Sno Balls
These tasty treats are festive on their own, but if you stack three white Sno Balls on a wooden dowel, you have a snowman that’s fun to shoot.
8. Paper Plates
Paper plates can be holiday-fabulous however you like – and they offer several different tiny archery targets!
9. Coloring Pages
Talk about a cheap and easy archery target! Buy an inexpensive holiday coloring book, tear out the pages, and stick them to your backboard or target face.
10. Marshmallows
Buy a bag of the holiday-themed marshmallows to shoot, or make snowmen out of these large campfire marshmallows. Who says marshmallows are only for s’mores?
11. Plastic Cookie Cutters
These are lightweight, inexpensive, and available in fun shapes that make shooting archery far more festive than standard bull’s-eye targets.
12. Advent Calendar
Take the idea of a DIY Advent calendar and, instead of the 25 days of Christmas, put points on the front.
Turn any of these holiday archery ideas into fun holiday games for your archery club. Anyone who dresses in costume or wears this Holiday Archery Sweater gets bonus points!