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.

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?

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.