Christmas Gift Exchange Ideas

If you have ever been tasked with putting together a Christmas gift exchange for friends, family, or colleagues it can be overwhelming.

How do you make sure it’s fun, not over too fast, not too expensive, and not the same old game? Sometimes the classics are simply the best. Much like a Christmas tree however, there are endless ways to put your spin on it to make it appear unique.

White Elephant seems to be the go to classic when deciding christmas gift exchange ideas. Over the years, this gift exchange game has evolved with new rules and fun iterations. First we will go over the gist of how the game works, and then give some great twists on how to spruce up the classic version. 

The standard process; Deciding if there is a price limit is the first step. Then, everyone involved brings a wrapped or boxed gift. You select the order of who will pick first. How? Well, you can pull numbers out of a hat, decide on your own, or look at some of our suggestions below. 

• Musical Chairs

  • Maybe not the best game to play with grandma or young children. Certainly a fun way to pick the order for like aged colleagues or friends.

• Spin the bottle

  • Combining two old games, but please, no kissing family or colleagues! The bottle is just used to pick the order.

• Trivia

  • How many people live in the state of Florida? Going first is actually the worst case scenario in White Elephant so the person who was the furthest away from the real answer would start the game. The closest to the real answer would go last.

After deciding the order, a gift is chosen and unwrapped. The next person up has the opportunity to steal any of the previous opened gifts or grab a random gift from the pile. If the gift is stolen, the participant who was stolen from then picks from the pile. 

How many times can you steal? That should be up to each group to decide. Most find that each gift can only be taken 2x. After a gift has been taken 2x it is finalized. However, as stated earlier, there are so many iterations and rule changes over the years depending upon the family, friends, or coworkers who put it together. 

Let’s go over some fun christmas gift exchange ideas:

• Room Specific

  • Everyone buys gifts associated with one room or section of a house. Backyard, Bathroom, Kitchen….you get it. It makes the process of deciding what to get much easier. 

• Local

  • If you are a family who lives all over the country or world, this is a great twist. Being able to bring a local gift from your city to not only support local businesses, but share your sub-culture with family. 

• ABC

  • Scattergories come to life in the form of gift giving. Pick a letter randomly or purposefully, and all the gifts must start with it.

• Fitness & Health

  • The gift of health is always endearing and shouldn’t be taboo. Small fitness equipment like bands, FitBit, Smoothie Cook Books, or even gift cards for Personal Training.

• Electronics

  • We all find ourselves recommending electronics that make our lives easier. Well, now you get a chance to purchase those as a gift. Google Home, Coffee Maker, Wireless Bluetooth Mouse, G-Shock Watch, Meat Thermometer, Video Doorbell…the options are endless. See the list below to check these suggestions out.

There are many other Christmas gift exchange ideas that are fun and easy. However, putting your own small twist on White Elephant can be a lasting tradition. Whether you pick a new twist each year or stick with one format is up to you. Exchange ideas can simply be small tweaks rather than reinventing the wheel.

If you’re stuck on what exactly to get you can check out our Christmas Gift Ideas or use our popular gift ideas for suggestions.