The Spin-The-Bottle White Elephant Game

The increasingly popular White Elephant gift swap and Spin the Bottle, the game you all know and love, can be combined for the ultimate gift-sharing fun. It’s entertaining for the whole family and a great way to add some variety to your group gift parties. You’ll need to organize the game in a larger room so that all of the chairs could be in a circle – make sure that there's enough room between the chairs to easily identify a player when the bottle is pointing at them.

Remember the golden rule – the more unique the gifts, the better the conversation during a White Elephant party. Encourage all the participants to actually dedicate some time to finding a present that’s either weird or nice enough to have people competing for them. 

However, always make sure to keep the atmosphere on a relaxed, casual level. After all, the most important thing when organizing gift exchange parties is for everyone to have as much fun as possible. When you start the game, everyone should be on their chairs and the gifts should be in the middle of the room.

Here are the rules:

1. The game starts when everyone has been seated. Have someone spin the bottle until it points at one of the players (re-spin if it is unclear which player has been selected). The first person selected opens one of the gifts from the pile.
2. Spin the bottle again until it selects the next player, who can either open one of the wrapped presents or steal the gift that's already been opened. If a player has an item stolen from them, they can either open a replacement gift or steal another player’s opened gift. Just remember that there are no direct steal-backs, so make sure to plan ahead!
3. Once all the stealing and opening have stopped, spin the bottle again. If the bottle lands on a person who already has an opened gift, they have the option of either swapping the present with another person’s opened gift or donating it to a player who does not currently have anything. If they choose to donate, they must open one of the wrapped gifts from the pile.
4. Continue playing until all the gifts have been opened.

The Left-Right White Elephant Game

You may have had a chance to play many gift-sharing games, but I’ve yet to find one that’s as interesting and smooth as the White Elephant game, especially since it comes with so many neat variations to the default set of rules.

Today, I’ll focus on the Left-Right White Elephant game variation. Before you do anything, make sure to let all the participants know that whenever they hear the words “right,” “left” or “gift” in the story, something will happen in the game. It’s a unique variation that involves tons of swapping and passing around of the gifts that circle in the game. While it might seem complicated at first, you’ll get the hang of it in no time.

Here are the rules:

1. As usual, start the White Elephant party with all the gifts placed in the middle of the room. The players should sit around the pile. Then put the name of every player into the name-drawing hat. Once you draw the name of the first person to pick a gift, return the name back into the hat. This is done so that they could be re-drawn again.
2. Have the storyteller begin reading the story of “Lefty the White Elephant.” When ''Lefty'' is mentioned for the first time, the first gift is moved one person to the left. The storyteller continues until the next mention of left or right, with the gift moving accordingly.
3. The first time the word “gift” is mentioned, another name is drawn from the hat. The player then has the option of stealing the opened gift or opening one of the unwrapped gifts in the middle of the room (all opened gifts have to be clearly displayed to every player). When a gift is stolen from a player, they can then open a replacement gift or steal another opened gift from another player.
4. Once the story is finished, everyone should have a gift in their hands. Note that ''Lefty the White Elephant'' has the word “gift” listed a total of 16 times. Since the stealing and opening are completely random, you might actually have to read the story a few times to get all the gifts opened. If you open all the gifts before the story ends, keep reading and pass gifts until the story’s finished.

This is a fantastic and wacky White Elephant variant and an additional way of sharing the gift-giving fun with family and friends.

4 Different Ways To Play Exchange Games With Your Family

Getting together with all your family members may just be the best part of the holidays. Few things make me happier than seeing all my relatives joyously sitting at a single table, eating, drinking and just having plain, good, family fun.

However, there’s one thing that many of us simply can’t find a way to cope with and yes, you guessed it – buying gifts for them. Before you call me heartless for having problems with shopping for my family, let me tell you a couple of things. First of all, buying gifts for every single member of your family tends to get a bit pricey, especially if you (like me) come from a bigger family where the gatherings count more than three dozen people. Yup.

Even if you buy moderately cheap gifts, you will still end up spending a lot of dollars. Secondly, it takes an awful lot of time to find, pick and pack all those gifts. Your sister’s daughter likes these kinds of dolls, her brother likes those kinds of cars, their parents drink wine but only white wine – these are all very important factors you have to take into account. In order to do it properly, you need to devote hours and hours of your time to gift shopping. Not to mention that there are certain family members who are simply bored with the same ritual happening every year. So, why not change things a bit? Why not organize a gift exchange game and let everyone’s imagination run free while taking some stress out of Christmas shopping.

You will also add an entertainment value to your family gatherings and if that sounds good, there are plenty of variations you can choose from. Here are my favorite ones, so feel free to draw inspiration from them.

1. Drawing Names

The most basic variant of a gifting game would be the game of drawing names from a hat, which became popular as more and more people started playing it for Thanksgiving. The point is that you need to put everyone’s name on a piece of paper and then shuffle them in a hat. Afterward, every person needs to take a name and buy a present for the person they get. The price of the gift is usually set at a level that everyone participating in the game can comfortably afford, but it’s often high enough to buy something nicer than the typical gag present.

The point is for everything to remain anonymous, but some have taken to slightly changing the rules. In this particular version of the game, everyone knows who pulled which name from the hat and a wishlist system is used. That way, you can be sure that you will get something you will like, but I think that personal gain should be the least important thing in a game revolving around family gatherings.

2. Secret Santa

Secret Santa is what happens when you take something as simple, basic and straightforward as the name-drawing-in-a-hat game and put a simple twist on it. It’s also one of the most popular types of gift exchanges around, especially since Santa Claus is everybody’s favorite character in the world – who wouldn’t play a game that has his name in it?

The rules of the game are pretty similar to that of the name drawing game, but there’s no way to play it with everybody knowing who drew which name. Instead, participants keep it a secret until the gift is opened while the “Santas” may leave clues for the people they’re buying for. These usually come in the form of poems and bring a much more personal feel to the whole game. After each person opens their gift, they traditionally attempt to guess who their Santa was.

3. Grab Bag

This is a game that’s pretty self-explanatory and it really doesn’t get any more straightforward than this. People are simply required to bring a wrapped gift, which is placed in a bag or hidden from view in some other manner. Then, each participant chooses a gift and their choice is solely based on what the gift looks like or feels on the outside. Finally, people take turns in opening their gifts while everyone else watches.

The people participating are encouraged to contribute to the overall goofiness of the game by making sure to pack their gifts in an unusual way or to purchase intriguingly shaped gifts (I once saw a man who packed an avocado and a hockey stick in a single bag, which bewildered everyone in the room). It's either that or to pack them deceptively for maximum surprise value.

4. Thematic Game

While not essentially a game per se, this is a cool little addition to any game you’re already playing, no matter whether it’s Vanilla White Elephant, Secret Santa or just plain, old name-drawing. You can spice things up by making your gift swap thematic, which literally has thousands of possibilities. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Made in the USA – the point is to support American businesses (or businesses from England, Canada, Australia, wherever you live) instead of buying imported products. Take the game a step further by telling everyone to buy from local businesses.

Pirates – A yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Ok, maybe not rum (it’s a family gathering, after all) but you get the idea. Goofy hats, inflatable shoulder-parrots, eye patches, cutlasses and flintlock pistols, pirate flags, the fun never stops. Recommended for families with a good sense of humor.

Color-themed exchange – make a rule that every gift has to be blue or green or red or whichever color you feel like and check out for yourself just how bizarre it is to see so many presents that all have the same color in one place. It also provides a nice challenge for everyone!

6 Reasons Why Office Gift Exchanges Are Awesome

I was thinking about something the other day – last year's office gift exchange really wasn’t something I was looking forward to, at least not as much as I did the previous years. This was probably due to the fact that I realized I kind of got used to the whole idea, seeing as it became more of a routine than a wild party full of surprises like it was originally supposed to be. 

So, in an optimistic attempt to make the topic interesting to myself again, I scoured through the Internet, read dozens upon dozens of articles and after some time realized that there are many things that I have never even bothered to pay attention to. Small factors that really make a difference, but haven’t been that obvious before, like when you realize that breathing is an automatic process and then take a minute to appreciate your lungs for doing an awesome job. Inspired by those articles, I decided to summarize all the cool things that make office exchanges as amazing as they actually are.

1. Not every company does gift exchanges

That's really depressing once you take a minute to think about it. After all, as a friend of mine once put it, there’s only one thing in the world that’s worse than working for a company that has lots of “extra” activities like Christmas parties, gift exchanges and other gatherings and that’s working for a company that doesn’t.

Imagine working for a company that expects you to work every single day without giving you the opportunity to hang out and socialize with your colleagues in a casual, relaxed atmosphere. Team building events, in general, help you connect with the people you work with and give an ‘organic’ feel to your work environment. Throwing a party around the holidays used to be a fixed standard, but nowadays, there are many companies that feel it is unnecessary.

Hint: it’s not.

2. You get the chance to learn something new and cool about your co-workers

Who knew that Alfred from Human Resources has an incredible sense of humor that focuses on jokes about squirrels? Who would’ve guessed that Samantha from Accounting knows how to walk on her arms while whistling the national anthem? And how in god’s name were you supposed to be aware that Dick from the Technical Office is actually the state’s champion in sword juggling? 

This is just an example of the crazy and interesting stuff you can learn about the people who you share your workplace with. You never know what incredible things people can do with their free time and unless you get the chance to inquire about them, you’ll never find out.

3. Maybe you find a future buddy

Apart from the general things you can learn about the people you meet during these events (what they do in their free time, what they like eating, what kind of music they listen to, how many lemons they put in their lemon pie), you might actually get to like some of those people. 

I’m not saying you have to invite them over for dinner the same moment you meet them, but if you manage to casually break the ice, you might end up having lunch with someone you’ve never really talked to before. What’s more, they may end up being perfect for you and you may end up with a new friend or maybe even a best friend. Maybe you even find a potential significant other, who knows?

4. It’s healthy competition

And not only healthy but also low-pressure. Let’s face it – unless you’re one of the 0.01% people that are blessed with perfect work conditions, you’re bound to face some interoffice rivalries and personality clashes from time to time. This doesn’t necessarily have to involve open arguments, fights and throwing axes at each other, but the tension is present.

Having a low-key competition such as this helps resolve some of those rivalries and can contribute to a better work environment. When you’re participating in a competition and the main rewards are Twix bars, toilet mugs and naughty calendars, it kind of throws the whole “conflict” idea into a whirlpool of positive energy, which is something every office needs.

5. You might end up with something you actually like

Let’s not forget that the game is all about gifting and receiving, eventually finishing the game with something cute, funny or even useful. Of course, this is the official definition, while in reality, we all love seeing the look on our colleagues' faces when they unwrap their gifts thinking they got that golden watch they had their eyes set on, only to end up with a plunger that has the words “I love you” engraved on the handle. The value of those reactions cannot be measured by any known means, but it is far more valuable than anything you can receive.

6. You are actually going to have fun

Unless you’re grumpier than Grinch himself, there’s actually a very good chance that you’ll have tons of fun. It might take a few gag gifts getting opened, a couple of squirrel jokes by Alfred from the HR department or maybe one or two (or fifteen) eggnogs, but it is bound to happen eventually. Let go of those scrooge-ish feelings now and they won’t put a damper later on.

I guess that about covers it. Next time you think that you shouldn’t go to your office gift exchange, you might want to take a look at this short list – there might be something on it that will change your mind.

How To Choose The Ultimate White Elephant Gift

Whether you’re hosting the biggest, most diverse White Elephant party ever or exchanging presents with your closest family members and friends, choosing an amazing, memorable gift can be quite tricky. Though you can’t really make a mistake whatever gift you bring to your party, the point is to show your invitees that you care about them and that you want them to have a great time.

The first thing you need to pay attention to is that you follow the price range agreement. Don’t spend a bunch of money on an expensive present, as you’ll make everyone else feel uncomfortable and you’ll basically ruin the whole point of the game by showing off. Also, always keep in mind that the White Elephant Exchange is all about celebrating the holidays in good spirits with the people you love. That being said, be careful not to offend anyone with your present, seeing as the last thing you want is for someone to get angry and storm out of the party because you thought everyone would appreciate your joke.

Finally, you should never, ever give your old, useless things to your friends. If you don’t know what to do with your broken toaster or stained shirt, I’ll give you a piece of advice: throw them in the trash. Now that you know the don’ts, it’s time to focus on what you should actually do when brainstorming ideas for White Elephant presents.

The most important thing is to know your guests and get super creative. Now’s the time to buy all those bizarre things that weren’t appropriate presents in other situations. Ideally, you should think in terms of internal jokes and presents that will prompt laughter and joy.

Be aware, though, those funny gifts are always the stars of the party, but few people actually want to bring them home. That’s why it’s important that you find a present that’s both funny and desirable for swapping.

This balance is, however, easy to achieve with weird presents. They often look cool, aren’t something you see every day and most people really like them, which means you’ll be the star of the party if you think outside the box. You can also opt for a really nice and useful present, which will definitely spice up the game, as everyone will want to take your gift home.

Depending on the type of gift swap party, you can re-gift last year’s White Elephant gift or even decide to make a present with your own two hands, which is really awesome. Those kinds of presents are among my favorite ones, as they always carry a personal touch, serve as excellent conversation starters and give you an opportunity to get to know someone’s hidden talents. The bottom line is that you should take into consideration your invitees, price range and other instructions and agreements made by your group and give it your best shot to buy something that will be interesting enough to spark competition and make the event a night to remember.

The Story Behind The Name Of The White Elephant Game

While thinking about the number of people who have never even heard of the White Elephant game, an interesting thought - or rather a question, if you will – occurred to me: how did this fantastic trading game get its name?

Does it have something to do with remembering the gifts and who gave what and to whom did they give it to? What I'm referring to here is the “memory like an elephant” idiom. Is it perhaps because elephants are so valuable, meaning that we have to cherish each and every gift that circles around during the game?

After doing some research, I realized that the answer is, in fact, a big, fat “nope” and that the name actually derives from an old legend that originated in Siam (Thailand). One legend associated with Buddha says that the night before his mother Maya gave birth to him, she dreamed of an albino elephant giving her a pure lotus flower. This led to white elephants being treated as sacred animals in Siam, hence making them the property of the King of Siam. Since they were sacred, white elephants weren’t allowed to do any work. By the order of the king, they had to be well-cared of and being the humongous animals that they are, they required a tremendous amount of resources to maintain.

Now comes the tricky part – if the King of Siam was pleased with one of his courtiers, he would give them a white elephant, as well as money, land and servants to take care of the animal. On the other hand, if the King was displeased with one of his courtiers, he would give them a white elephant without the land or money required to care for it. Forced to maintain these elephants, these people would soon end up financially ruined and, what’s even more important, dishonored and shunned by the entire community.

That’s how white elephants became associated with the term “to receive an unwanted gift” and even though the gifts that you receive while participating in the game today will not drive you to financial ruin, some may end up being pretty much unwanted, like the white elephants of Siam.

Oh, on a side note, white elephants are still sacred in Thailand and yes, they still belong to the King of Thailand. It’s just that they gave up on the tradition of gifting white elephants to people to show them any kind of disfavor. They mostly carry around gold Buddha statues and Buddha is probably quite content with the decision. After all, who wouldn’t want to ride those gentle giants through the streets of Bangkok from time to time?

How Much Money Should You Spend On A White Elephant Gift?

When you’re the host of the gift exchange, determining the price range is one of the most significant pieces of information you need to tell your guests. Since the whole point of a gift swap is to have a good time with the people you care about, it’s really important that everyone agrees on a budget in advance.

Though there are no rules on the amount of money that should be spent on a White Elephant gift, most people will tell you that these types of presents should be pretty inexpensive. I’d usually go for $20 or less, but it’s not uncommon to go well beyond (or above) that number. What you should focus on is the people you have invited to the swap, making certain that the price range works for literally everyone. Every group of people is different, so you have to be considerate when choosing the figure for your swap – what is affordable to some is unacceptable to others and the other way around.

To begin with family gatherings and parties, they are much different from other types of gift exchanges. When you are looking for presents for the people you love, chances are that you want to get them something memorable, not a cheap gag gift. Besides, you would certainly buy your loved ones presents for the holidays even if there was no gift swap, so it’s perfectly acceptable to set a higher price range. In other words, you should probably spend somewhere between $20 and $50.

If you’re choosing gifts for your friends, there are a few factors to take into consideration, including the number of guests, if you are all close and if the gift swap is supposed to replace individual present-giving. When purchasing gifts for your closest friends, it’s normal and somewhat acceptable to set a higher price whereas you can go with a lower budget if there are a lot of invitees, some of whom you don’t know that well.

What about office parties? Well, these seem to be the trickiest of them all because not everyone will be thrilled to participate in a gift exchange. Moreover, some of your colleagues might not like the idea of going home with a naughty gag gift whereas others might even be offended if they end up with an undesirable present. My advice to you is not to worry about those things, as you can’t make everyone happy. However, you can make sure that the swap won’t be unpleasant for anyone by setting the budget at $10 or less. This way, even the grumpiest of your co-workers won’t have an excuse to complain about the price range and ruin everyone else’s fun.

As far as other groups are concerned, you should set a low price limit (up to $10) to ensure that everyone can participate in the game. This is especially true for large gatherings where you don’t know most people very well.

Finally, you’ll be happy to know that you can host an amazing White Elephant party, have loads of fun and spend zero bucks. How’s that possible, you wonder? Well, there’s this traditional version of the swap that calls for your guests to bring items they already own. For example, if you received a hideous or useless gag gift last year and have no idea what to do with it, you should bring the present to the party and watch other people’s reactions when they end up with it. Your invitees won’t be happy with their gifts but they’ll definitely have an unforgettable time, which is your main goal when organizing a gift swap.

Another fantastic option is to tell people to bring homemade presents to the exchange. Though not all your friends may be crafty with their hands, everyone will certainly make an effort to impress other guests. If you still have any doubts regarding the price range, you should remember that White Elephant and similar gift exchanges have become so popular and widespread because most people want to buy something for all the folks in their life but can’t afford it. That being said, you can’t make a mistake with a lower figure, as a modest budget will give everyone the opportunity to join in on the fun and enjoy the holidays.

Here's How To Include Children In The White Elephant Game

There’s nothing quite like a good game or gift exchange during the holidays. Not only do you get to have fun with your family and friends, you also get to laugh a lot, receive awesome gifts and spend quality time with the people you love.

The only problem here is that children often cannot participate in adult games such as White Elephant, which can end up spoiling your night for two reasons: your kid will either demand your undivided attention the moment you plan to steal a gift from someone or you’ll feel guilty that the grown-ups are having so much fun while the young ones are in front of the TV.

Sure, one way to deal with this situation is to give them some toys or treats and hope to god that they’ll ignore you during the gift exchange, but speaking from experience, this often doesn’t end up the way you wanted.

While it’s safe to say that kids (especially really young ones) shouldn’t actually play White Elephant (just think about all the presents your friends bought for the occasion!), it’s a good idea to somehow include them in the game without them actually swapping gifts or you stealing from a 6-year-old. Depending on the kids who are going to be present at your party, here are some awesome jobs you could give the children:

1. YOUR VERY OWN LITTLE HELPER

Now, we all know that kids love to imitate adults. What they love even more is to feel super important. So, what you have to do here is give them a job that’s interesting enough for them to be absorbed in the game without disrupting the dynamics of the swap. 

That being said, every kid could help one or more grown-ups during the gift exchange, unwrapping presents or advising the adults which gift to keep for themselves and which to swap. Keep in mind, though, that all or some of the grown-ups have to agree to include the kids in the game, giving them some freedom in the decision-making process.

2. GAME REFEREE

This is an excellent option for older kids who know how to read. As previously stated, children love to be in charge, so there’s not a better position for them than being the boss. You could, for example, print out the rules of the game and ask them to read them at the beginning of the gift swap or have the kids read the story if you’re playing the left-right gift exchange. To make kids even more helpful, you could put them in charge of organizing the game or handling small tasks (they could announce whose turn it is to play, tell people where to sit, etc.).

3. PRESENT PASSER OUTER

Think your kids are too young for serious roles? Well, no one is too young to be a present passer outer. This might be a boring task for adults, but you can be certain your kids will enjoy touching all the presents and passing them out during the swap. It’s a nice and easy way to include them in the fun without worrying that they’ll do something wrong.

4. THE PAPER COLLECTOR

This one’s my personal favorite, as it not only keeps the kids busy, it also keeps the house clean. Jokes aside, the position of the wrapping paper collector is an engaging job for kids. Though it might seem odd to assign children the task of cleaning up, they’ll probably enjoy playing with brightly-colored wrapping paper. Still, don’t be too surprised if the paper ends up all around the house instead of in the trash can.

5. PLAYER (KIDS EDITION)

If most of your family members and friends have kids, you could organize their very own version of a gift swap. Obviously, it would be best for them to play a simplified game such as the musical chairs game or any other similar game that doesn’t include swapping. You should consider holding the exchange for the kids before the adult swap so that they would receive their toys before you start playing, which is great because the kids will have something to do during the grown-up game.

These five options can all work well, but you should still be aware that not all kids will want to participate in such a fashion. Another thing to consider is the type of naughty presents that will most likely show up during some point of the game and whether all the parents and kids will be comfortable in such a situation.

To make sure that everyone will enjoy themselves at the party, talk to the other parents and check with them if they are fine with their kids participating in the exchange. You can also ask other adults if they have any ideas how to include the children in the game or if they believe that you should organize a separate activity for the young ones.

Whatever you decide to do, it’s important to respect everyone’s wishes and organize the game in advance so that there wouldn’t be any unpleasant surprises during the game itself. That way, you can also relax and take pleasure knowing that the swap will go as smoothly as possible for everyone involved.