Between office parties, family and friends, holiday expenses can really add up.
A fun way to cut back on some of these expenses could be a gift exchange, rather than individual gifts for everyone.
Hosting a White Elephant Gift Exchange is not only a great way to cut back on some of those expenses..But a fun excuse to throw a holiday get-together!
How does it work?
The White Elephant Gift Exchange works best for groups of 6 or more.
Of course, this can be a long-winded game, so before getting started you will want to have some basic rules written out.
To start your Gift Exchange, you’ll need to put a few things in order:
- Set the Budget
- Establish how many people will be taking part
- Create the ‘theme’. Â Food, gag gifts, gift cards,etc.
White Elephant Gift Exchange Rules
Each person is to bring one wrapped gift in the set theme and budget amount.
Place the gifts in a pile so they are visible to all the players
The host will begin the game by distributing a number (1- amount needed) to each player.
To Begin
Player #1 Picks a present from the pile and unwraps it.
Player #2 Can either ‘steal’ the unwrapped gift from player 1, or choose a new (wrapped) gift from the pile.
Player #3 Can choose a gift from the pile, or steal a gift from either player 1 or 2 and so on.
This continues until all gifts have been distributed and all players have had a turn.
Once all gifts have been distributed, player #1 will then have the option of ‘stealing’ a gift since they did not have the opportunity at the beginning of the game. Â
If you would like the game to carry on longer – Player 1 would have the option of returning their gift to the pile and then stealing.  Thus starting the round again with player 2 now having the option of taking the gift in the pile, stealing etc. 🙂
Traditional rules state:
A gift cannot be stolen back right away.
AÂ gift can only be ‘stolen’ a maximum of 3 times, before it must remain with a player.
There are many variations to the White Elephant Gift Exchange – Which can make this super fun (and versatile) to your wants and needs.
Have fun and Happy Holidays!
