5 Fun Christmas Gift Exchange Games to Try Instead of White Elephant

1. Pass the Presentsfor kids, grandparents, and everyone in between

Pass the Presents is a gift exchange with no stealing. It's our twist on pass the parcel, and it's even better than Lucky's dad's rules (iykyk).

Everyone brings a gift that's been wrapped more than once, up to six times, with no one else knowing how many. The gifts go around the circle to music, and when the music stops, everyone unwraps one layer. Nobody knows which stop will uncover their gift, and once you reach it, it's yours.

What you need: Music, someone to pause it in short bursts, a bag for the wrapping paper trash, and room to sit in a circle.

How to play

1. Give everyone one wrapped gift and sit in a circle.
2. Start the music and pass the gifts in one direction, with everyone handing one over at the same time.
3. When the music stops, everyone unwraps one layer of the gift they're holding.
4. If you've reached the actual gift, it's yours. Step out of the passing circle with it.
5. Close the gaps and start the music again for the remaining players.
6. When only one player is left, they unwrap the remaining layers and keep the last gift.

The little things to get right

Keep the wrapping manageable. As one parent on Reddit put it: "I wrapped it too many times and they started to get angry... lol 10+ layers is not a good idea." Six layers is our limit.

Explain what counts as a layer before you start. If someone opens a gift bag and finds a wrapped box, they stop there until the next round.

Decide what happens if someone unwraps their own gift. When we play, you keep it. Your group can go either way, just decide before the music starts.

2. Favorite Thingsfor people who love a good recommendation

For a Favorite Things party, everyone brings two of the exact same thing they love, like two of the same candle or two bags of their favorite coffee. You set them out unwrapped, tell the room why you love it, and then draw numbers and pick a gift.

That's what makes this one fun: finding out about your friend's favorite silk pillowcase, or which kitchen gadget someone uses every day. Everyone goes home with two things and a few ideas for what to try next.

Put this on the invite

Bring two of the exact same thing you love, around $20 each. Nothing needs wrapping. We can't wait to hear why you love it!

Pick whatever amount works for your group. "Each" means per gift, so $20 each is about $40 per guest.

Copy the wording

How to play

1. Set everything out on the table, unwrapped, so people can look it over.
2. Go around the room and have each person share what they brought and why they love it.
3. Before anyone picks, explain the two rules: you can't choose your own item, and you can't take both copies of the same thing.
4. Draw numbers. In number order, each person chooses one item.
5. Reverse the order for round two, so the last picker goes first, and everyone chooses one more.

Sometimes the last person to pick is left with only their own item, or a second copy of something they already took. If that happens, have them trade with someone so everyone goes home with two different things they didn't bring.

The little things to get right

Be clear about two of the exact same thing. Put it on the invitation and say it again when people RSVP.

A bundle works too, like a favorite coffee with a package of cookies, as long as both bundles match.

If kids and grown-ups are both playing, try separate tables. My friend Shelby hosted a mom-and-daughter Valentine's party this way, with the moms' favorites on one table and the girls' on another. Each group ran its own rounds, so nobody had to choose between a grown-up gift and a kid gift.

3. That Gift Gamefor a sit-down exchange after dinner

That Gift Game is a card game that runs your gift exchange. The cards call every move: trade, open, steal, or pass. You can plan which card to play next, but you don't know what everyone else is holding, and a surprise card can shake things up.

How to play

1. Everyone adds their wrapped gift to the pile.
2. Put the red gift cards and gray surprise cards face down in the middle. Deal the white cards (the rules say how many each) and keep them secret.
3. Starting with whoever brought the game, draw a red card and take the gift it describes, still wrapped. Keep going until everyone has a gift.
4. On your turn, play one white card to trade, open, steal, or pass a gift. If you play a Surprise card, draw from the gray deck and do what it says.
5. When the last card is played, the gift in front of you is yours to keep. Until then, it's up for grabs.

The little things to get right

Opened gifts stay in the game. Wrapped or unwrapped, any gift can move until the last card.

When a card describes you

If a card describes you, like "Trade gifts with the tallest player" when that's you, it goes to the next person who fits.

Susan titled her review on our site "So good it was stolen from me twice!!!" and wrote, "Someone asked to borrow it, so I lent it out and never got it back!"

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4. Dice Swapfor a family that enjoys a little competition

Dice Swap is a Christmas gift exchange dice game played with one die. Everyone starts with a wrapped gift, and the number you roll tells you whether to swap, pass, or open.

Some gifts stay a mystery for a while. Others get opened early and keep moving around the circle. Roll a 4 and everyone passes at once.

How to play

1. Sit in a circle, everyone holding one wrapped gift.
2. Take turns rolling the die and doing what the chart says.
3. Keep going clockwise until the last wrapped gift is opened. Whatever you're holding then is yours to keep.

The little things to get right

Before the first roll, tell everyone two things: opened gifts can still move, and the game ends the moment the last wrapped gift is opened.

For more than 12 players, split into two circles, each with its own die and gifts.

June plays it with her family: "We have all ages, and it can get very competitive."

5. Saran Wrap Ballfor a big family gathering or a casual Christmas party

For the Saran Wrap game, the host wraps small prizes into a big ball of plastic wrap. Guests don't bring gifts, which makes it easy for a house full of cousins, neighbors, and family friends.

We play the party version: unwrap until a prize comes out, keep it, and pass the ball. It makes its way around while people visit.

My friend Jera and I built one for both our families to pass around. We bought a pile of small things (scratch-off tickets, little fast-food gift cards, candy, gum, fidgets, some beauty stuff) and wrapped them into one giant ball together the night before. I think that part was just as fun for us. :)

At the party, the kids and teenagers passed it around most of the evening, with the grown-ups unwrapping a layer here and there.

How to build it

1. Wrap the center prize in plastic wrap.
2. Keep wrapping, tucking in another prize every few wraps.
3. Use one long, continuous piece so the end is easy to find. For a tougher ball, cut the wrap more often and start again in a new direction.
4. Keep the outer prizes easy to reach so the first few turns get things moving.
5. We stop when it's about the size of a basketball, with about two prizes per player. That takes one or two big rolls of plastic wrap.

Prize ideas

Small things that fit in your hand, with a few for every age:

• Kids: fun-size candy, gum, fidgets, and stickers
• Teens: full-size candy bars, snacks, and little fast-food gift cards
• Grown-ups: scratch-off tickets, coffee gift cards, small beauty things, and a folded $5 bill

Decide how the ball moves

Pick the one that fits your party.

Pick a passing rule. Before the ball starts moving, choose one and tell everyone:

• Pass it to the person with the next birthday after yours.
• Pass it to someone you haven't talked to yet tonight.
• Pass it to the next person alphabetically.

For a little extra fun, write a few of these on slips of paper and tuck them between the layers as you wrap. Whoever unwraps a slip passes the ball the way it says.

The little things to get right

Think about who's unwrapping. If a prize isn't right for a little one, hand it to their parent.

Playing you get what you get? Keep a few extra prizes in your pocket for anyone who ends up with none.

Ask people to unwind the wrap instead of tearing it, or half the ball comes apart in one grab.

A few more games to try

Want something different this year? Most of these use a game you might already have.

LCR gift swap

Like Dice Swap? Try it with a Left Center Right game. Everyone holds a wrapped gift and three chips. Play regular LCR, and when you run out of chips, open your gift, or swap an opened one for one that's still wrapped. Whoever ends with all the chips opens theirs and can trade it for any gift.

Playing card bingo

Deal two or three playing cards to everyone, then call cards from a second deck. Flip yours when it's called, and when your whole hand is flipped, pick a gift. Once everyone has one, open them together and deal again. This time, a full hand lets you swap.

Like the cards calling the moves? That's how That Gift Game works.

Pictionary or trivia

Take turns drawing a holiday word, or ask trivia questions about your family. Whoever gets it right opens a gift from the pile, steals one, or keeps theirs safe for a round. Play until the pile is gone.

Play-money auction

Give everyone the same stack of Monopoly money and auction off the wrapped gifts. Winners open theirs and sit out, and the host keeps the last gift.

Christmas gift scavenger hunt for kids

Hide small wrapped gifts around the house, at least one per kid, and hand out a first clue. Use pictures for little ones and simple riddles for older kids. Write down your hiding spots so nothing gets left behind the couch.