These ten gift exchange games are some of the most creative and unique gift exchange ideas ever! No more traditional white elephant gift exchange, this year try one of these gift exchange games instead and impress your guests with such fun ideas!
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The Most Fun Gift Exchange Games
Try one of these fun and unique gift exchange ideas this year to break the norm. Almost every holiday party I’ve been to in the past ten years has had a very similar gift exchange. Everyone brings a wrapped gift and gets a number. The first person chooses a gift and unwraps it, the second person can steal that gift or choose another, and so on. I don’t even have to write out exact details because you all know. It’s the same game everyone plays at their holiday party every year.
This year I dare you to break out of the typical gift exchange box and try one of the unique gift exchange games below at your holiday party. Your guests will probably be shocked, maybe a little confused, but I’d be willing to bet they will remember how much fun your party was. The only other thing you need is an amazing white elephant gift and luckily I have a ton of great white elephant gift ideas for you!
Want to see how fun these games can be? Watch the video below to see these games in action!
Want all of these in printable form in one place?
Get the ultimate gift exchange game bundle! The best gift exchange games all in one printable PDF – instructions, printable cheat sheets, printable playing cards, and more! Click on the image below to check it out.
Poem Gift Exchange Ideas
– Lucky Last Line Gift Exchange Games for Individuals
In this fun gift exchange game, you wrap up a gift with multiple layers of wrapping paper and include a line of a poem on each layer of wrapping paper. Start the gift with one person who has to pass the gift off to someone who matches the description in their line of the poem. Keep passing and unwrapping the gift until the final person ends up wrapping the gift itself, not just another layer! Get the free printable poems (four different versions) and full rules here.
2 – Lucky Last Line for Large Groups
The version above is best if you just want to provide one wrapped gift as part of your party fun. If you want to use this type of pass the present game with these poems for a larger group, here’s how to do it.
Prep:
Ask your guests to each bring a wrapped gift. Before the party, print out one of the poems I created that will determine who passes the present where. You can get the printable poems in this post. If you’re creating your own poem, make sure that the final line to pass in the poem is a universal one (like pass to the right or pass across) so that everyone ends up with a gift. Three of my four poems end that way if you’re using one of mine.
How to Play:
1 – Tell each of your guests to hold their own wrapped gift.
2 – Read the first line of the poem and tell your guests to follow the instructions in the poem. An example would be, “I’m sorry but this gift is not for you, give it to the person to the right of you.” If one person receives multiple gifts that’s fine, they will just need to give all of the gifts away during the next line of the poem.
3 – Repeat, reading the poem line by line and having your guests follow the instructions on the poem. Announce when you’re on the last passing line of the poem and that everyone needs to give their gift to a different person (so no one has multiples at the end of the game).
4 – Once you’ve finished reading the poem and everyone has a gift, everyone can unwrap and keep their gifts.
3 – Left Right Poem Gift Exchange Game
In this game, everyone brings a wrapped gift and sits in a circle. Read the poem and when the words “right” or “left” are read, everyone passes their gifts left or right. You’ve gotta pay close attention though because it can get crazy with rights and lefts all over the place!
Get the full instructions and free printable Christmas gift exchange poem here!
Dice Gift Exchange Ideas
Dice Gift Exchange IdeasThese games are played with a set of dice and the dice tell you what to do with the gifts! They’re super fun and a great change because the gifts are controlled by dice – not choice!
4 – Switch Steal Unwrap Dice Game
In this game, everyone starts with three small gifts. You roll the dice and the dice determine if you switch, steal or unwrap gifts. Game ends when all the gifts are unwrapped. This is by far one of the best gift exchange games I’ve ever played and the hundreds of thousands of people who played it last year agree!
Get the full instructions and printable dice cards here!
5 – December Dice Gift Game
Prep:
For this game, you will need two six-sided dice. Ask all of your guests to bring a wrapped gift. And print out the dice rolling cards, people will want to know what’s happening to their gifts! Here are some great gift exchange gift ideas if anyone needs them!
How to Play:
1 – Have everyone sit in a circle with their wrapped gift in their lap.
2 – Give the dice to one person in the circle and tell them to roll the dice and follow the instructions that correspond with the number they roll. For example, if they roll a 6 everyone would pass the gift to the right, roll an 8 and everyone passes to the left.
3 – Go around the circle allowing everyone to roll the dice two times (or however many you choose). During the second round before someone rolls, if they have not yet unwrapped their gift have them up wrap it so all of the gifts are unwrapped by the end of the second round.
4 – Once the dice have gone around the circle the number of times you chose, your guests will keep the gift in their hands.
Get the Printable December Dice Cheat Sheet
To print the dice cheat sheet, enter your email and first name below to get a copy of the file. If you do not see a box below, click here to get to the form.
Game of Chance Gift Exchange Games
Similar to the gift exchange games with dice above, these ones are also based on an element of chance – whether it’s a flip of a coin or winning a challenge! Just another fun way to change up the typical white elephant game!
6 – Heads or Tails Gift Exchange Game
Let your gift exchange be dictated by the flip of a coin in this fun heads or tails gift exchange. Heads you choose a gift to unwrap, tails you get to steal from another person. It’s amazing how just adding a little coin to a game can change it completely.
Get full rules and instructions here.
7 – Rock Paper Switch Gift Game
This game is played similar to a traditional gift game or white elephant game. The big difference is that in order to steal a gift from someone, you have to beat them in rock paper scissors first. But that’s not all – this gift exchange game is full of fun twists and surprises all based on whether you go with rock, paper, or scissors!
Get full rules, instructions, and a printable game sheet here.
Active Gift Exchange Ideas
These are the gift exchange games that will get your guests up and moving around the room or the gifts get moving all over the place! That might happen a bit with the other games as well but these games are designed to be active and interactive!
8 – Musical Gifts
Prep: This game probably works best with smaller (20 or less) groups of people. For this game, ask all of your guests to bring a wrapped gift. When your guests arrive ask them to put their gift in a designated area. Have your guests sit in a circle.
How to Play:
1 – To start the game, pick out a random gift from the table and give it to someone in the circle.
2 – Play Christmas music and tell your guests to pass the gift around the circle until the music stops.
3 – When the music stops, whoever has the gift in their hands will unwrap the gift, show the rest of the group, and leave the circle with their gift. That’s the gift they end up with for the game.
4 – Repeat with another gift and another person until everyone has gotten to unwrap a gift and is “out of the game.”
Alternative Option: If you’d rather make the game a little simpler and less time consuming, you can just start everyone with a gift at the beginning of the game. Play music and have everyone pass their gifts around until the music stops. When the music stops everyone opens their gift and goes home with that gift.
Or you can do two rounds and have half the people unwrap their gifts and half not. Then after the second round have the other half unwrap and everyone go home with whatever they ended up with.
9 – Christmas Never Have I Ever Gift Exchange
You know the traditional Never Have I Ever game? This is a holiday gift exchange take on that where people read Never Have I Ever statements and if they’ve done the thing – they have to move seats (and leave their gift behind). It’s hilarious and a great way to get people switching without hurting anyone’s feelings with stealing.
Gift Exchange Games that Use Cards
10 – Pick A Gift, Any Gift
In this game, everyone brings one gift just like in a typical white elephant gift exchange. Instead of just deciding whether or choose a gift or steal someone else’s, you pick a random card instead. The card will tell you what to do with your gift – steal, swap, unwrap, pick a second gift, and more.
This is one of our favorite gift exchange games! Get the free printable gift exchange game cards here!
11 – Twelve Days of Christmas Gift Exchange Game
The last of these gift exchange games is another favorite! Similar to the game above, the card you draw in this game tells you what to do with your gift. Only this time instead of random sayings, these cards are all themed based on the 12 days of Christmas song. So not only is it fun, it’s hilarious to read what happened in the new version of this song (and game!).
Get the full details and printable cards here.
Want all of these in printable form in one place?
Get the ultimate gift exchange game bundle! The best gift exchange games all in one printable PDF – instructions, printable cheat sheets, printable playing cards, and more! Click on the image below to check it out.
Other Fun Gift Game Ideas
- White Elephant Gift Exchange Deck of Cards
- Has Santa Left the Right Gift Poem
- Wacky White Elephant Gift Exchange Game
- Gift Trap
Gift Game FAQs
Since I started coming up with gift exchange games a few years ago, I’ve had a lot of questions from people. I put together a quick FAQs section below to answer some of the questions I hear the most often!
How to Play Gift Exchange Games with Deck of Cards
You can play any of these gift exchange games with a deck of cards instead of using numbers. I talk about this a bit in my heads and tails gift exchange game but the idea is that instead of writing out numbers for everyone and having whoever gets #1 go first – instead, pick out two sets of matching playing cards, enough cards in each set for everyone in your group. So for instance if you have 20 people playing, you would do two sets of 20 cards (A-K of hearts and A-7 of spades).
Then instead of just saying #1 go first, pick a card from one set of the deck and whoever has the matching card goes first. It keeps people on their toes and not knowing who goes next. Way more fun in my opinion than just set numbers!
What Are Some Good Christmas Gift Exchange Themes?
I’ve never really done themes for my Christmas gift exchanges, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. Some of my favorite theme ideas that I’ve heard over the years are below. Tell everyone coming the theme and encourage them to buy a gift that follows that theme.
- Season (e.g., summer fun, winter wonderland)
- Starts with the first letter of their name
- Inspired by their favorite holiday movie
- Inspired by the 12 days of Christmas (get some ideas here!)
- Vacation related
- Food related
- A particular color
- Inspired by a phrase or song title (e.g., O Holy Night, To All A Good Night)
- Date or night out
- White elephant
How Many People Can Play These Gift Exchange Games?
The number of people that can play each of these gift exchange games is dependent on the game, and you’ll need to check out individual instructions for the games. But general rule of thumb, the more complicated the game – the less people. If you have a large group, go with something simpler like Heads or Tails or Lucky Last Line.
What are Good Christmas Gift Exchange Ideas for Families
This is another one where you’ll need to use your best judgement. All of the games above are totally family-friendly but if you have younger kids (like my 5-year-old) who don’t understand the idea of stealing gifts, having gifts stolen from them, and not getting what they want – I’d recommend you setup the younger kids with one of these Christmas party games and leave the gift game playing to kids that are a bit older and adults of course.
Out of the gift game ideas above, my favorites for families include:
Don’t forget to pin these gift exchange games for later!
Megan says
11/26/2013 at 4:01 pmThese are great game ideas! Thanks for sharing!!
Britni Vigil says
11/27/2013 at 4:58 amThanks Megan!
Chelsea J says
11/26/2013 at 4:01 pmThese are so fun! I’ve never heard of any of these before, and we are having a gift exchange next month. Perfect! Thanks Britni!
Britni Vigil says
11/27/2013 at 4:58 amI hope you haven’t heard of them because I tried to make them up. 🙂
Kallee says
11/26/2013 at 5:02 pmgreat ideas. I love that they are not the tradition gift exchange ideas.
Britni Vigil says
11/27/2013 at 4:58 amThanks Kallee!
Victoria Osborn says
11/26/2013 at 7:46 pmThese are great ideas, I love these. This would be such a great new holiday tradition. Thanks for sharing!
Britni Vigil says
11/27/2013 at 4:58 amThanks Victoria, I hope you try them out!
Toni Barsi says
11/26/2013 at 10:41 pmThese are such fun ideas! We’ve only ever played that you steal something from someone else, or unwrap a new one from the center. It’s not very much fun if you get stuck with a crappy gift right off the bat. Your games seem to give everyone a much better chance!
Britni Vigil says
11/27/2013 at 4:59 amYeah Toni that’s exactly why I came up with these versions. I hate being the person who gets stuck with the crappy gift right off the bat and just has to sit back and watch the fun the rest of the party!
DesignedByBH says
11/26/2013 at 10:44 pmOh, how fun! My hustband’s family has a big Christmas get-together and does a group gift exchange. I’m going to recommend some of these variations! 🙂
Britni Vigil says
11/27/2013 at 4:59 amThanks Brooke. I’d love to hear if you do play them!
Cara Kueck says
11/27/2013 at 1:39 amSuch fun ideas! I think we’re definitely going to have to try the dice game! Thanks for sharing!
Britni Vigil says
11/27/2013 at 4:59 amThanks Cara, that’s probably my favorite! Hope you try it out.
Jenn Rian says
11/30/2013 at 5:28 pmFun ideas! Our family never does a gift exchange but I’ve been thinking about adding a white elephant gift as part of our Ugly Christmas Sweater contest every year. Maybe if we do it we’ll use one of these games 🙂
Britni Vigil says
12/01/2013 at 4:30 pmThanks Jenn, I hope you do!
Rabia Lieber says
12/02/2013 at 10:13 amWow! These look like such fun! I haven’t been to a group gift exchange for a few years, but I wish we could have played one of these games instead of just stealing present from each other!
Britni Vigil says
12/14/2013 at 7:41 pmThanks Rabia, they are fun!
misszak says
12/28/2013 at 4:43 pmWe played the December Dice Game last night at our family Christmas and it was a lot of fun!! The only thing I would change would be some of the numbers and their rules. It seemed like no one ever rolled steal a gift or freeze a gift too often. Like maybe twice and we had 20 people playing. Overall a very veyr fun game with lost of laughs! Especially for the person who unwrapped a brand new plunger with 2 rolls of toilet paper on the handle! Hysterical!
Britni Vigil says
12/28/2013 at 8:00 pmThanks for the feedback! I tried to make those a little more difficult to roll but wow you had some unlucky rollers! You can definitely change the numbers up to mix it up a little more and I’ll take your comments into consideration and possibly update the numbers. I’m glad you enjoyed the game!
Sandy says
11/12/2017 at 5:48 pmHow does this game end? Do you go around two times or until every gift is frozen?
BritniV says
11/12/2017 at 8:59 pmWhich game are you talking about Sandy, the dice game? You go around a set number of times (pick a number of rounds before you start playing) or like you said, until every gift is frozen – whichever comes first.
Gary says
11/17/2014 at 9:13 pmDear Sirs,
I am Garu .Knowing you are doing business in gift.I have my own factory in China .We procuce different kinds of gift packing.
Could you consider whether we can coroperate together.If you are interested,I can send more information to you about my factory.
Thanks
Gary
Jessica says
12/04/2015 at 11:08 pmLate to the party as far as commenting but I happened across this when I was searching for an interesting twist on my church group’s annual gift exchange and we did the dice game at the party tonight and it seemed like people really enjoyed it. I personally liked that all the way to the end, nobody knew what they’d end up with and it made it a lot more interesting than the old standard of people stealing the good stuff and people who opened up junk, sitting with it. We played that nobody could freeze anything and the best gift got switched all the way to the end, but I think the last person rolled an everyone pass to the left/right, so they still didn’t end up with it. Thanks for putting that together!
BritniV says
12/05/2015 at 2:22 pmThose are fun twists Jessica, I’ll have to try them out this year!
juanita says
12/08/2015 at 3:18 pmIn the music game, once the first person and second person unwrap their gifts are they out of the game or do the next few people steal from them also? Or does it start from the beginning with the 3rd and 4th person and they unwrap and keep their gift?
BritniV says
12/08/2015 at 4:36 pmI’ve added some clarifications to the game instructions in the post to help. Everyone is included and all gifts are fair game until the very end unless you’ve set a stealing limit. I was just using the first and second people as an example but technically the very last person to end up with the musical gift could steal from the first player. Hope that helps!
Cheri says
12/10/2015 at 2:59 pmThanks for the great ideas! My sister and I are planning to use the poem exchange for our families baked-goods “white elephant”. Although with chocolate cake and fudge as gifts it’s probably not a white elephant. Fun idea, and we think it will be great for the younger children to get to spotlight what they made.
BritniV says
12/13/2015 at 10:56 pmI hope your family has a great time with it! And feel free to ship some of those baked goods my way if you want. 🙂
Christy says
12/15/2015 at 3:08 pmQuestion for the dice game! If a freeze is rolled in the first round does that gift stay frozen through the second round of rolling or go back into play?
BritniV says
12/23/2015 at 9:13 amIf someone chooses to freeze their gift, it is frozen for the entire game.
Tiffanee Watts says
10/25/2016 at 4:55 pmWe use our iphone to add some excitement and laughs to our holiday gift exchange. It’s so easy – no prep required. Each participant brings a gift and goes home with a gift. The gifts are traded, shuffled, and passed. You’ll never know what gift you will end up with until the very end. It can be found at giftexchangeapp.us.
Cara says
12/17/2016 at 4:04 pmWe did the dice game at our recent party and it was a big hit. Since we had a large group, I asked the men to bring for the men and the ladies for the ladies. At the party, we had both circles going on opposite sides of the room at the same time. I also put the rule sheet on the bottom of a foil cake pan and passed that along with the dice to each player to make it easier to roll since we weren’t at tables. Thanks so much for the fun game.
BritniV says
12/19/2016 at 10:08 amYay! I’m so glad you enjoyed Cara!
Larry Weaver says
09/29/2017 at 4:09 pmThanks for the tip to keep the game of musical gifts with a smaller group of about 20 people to work best. I’m looking into doing an activity like that, but there’s about 40 people that will be at the family reunion, so I think we’ll divide it up into two groups. Looking for gift ideas, I’ve found some pretty cool all star gifts that I’m excited to use in the activity.
Frankie says
11/29/2017 at 11:56 amI hate that you need my personal info just for a free download, and that I can’t just have a page to look at and write down one of the poems.. guess I’ll look somewhere else
BritniV says
11/30/2017 at 12:43 amIf you email me at britni @ playpartyplan.com, I can get you the files you need. The checkout system is currently the best way I know how to deliver printable files to people via email without having to do everything by hand. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Kathy says
12/07/2017 at 12:30 pmon the gift exchange cards – it seems like there are not enough cards to open the gifts. If you switch or steal – do you then open that gift that you have switched or stolen, or are only the unwrap gift cards the ones that allow you to unwrap?
BritniV says
12/07/2017 at 11:11 pmHave you read the full instructions for the game in this post? It explains how to play in detail –> https://www.playpartyplan.com/gift-exchange-game-idea-with-cards/.