How to Host a White Elephant Gift Exchange

Set for a nighttime of giggles and a chip of chaotic fun? Here are some basic guidelines and suggestions for how to host a white elephant souvenir exchange.

Turn the holiday on its caput with a white elephant gift exchange. Wacky presents, unexpected swaps and tons of laughter are the name of this unconventional party game. Allow'southward walk through the rules for white elephant parties so you'll know what to do-and what to look-when you host your own.

General Rules & Gameplay

The basic rules for white elephant gift exchanges are unproblematic.

  1. Each guest brings a wrapped gift. You may want to lay out a few guidelines for gifts in the invite. It's a practiced idea, for instance, to set a price limit; this will aid partygoers avoid whatsoever major gift disparities.
  2. Have guests identify their gifts in a central location, and arrange the seating around the presents so that each player has a good view.
  3. To start, determine the playing order. Ask each guest to choice a number out of a hat. Histrion #i begins by grabbing a souvenir out of the pile and opening it in front of the room.
  4. Histrion #2 has two options. The starting time is to open a new gift from the pile; the second is to steal the gift from player #1. If actor #1 has their gift stolen, they'll need to grab a new souvenir from the pile and open up it.
  5. Player #3 can either open a new gift or steal from players #1 or #2. When any player's souvenir is stolen, that thespian can choose to trade gifts or open a new one from the pile. Note that a actor tin can't steal back the same souvenir that was stolen from them inside a unmarried round.
  6. To go on the brawl rolling, limit trades to three per round. The game continues like this until each guest has a gift, at which time thespian #1 will have a hazard to bandy with anyone in the room.

But the white elephant doesn't finish there. There are no limits on stealing during the final round, so players tin continue to swap gifts one by one until everyone is satisfied with their prize. Depending on the gifts-and the crowd-this may consequence in a rowdy bout of nowadays-stealing fun!

Make it Your Own

Now that you know the nuts of the white elephant gift substitution, it's time to mix things up. Create your own twists on the rules to make the party as zany equally yous'd like.

Here are a few ideas:

  • Pick a Theme: Instruct guests to bring bootleg ornaments, quirky mugs or thrifted knickknacks. Be as wide or specific every bit you wish-whatever your arroyo, information technology'due south a fun way set the mood for the political party. For some edible inspiration, check out our top 25 nutrient souvenir recipes.

  • Keep Things Under Wraps: Make a rule that gifts cannot be opened until the cease of the game. (Be certain to include this information in the invite!) Guests will take to choose gifts based solely on the packaging. This encourages artistic wrapping jobs and assures big surprises at the end of the game. Need wrapping inspiration? Explore our ideas for bootleg food gift packaging.

Originally Published: January xix, 2017