One of the great things about the sport of archery is that kids of all ages can participate in the joys of shooting.  It’s a wonderful way for children to spend bonding with mom and dad.  It is a good way to introduce children to sportsmanship, teach them the return on the investment of time spent practicing, and most importantly good family fun.  For adults nothing is more entertaining that watching a group of kids standing in front of a target covered full of balloons and shooting their hearts out.  So here is an idea to keep the kids coming back  for more.

Take a target, cover it in balloons, line the kids up and let them fire away. There should be an adult per kid to start with until skills can be evaluated.  You want to make sure that everyone stays safe and that it is an enjoyable experience for both kid and parent alike.  Carrying a 6 year old to the ER after being shot in foot would not be a good thing.

Again, there are many variations to this game.  One of easiest variations I have found is to assign a color of balloon to a particular shooter and see how many they can hit.  Another fun idea is to fill the balloons up with water and watch the excitement as the balloons pop and water goes everywhere.

Make sure that no kid goes away with a BFZ (Big Fat Zero).  Have several targets ready with balloons spaced closely together for the younger shots. Try this with your younger shooters at your next archery shoot and watch a whole new generation become enamored with archery.

The balloon game is also a good way to distribute prizes at archery events for shooters of all ages.  Just make sure you keep the distances applicable to the ranges the targets are placed at.