It is not only fun but entertaining to engage office colleagues and peers to join in the gift exchange games during the Christmas seasons. There are plenty of such games that can be played in an office environment, two of which that are popular among the white collar population are the Secret Santa and White Elephant gift exchanges. The important component of these games is to set clear games rules and ensure every participant understands these rules.



White elephant gift exchange has been one of the most popular office games ever when it comes to gift exchanges for all festive celebrations. Every game varies depends on the size of the office and the numbers of participants involved. The general rule provides that each participant to purchase a gift of certain value which may be decided beforehand by the departmental head. The theme of the gift should be fun and of entertaining value. Therefore, an item which is particularly predictable and too practical is not an ideal.

Everyone who's participating in the exchange gets a number (the number should be the same as the number of presents). The numbers should be they drawn out of a hat or something else (perhaps a Santa hat, in recognition of the season?). So, the person who draws number "1" goes first and picks a present. They open it and keep it. The second person can either pick a different present or they can "steal" the first present. They can't open a present until they are sure they are keeping their choice and not picking the first gift. This continues until everyone has a present. Any present that's been opened can be subject to stealing, but a gift can only be stolen three times.

At the end of the game, the person who was the first to open a present can steal a gift if they choose, since they didn't have an opportunity earlier.

The game can be made so joyful if there is a particular gift that is so popular that it is desired by so many people in the game; something which every one is setting the eyes on. This is simply because it will keep everyone wondering who will eventually own the most popular gift of the game. Do not be startled if there are actually few participants that receive their own gifts which they bought for the game.

Regifting or in other words, gifting away a present that a person received from another person because either they do not use it or like it at all, represents the original idea behind the white elephant gift exchange game. With this in mind, there are many options that are open to gift selection for this game. The participants can be asked to purchase a totally new gift within a particular budgeted value. Alternatively, they can also be asked to bring a gift that they do not wish to keep from their homes for the games.

You may probably know or are aware that there are so many varieties of the Secret Santa games that are not only fun but also popular to be played for office gift exchanges. If you cannot decide which variation would be the ideal and best fun, it is a recommendation to try the following option. It works like this: Get each and every participant to make a Santa list for him or herself and the gifts purchased for the exchange purpose must be set at a predetermined value such as $10. Therefore, the people must only note down items of that particular value or a lesser amount for this game.

At the completion of the Santa list creation by every participant, each of them is required to draw out a list for him or herself from a box or a hat for the purpose of the draw. The list drawn out by the participant will be the gift object that he or she will be purchasing for the office gift exchange day. By no means will the recipients know the person who will be shopping for them if rules of the game are properly followed. On the contrary, the shoppers will know the person for whom the present they bought will be given to. When it comes to the big day for the gift exchange, the Secret Santa must make sure that its presence is properly concealed and the present is to be sent to the recipients desk without being noticed at all. Some of the office mates and participants of the game prefer the gift secret to remain a hush-hush because it is fun being anonymous. On the other hand, many others end up signing or initialing on the card attached to the gift as they wish to thank for their gifts.