White Elephant Gift Exchange
Paul
Team ElfShare
on 29 Apr 2020
Blogs

White Elephant Gift Exchange

It goes by different names… Yankee Swap, Naughty Santa, Dirty Santa, Pollyanna, Chinese gift exchange, Thieves' Christmas, Thieving Secret Santa, Rob Your Neighbor …and beyond!

A White Elephant gift exchange is like a "Secret Santa" but with a twist!

These gift exchanges are perfect for gatherings between friends or family, between colleagues at the workplace or in other social settings like at clubs, meet-ups or other organizational functions.  It creates conversation and fun vibes in a group, also allowing everyone to buy just 1 present instead of having to get many presents for multiple people!

 

Typically gift exchanges happen around the holiday period but it is fun to do a White Elephant gift exchange at any time of the year.

 

So you want to organize a White Elephant OR you’ve been lucky enough to be invited to participate in one?

Congratulations! You’re in for some fun!!

 

The rules: how does a White Elephant exchange work?

  1. Each person brings a wrapped gift to the gathering and puts it in the pile at the center of the group (covered with a blanket).  Keep your contribution a secret and don’t let people see which gift you brought. The gift that you bring should be strange and hilarious (get White Elephant gift ideas) and it should be entertaining!  You don't know who will receive your gift, so make it a gift suitable for anyone in your group. 
  2. Have one person make small cutouts from a sheet of paper that is big enough to fold in half. Consecutively number these pieces of paper corresponding to the number of people taking part in the gift exchange. For example, if there are 7 people in the gift exchange, pieces of paper each numbered from 1 to 7 are placed in a hat, bowl or bag. The papers should be folded so nobody can read their numbers.
  3. Each person draws a number. Sit together in a circle in the chosen order. Whoever picks number 1 gets to choose first whichever gift from the pile he or she likes.
  4. Each person gets to choose in order, when it’s his or her turn, to either “steal” a previously- opened gift or a new wrapped gift to open.
  5. If someone’s gift is “stolen” then that person gets to “steal” a gift from someone else or take a new unopened present to open it. However, this cannot be the gift that was just taken away unless it’s the next round. A gift cannot be stolen more than once per round.
  6. Make sure that the person with #1 gets the chance to “steal” any gift since the opportunity wasn’t there at the beginning. His/ her gift goes into the pile in this case.
  7. The game ends when all gifts have found an owner!

 

 

 

White Elephant Gift Exchange Tips:

  1. Variations on rules are yours to create so adapt and be creative. For example, think of any change to the game that you think maybe funny if it is easy to implement. Think of a theme for the gift swap, for example. Does everyone in your group love a certain topic you can base your gift selection on?
  2. As an option, you could unwrap the gifts ahead of time so that people don't need to guess the contents.
  3. Maybe you want to put a limit on how many times a gift can be stolen? Max 3 times, for example.
  4. Either the gifts can be something previously owned to be re-gifted or they can be something entirely new. Whatever rules you choose, keep things simple.
  5. Perhaps you should set a price range for people to keep in mind since not everyone can afford something expensive. This range could be set between $10 - $25. Or go for a “Golden Elephant” gift exchange if you’re feeling like a high-stakes kind of game with costlier gifts.

 

Why is it called “White Elephant”?

White Elephant Gift Exchange

Traditionally a White Elephant is the name for an extravagant but undesirable gift that holds little intrinsic value and cannot be easily disposed of.

The term white elephant is said to be based on the legend of the King of Siam in Thailand, who is said to have given rare albino elephants to courtiers who had displeased him. 

This gift could not be denied by its recipient, and the upkeep of these elephants was so expensive that they would end up ruining their owners.   

A White Elephant is an unexpected gift that cannot be turned down!

However, our version of a White Elephant Gift Exchange puts an emphasis on camp, quirky or kitsch gifts that also tend to be more useful than unuseful!  Gifts for an exchange should be funny, entertaining or bizarre... for everyone’s amusement!

The ElfShare Gift Shop has the best White Elephant gift ideas to explore!

 

 

Here are some of the best ideas we found just for you:

Click here to show 32 more ideas... Find more on the ElfShare GiftShop...
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3 Comments

  • Calvin Logan

    327 Nov 2018 at 12:09 AM

    Best gift? Always remember the quality of the gift depending to their age and your MoneySlack potential.

    Reply

  • wafa

    228 Aug 2018 at 07:55 AM

    I'm going to try this out during the end of the year

    Reply
  • Anna Aufill

    Anna Aufill

    237 Aug 2018 at 05:55 AM

    That's awesome, Wafa! Let us know how it goes and take some pictures! 🎁

  • No comments added yet...

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