Get a Daisy BB Gun for Christmas! Plus a DIY Target Tutorial… 12 Days of Giveaways – Day 5

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ItsADaisy #CollectiveBias Have you ever thought about giving the gift of a BB gun to your kids at Christmas? Both my husband and I grew up in rural areas so we are familiar with guns and BB guns. In addition, we both did stints in the US Army where we learned about firearm safety. We think a BB gun is the perfect way to educate about and introduce our kids to firearms, get them used to shooting, and to explore the outdoors with them.  We're surrounded by desert, with mountains and wooded areas about 30 minutes away and we see us having great adventures outdoors – hiking with the kids while teaching them about life, firearms, and bonding. As Katie is in high school and Matthew is now older and stronger, this year is a great time to start teaching the kids about BB guns. But where do you buy a BB gun? Bass Pro Shop, of course! We decided to go with a Daisy BB Gun because they're cool Christmas gifts, we trust the Daisy brand #ItsADaisy, and we have our own childhood memories of Daisy.

We went into Bass Pro Shop right after a long day at Knott's Berry Farm – it's actually how we spent our Thanksgiving! In Bass Pro Shop, I told the kids to look for Santa's Wonderland and they spotted it right away when we entered the store. It was kind of hard to miss! The decorations extended two stories tall and the entire display was filled with items you'd imagine in Santa's Wonderland – test tracks for slot cars, model trains you can try out, and a BB Gun shooting range! The kids loved being able to interact with everything and for us parents, it provided great insight into the toys the kids would really enjoy and play with versus our trying to guess and hope for a “hit” on Christmas morning.

After a few rounds at the Daisy BB Gun shooting range with one of the Santa's Wonderland “Elves”, we located the stack of the 75th Anniversary Red Ryders right next to the range. My husband Xaver picked out the one he wanted – seriously, he is a big kid at times!

Next, we needed to find safety goggles and BBs for the gun. Sure, BB guns are fun but we want to kids to learn how to use them safely so they can ALWAYS have a good experience. Even the Daisy Red Ryder box says to take care to avoid eye damage when using a BB gun. Daisy educates roughly one million of America’s youth a year through their Ten Lesson Shooting Curriculum about BB gun use and safety (found here). Daisy educates through its partnership with leading conservation and youth training organizations such as National Wild Turkey's JAKES Take Aim, 4-H National Shooting Sports, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Royal Rangers, Youth Shooting Sports Alliance, Civilian Marksmanship, NRA, JROTC units, scouting, fish and game as well as church and private camps.

While riding in the elevator to the second floor of the Bass Pro Shop to get the BBs for the Daisy BB Gun, a fellow shopper spotted the iconic Red Rider on the box we were carrying. We shared a few stories of memories about BB guns as kids and how we loved the folklore around the Daisy Red Ryder. It was a cool moment for our kids to see and helped me to imagine how they will share their childhood memories with others when they have kids of their own.

We located the BBs and the Safety Glasses on the 2nd Floor of the Bass Pro Shop. We also found some great paper targets to use with the wooden target we were building. Daisy has engaged the masses with portable, inflatable BB gun ranges that can be found at major outdoor sporting goods retailers and leading conservation organizations. The majority of those who attend the an outdoor or store event and shoot at the ranges are first-time shooters. Even though we built our own target and are already shooting with our kids, we plan to attend one of these events the next time they're in our area. You never know what awesome nugget of info you'll learn, even if you've never shot a gun or BB gun before! You can find out more about Daisy and their education programs here:

• Website: http://www.daisy.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaisyOutdoor
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DaisyOutdoor

Over the loud-speaker the staff of Bass Pro Shop announced that the store was closing and everyone filtered to the front of the store to make their purchases. The guy from the elevator was carrying a Daisy 75th Anniversary Edition Red Ryder in his arms! I'm not sure if it was for him or for his kids but we all had a chuckle because we knew the nostalgia of a Daisy really got to him! We hope his kids have this kind of reaction when they open their Daisy BB Gun on Christmas morning:

We decided to build our own mobile target for practice while shooting as well as to help teach the kids about keeping the environment clean by removing shells or BBs in this case. Xaver backed the Target with foam core board to help catch the BBs after firing so we could collect them in the field and bring them home to properly dispose of them. Here are the supplies you'll need to build the target:

• Two 24″ long pieces of  2″ x 4″ wood
• Foam Core Board
• Bullnose Clip
• Screws
• Two 16″ long pieces of Pine 2″ x 6″
• Two 24″ long pieces of Pine 2″ x 6″
• Drill with Drill Bits and Chucks
• Circular Saw
• Level
• 16″ piece of 1″ x 1″

Here's how we built the target:

Here's our finished target with all of the necessary items to make a memorable Christmas morning with your new Daisy BB Gun, including the Daisy Red Ryder 75th Anniversary BB Gun, Daisy BBs, Daisy Safety Goggles, a Bass Pro Shop Hat, and paper targets.

To test out the target and teach the kids about how to the use Daisy Red Ryder BB gun, we set out on a short hike into the desert area behind our house. We took our one of our 11-year-old nephew and Matthew with us to teach them about firearm safety, aim, and responsible firearm use.

A few key points to teach the kids:

• Always keep the “business end” of any gun pointed down-range; never aim a gun at someone else or towards an area where there might be people you can't see, like towards a house or over a fence.
• Take your time. Taking things slow means being safe.
• Be aware of your surroundings. Check for animals and other hikers who may be usng the area before shooting.
• Collect your trash and spent shells (or BBs in this case). Leave the area as clean or cleaner than it was before you came.
• Wear safety goggles to protect your eyes when using a firearm.
• Use the sights on top of the gun to aim by lining up the sights with your target.

Gifting a Daisy BB gun is a great way to introduce your kids and family to firearms and it's one of the best gifts of the year for your kids! The iconic BB gun will help them to create childhood memories like yours! A BB gun is a great gift for boys and girls as a way to learn about responsible firearm use and firearm safety without the commitment of a pistol, shotgun, or rifle.  Plus your kids will be so stoked that they got the cool Christmas gifts from “Santa”!

Today is Day 5 of the 12 Days of Giving here at Hydrangea Hippo. And you know how I like to roll – giveaways!!!

I am super excited to be able to offer you a chance via #CollectiveBias to win $2000 worth of Bass Pro gift cards {4 winners will receive a $500 gift card each}!!! You can totally use these to purchase a Daisy BB gun of your very own. The gift may not arrive in time for Christmas and you must be 18 years or older to enter.  Just click the link to enter:

Daisy BB Sweepstakes – $2,000 in Bass Pro Shop Gift Cards

The kids had such a blast that we're planning on getting my nephew a Daisy BB gun for Christmas! Who are you planning to get a Daisy BB gun for this holiday season?

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