The time for gift giving is getting closer and closer with each passing day. Before long we’ll be buying and wrapping gifts for friends and loved ones. It’s also the time to put sticky bows on your presents.? Why not start a new tradition within your family – an annual sticky bow game.

You may be wondering what sticky bows are. They’re the fabric or ribbon bows with covered tape on the back of them that are used to decorate packages. The adhesive used on sticky bows isn’t very strong, so they shouldn’t cause permanent damage to anything they’re stuck on to.

Most people put sticky bows on the gifts they give at Christmas. It’s a shame to simply throw them away after the presents have been opened.? Surely there’s something else you can do with them!

Of course, you can always recycle sticky bows by storing them in a bag after the holidays are over. Be careful how you store sticky bows, though, because they may become easily damaged from the weight of other objects on them.

Here’s one idea for using sticky bows that nearly everyone in your family can participate in. You remember the children’s game Pin the Tail on the Donkey, don’t you? Why not have a Place the Bow on the Present game?

Place several pieces of paper with plain ribbons on them. Split the family members up into two teams, more if you have that many people available. Put blindfolds on the first person and spin them around. Have them try to place the sticky bow on one of the presents on the wall. When they’ve placed their bow, the next person is blindfolded and tries to hit the present as well. Keep this up until each person on the team has had a turn. The team with the most sticky bows on their presents wins.

Here’s another idea. Put on some Christmas music and break up into different teams. Use four to six empty boxes that are the same size. You’ll also need used wrapping paper and sticky bows. Your game is for each team to totally wrap two or three boxes with each member of the team performing a particular wrapping task. More experienced wrappers can actually wrap the paper around the present, someone else may be responsible for placing the tape, and younger members can place the sticky bows. To win, the team has to get all of their presents wrapped, including sticky bows.

Do you need something more active so the children can burn off some of their pent-up energy? Take the children outside; don’t forget to bundle them up if it’s cold and snowy out there. Take the leftover sticky bows and have a relay race with them. Even numbers of bows are placed in separate bowls. They all have to be moved, one at a time, to the bowl at the end of the race area. Again, the team that accomplishes this task first wins.

What do the winners win? You can give another small gift to the winners or everyone can play merely to have fun. That’s entirely up to you. These sticky bow games may seem silly but they do give you something else you can do with the many bows from the presents received.