Play gift exchange games

It may take more planning than usual, but your team can still partake in the present-giving parties this year. Here are some gift exchange game ideas for work. If you aren't familiar with how to play White Elephant , the basic rundown is this: everyone comes prepared with a wrapped gift and puts into it the designated gift pile. Everybody gets a number. That's the order in which you'll pick your gifts. When the first person picks, the person who comes after can either steal that gift or pick from the pile.

This sentiment continues until all the gifts have been picked. Want to organize a virtual gift exchange? Let White Elephant Online take care of all the logistics for you. If you've got a small team, you could throw it back to the good old days with a game of hot potato. Start by tossing a gift around the conference room table to the beat — or beep — of a timer. When the timer stops, the person who is holding onto the gift gets to keep it. Continue playing until all your coworkers have a gift in hand!

You'll be surprised how the anxiety of the dwindling timer brings concentration and laughs. And hey, when you're out, at least you're out with a gift.

Like Hot Potato, musical chairs is the low-stakes tension we need this year. Start playing as per usual: everyone circles a set of chairs as the music plays. For the first round, after the music stops and everyone tries to grab a seat, the person who's left standing gets to pick a present. Then, the person who gets out in each subsequent round gets the option of picking a gift from the pile or stealing someone else's gift.

The last person left has the benefit of seeing what everyone else has already picked, giving them the option to steal from anyone or choose the final unwrapped present. Have a small-ish office?

This could be the perfect game. All you need is a pair of dice and a rule sheet printout. Have everyone come prepared with a gift, obviously. From there, roll the dice one at a time. The number you land on comes with instructions that dictate the fate of your present, like unwrap your gift or everyone passing your present to the left.

How well do you know your coworkers? This is a great way to find out — or learn a little fun fact about one of your cubicle-mates. Have your most enthusiastic coworker host. When everyone brings a gift in, it'll be marked with a number and you'll be given a paper with that same number on it.

Write down a fun fact about yourself. The fact paper will go into a hat and the host will read off the facts. Whoever guesses who the coordinating fact is about first gets the gift associated with the number! Similar to the numbers game, play a round of trivia with your office. It can even be tailored to your office, be holiday-specific trivia , or just general random facts.

This post contains affiliate links. After clicking one of these links, I might get a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase.

Read our full disclosure and liability disclaimer. It can be fun; it can be stressful… and it can get costly. Having a theme for the gift exchange makes the shopping perhaps a little easier and so much more fun.

Pick a season and get ready to shop and receive all kinds of cool things, from beach bags to umbrellas. Perhaps the gift is simply a t-shirt, or it could be something odd like a state bird, hopefully, a decorative and not a real one…. Made in the USA is a popular version of this. It does not have to be made in the country you choose but something that reminds you of it, like a gift with all the flag colors.

Board games, card games… it will be fun! After unwrapping the games, go ahead and use them right there at the Christmas party. If your family has many people who love DIY projects, this is the one to go with. Everyone gets to prepare a DIY gift. Well, perhaps we all have received items that we never use.

Pass on the gift to someone who would love it. Give a gift of doing an activity together with the gift receiver. It could be something simple like going to movies, hiking, picnic, or something extravagant like a cruise.

Everyone writes their initials on paper. For example, Ally Smith would write AS. Whoever buys a gift for her would look for an item with those letters like bASket or SoAp. This is especially fun for adults. Buy a gift that has something to do with the birth year of the gift receiver, like a movie that came out that year. Yeah, you need some music at your Christmas party.

This can get quite crazy, but it will be a hoot. Give a gift that has a ton of sentimental value. Something that reminds you of the gift receiver, maybe a vacation you have taken together. Everyone needs some kind of storage thing. It could be for the desk, closet, cupboard, counters, or storing magazines, books, anything. Yep, the other thing that is super popular after the Holidays.

Any kind of fitness item from jump ropes and hand weights to yoga mats would be fun. Christmas gift exchange wish lists make shopping easy! Pick a style that you like the best: gift sack, sleigh, or Christmas tree. Take a closer look at the Gift Exchange Wish Lists and pick the one you like the best! You can always do the bowl or paper bag way. Nothing wrong with that, but to add a little bit of excitement and fun to the drawing, do one of these activities:.

Attach the names to candy canes and hide them in the game area. Everyone scatters to look for the candy canes and will get a name AND a sweet treat. You could also use clear ornaments and put a rolled-up paper with the name and the wish list in the ornament. Tape the names and wish lists under the chairs.

All you need is Christmas Gift Exchange Chaos cards. Put the cards in a bowl or paper sack and take turns picking one and doing what it says. Digital pdf file. Nothing will be shipped. Currently, only available to customers in the USA. In this game, the gifts stay in place, and the players move. It can get quite chaotic, especially if the gifts are unwrapped! When playing the game, pick out random gifts from the table and give them to one person in the circle.

Then play some Christmas gifts music as you tell your guest to start passing their gifts around the circles until the music being played stops. The moment the music stops, the people with the gifts in their hands will start unwrapping them while showing the other people in the group and leaving the circle while holding their gifts.

That will be the gift they will have. Then the same can be done with a different gift and a different person till everyone in the group unwraps their gift and is out of the game. Never Have I Ever While playing this game, start by placing the gifts in a pile in the middle of the room. Then, everyone will stand in a circle around the pile and randomly grab the gifts and place them on the ground near their feet.

The first person that will grab a never have I ever paper will slip it from the bowl and read it aloud. For example, never have I ever cheated in a board game.

Then, all the other people who have done what the card says will have to switch places with someone else who is not an immediate person towards the right or left while leaving their gift on the ground. It will give your group players a chance to be creative. The gifts can be baked cookies, painted items, or even artwork. Cobweb gift exchange This game fits a small group well. You will start by purchasing some inexpensive yarn balls with different colors for each guest.

When your guests arrive, start collecting their exchange gifts, then tie one end of the colored string to each package. Then choose a room where the guests are not many. Afterward, unwind the rolls and make sure they go around and other under the furniture, and the path should be as difficult as possible.

Then, give each guest the string and let them start finding their gifts. When the game results in a gift, it becomes more fun. If you have a gathering for your children and their little cousins during Christmas, you need to choose this game, especially for the present time.