6 Gift Exchange Activities for Your Holiday Party

Gift exchanges are popular features of holiday parties. After all, who doesn’t love getting presents? Making the exchange part of the entertainment just adds to the pleasure!

Sometimes, however, exchanging gifts can get awkward, especially at work or in mixed social situations.

Turning the practice of exchanging a gift into a game capitalizes on the joy of giving and receiving gifts while easing worries about buying the perfect gift for a particular person – not to mention how much to spend.  

Most gift exchange games involve distributing gifts at random. Since you don’t know who will end up with the present you buy, you’re more inclined to keep your selection generic. That takes the pressure off of buying the “perfect $20 present” for a hard-to-buy-for relative or introverted co-worker.

Often, party hosts who plan a gift exchange will set a limit on the total cost of the gift, curbing any inclination some guests might have toward extravagance or one-upmanship. Or they might suggest that gifts follow a certain theme.

Not sure how to orchestrate a gift exchange game? Christmas Central offers six activities to help liven up the party.

For a White Elephant Gift Exchange, sometimes called a Yankee Swap, guests bring a wrapped, unmarked gift and place it on a designated gift table.

Players take turns picking a gift from the table and opening it. As the game continues, each guest can either steal a gift another guest has already selected and opened or choose a new one from the table. Those who have had a gift taken may go to the table and choose a new gift, which can’t be stolen for the rest of the game.

To make this game even more interesting, some groups get very creative about the gifts they buy, supplying humorous or even “dud” gifts that are recycled year after year.

This Christmas gift exchange game is similar to the Hot Potato game you played as a kid.

Everyone passes around a single gift (don’t throw it!) until a timer stops or a Christmas carol ends. Whoever holds the gift at the end keeps it and leaves the circle.

The game continues until there is only one person left and everyone has a present.

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Secret Santa is a classic Christmas gift exchange that requires some advanced planning.

Well before the party date, everyone picks a name out of a hat (or some other random method) and buys a gift for that person. Write the recipient’s name on the gift tag, but not the giver’s.

In the spirit of fun, participants should not tell whose gift they are providing or try to guess who drew their own name.

On the day of the party, participants open their gifts and then try to guess the identity of their “Secret Santa.”

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You’re probably familiar with Musical Chairs from childhood, but this version adds a gift exchange twist.

Arrange chairs in a circle with a gift underneath each chair. Play music and have everyone walk in a circle around the chairs. When the music stops, everyone rushes to a chair. Whatever gift is under their chair is theirs to keep.

Guests place their wrapped, anonymous gifts on a gift table.

The host asks trivia questions – keep to a Christmas theme or find suggestions on the internet.

The first person to answer the question correctly can either choose a gift or is given a gift by the host. Once a person receives a gift, they are out of the game, which continues until all the gifts have been distributed.

When holiday strain kicks in, even something that should be enjoyable, like buying and receiving gifts, can cause anxiety.

Adding a fun gift exchange activity may be just the stress-reliever needed to keep the mood light and the season bright.

Gift exchanging is an ancient tradition that predates Christianity. When the Three Wise Men visited the baby Jesus, they came bearing gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. Many people consider these the first Christmas gifts. However, for hundreds of years after the birth of Christ, people continued the older tradition of giving gifts for the New Year, not Christmas. Later, as the celebration of the feast of St. Nicholas grew more popular, so did the custom of giving Christmas presents.

Gift exchange parties are the traditional way to conduct a gift exchange, but friends, family and co-workers may not gather in person for the holidays. In that case, there are a number of websites, gift exchange generator apps and sites to help groups draw names and coordinate a gift swap. Search the internet for gift exchange party ideas for remote workers or distant family and friends.