Practical Lesson – Christmas Bows

Christmas gifts almost always come with a Christmas Bow. Wrapping paper, ribbons and bows are used to decorate and draw attention to the gift. It is not the bow that is important, but the gift that it adorns. It is sad that so many people are enjoying all the Christmas wrapping and decorations, but have forgotten the gift – God with us – Emmanuel – the birth of Christ.

Christmas bow games

• Christmas arc pass – In this game, teams race to pass the bows from one end of the line to the other while holding hands. Divide the youth group into teams of 6-10 youth and have the teams line up side by side. At one end of the line place six Christmas bows and at the other end have a basket where they can drop the bows. Give them the following instruction: “With your left hand, grasp the right wrist of the person on your right.” Teams must pass all the arcs to the end and then back, without disconnecting to win. They can only play the bows with their right hand. If an arc is dropped, the team must retrieve it while remaining connected. If the chain is broken, all arcs currently being passed must return to the beginning of the line.
• Gift Exchange Pass the Christmas Bow – Played as “Hot Potato” Bow around the circle while listening to Christmas carols. When the music stops, whoever is holding the bow can pick up a gift from under the tree and place it on her lap or under her chair. The game continues until everyone receives a gift. If the music stops and someone is holding the bow and already has a gift, move on to the next person on the right who hasn’t received a gift yet.
• christmas bow hunt – This is like an Easter egg hunt, only with Christmas bows! Hide all the ties in one room or throughout the house and have everyone look for them.
• christmas arc fight – Place a long jump rope or rope in the middle of the floor to divide the room into 2 equal halves with one team on each side. Each team starts with the same number of goals. Set a timer for 2-3 minutes, and when the game starts, the participants will pick up the ties and throw them across the other team’s room. When the timer goes off, everyone drops all the bows and counts how many bows are on their team’s side. The team with the fewest bows wins.
• taboo word – Everyone is given a Christmas bow to pin on their shirt at the beginning of the party or event. A word is chosen that not everyone can say. (for example, Santa Claus) If someone says the word taboo to another person during the event, he must give him his Christmas bow. They pin the bow on their shirt along with any others they have collected. They all end up trying to get each other to say the forbidden word. At the end of the event, the person with the most Christmas bows wins.
• Christmas bow tree race – The juniors are divided into two teams with the same number of players. One person from each team is designated as a gift and stands at the opposite end of the room from their team. On the march, one person at a time on each team must grab ONE loop from a basket and run to the “gift” and tape it to their arms or head. Young people can only glue bows on the arms and head. The team that places the most bows on the gift in a given time wins. Fallen ties do not count.
• Christmas bow balance – Prepare two baskets of ribbons of various colors in each one. The baskets must contain an equal number of bows of each color. As you call out a color, the next person from each team runs to their basket, puts as many ribbons of the specified color on their head as they like, and walks back to their team. If even one bow falls, they have to try again. Say the colors in random order. At some point the game calls and the team with the most bows wins.
• Christmas Bow Stroke – Tape two lines on the floor at opposite ends of the room as goal lines. Teams blow the goals across the floor to the opposite goal and back. The first team to complete the relay wins.
• christmas bow grip – Play as the normal Spoons game, but replace the spoons with Christmas Bows. In the center of the table, place one bow less than the number of players you have. Shuffle a standard deck of 52 cards and deal 4 cards to each person. Ask everyone to take one of their cards and discard it to their left simultaneously. However, the person to the dealer’s right must put one of his cards on the table to start the discard pile, while the dealer takes a new card. Repeat this process for everyone moving to the left. In each round, the dealer must pick up a new card and the person to the right of him must add it to the discard pile, in order to have a continuous influx of new cards. The first person to have 4 of the same kind (for example, the 4 aces or the 4 nines) has to pick up a bow. After this, all the other players must do the same, and the slowest person is left without a bow and out of the game.
• Put the bow on the gift – In this Christmas version of the classic children’s game Pin the Tail on the Donkey, blindfolded children try to fasten the loop where the ribbons intersect on a gift-wrapped box.
• Christmas bow toss – Bows are thrown into wrapped gift boxes labeled with various point values. If it falls on top of you, the points. You can play with harder to hit targets that are worth more points.
• Christmas Bow Fan – One Contestant from each team must stand behind a Christmas bow with a gift box. As the clock ticks down, each contestant can begin to fuel the bond with the gift box. The contestants and the gift box may not touch the bow at any time or the game will be over. To complete the game, the competitor must obtain the goal in a designated end zone area (square struck on the ground) within the 60 second time limit. The goal must come to a complete stop without leaving the designated end zone.
• Tennis with Christmas bow – Youth divide into two teams facing each other at opposite ends of a table. The object is to blow the bow off the opponent’s end by one point.
• Christmas bow label – Using a glue gun or a piece of tape, attach the bow to a clothespin. You will need two for each participant. When you start the game, give each person two of the bows as they enter. When everyone has their ties, tell them that you are giving them two minutes to get rid of their ties. The only way for participants to get rid of the bows is by pinning them to someone else. Award a prize to the person with the fewest bows. Ice breaker idea: After playing the game, each person has to say one fun fact about themselves for each bow they have pinned. If they don’t have bows, they only have to say ONE thing about themselves.
• Christmas lasso shooting practice – Place a series of rings (or crowns) hanging from a rope as targets. Have the youth take turns trying to shoot bows through the rings or hoops of various sizes for points. The smaller the target, the higher the points.
• Christmas bow collector – Each young man is blindfolded, given a large wooden spoon and placed inside a large gift-wrapped box with the lid removed and filled with Christmas bows. They must also hold a similar box on top of their head. In the allotted time, the blindfolded youths compete using the spoon to scoop ribbons into the box on their heads while everyone else watches. Many times empty spoons will be delivered to the head and many times the box will be lost. When time is up, the young man with the most bows in the box on his head wins.
• Christmas bow plummet – You will need small bows, Vaseline and bowls. Place the bowls a foot apart, with the bows placed in 1 bowl. When the clock starts, each contestant gets to dip their nose in Vaseline and try to lift an arch with their nose. Players can only apply Vaseline by dipping their nose in Vaseline. The player must deposit the Christmas bow in the final container directly from the nose without coming into contact with any other part of the body or object. To complete the game, a player must be the first to transport 5 bows from the starting bowl to the ending bowl, with all 5 Christmas bows in the bowl at the same time.
• Mind Meld Christmas Bow – Put a Christmas bow between the foreheads of two people and run to the finish line.
• Relay of Christmas sticks with bow – Each youth has a toothpick and must thread a Christmas Ribbon down the youth line to the end of the line. The first team to pass all the ties to the end wins. Hands are not allowed.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

• Describe some of the Christmas presents under your tree.
• How are they wrapped? What colors are the ties?
• What are some of the things we need to wrap a Christmas present?
• Gift wrap, ribbons and bows are used to decorate. How many of you would like to receive a bow for Christmas? Just a bow?

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

• What are some of the things we think of when we think of Christmas?

Christmas is not about decorations. It’s about the gift. With Christmas comes many decorations: there are Christmas trees; There are Christmas lights, Christmas carols, candy canes, angels, nativity scenes, Christmas cards, Christmas bows, wrapping paper, and even Santa and elves. But these, like a Christmas bow, are just the decorations. They are not the most important thing about Christmas. Christmas is about the greatest gift: it is about Jesus.

It’s sad that so many people are enjoying all the Christmas wrapping and decorations, but have forgotten about the gift.

Read the Christmas story from the Bible:

Matthew 1:18-25; Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 1:26-38; Luke 2:1-20.

MAKE IT PERSONAL

How many of you never open your presents at Christmas? You just leave them with all the wrappings under the tree, never to find out what’s inside. Many people enjoy all the wonderful things about Christmas, but have missed out on the Christ in Christmas. The gift of Jesus, of peace with God, of salvation is never received and remains as a simple object of contemplation or as one more ornament.

Unless Jesus is received into our hearts, the gift may well remain an unopened present under the tree.

Let your light shine so bright that people know that the true gift of Christmas is not in all the decorations, but in Jesus.