Christmas Gift Exchange Ideas
Now there are a lot of gift exchange ideas out there and we are excited to share with you this super unique game idea that is unlike any other gift exchange game we have seen! Family, friends, co-workers alike all take time during this Christmas party season to exchange gifts of some sort – often in the form of a fun gift exchange game. Your guests will be swapping and switching gifts with each roll of the die while smiling (and possibly squirming!) as they complete silly truth or dare tasks!
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The basic idea of this gift exchange party is to have each of your guests bring a simple gift to share (more ideas on the type of gift below). Guests will roll the printable die which will give them instructions on where and sometimes how to swap their gifts with another player. By the end of the night, each guest should go home with a unique new gift to take home and hopefully have had a lot of fun!
Thanks to the talents of Carisa from Messes to Memories, we have everything you need to organize and host a fun Christmas gift exchange party including:
- A Customizable Invitation
- Gift Exchange Die
- Truth or Dare Cards
Christmas Gift Exchange Party Invitation
To invite your guests to your gift exchange party, we have a gorgeous invitation that you can customize with your information! Use a free Adobe program to type all of the details for your Christmas party right on the invitation. The date, time, and location are all editable (so cool, right?). There is even a place for you to add in any additional instructions. This is where you will want to specify to your guests to each bring a wrapped gift. You can also include details for the type of gift they should bring (if you are having a themed party) and if you have any price limits per gift. We recommend printing on cardstock.
Gift Exchange Theme Ideas
When you are doing your invitation, you have some decisions to make. Namely, what kind of gifts do you want to exchange? Oftentimes, the type of gift to exchange depends on the type of party you want to host. Here are a few ideas for fun gift exchange themes for your party, but the possibilities are really endless!
- White Elephant Gift Exchange – This is always a popular party where guests bring the oddest, wackiest, weirdest item they can find (like these). Combining wacky gifts with this gift exchange game twist would only make the night extra hilarious!
- Favorite Things Gift Exchange – Have each guest bring a gift that they consider to be a favorite thing – something they absolutely love. It could be a product that they can’t live without, a book that they totally recommend, or a delicious treat. Not only will it be fun to go home with a new gift after the exchange, but you will also go home with lots of new recommended items!
- Holiday Cookie Swap Party – If you haven’t done a cookie swap before, the holidays are a perfect time for one! Wouldn’t it be so fun to have everyone bring a gift of their favorite baking supplies in addition to their holiday cookies? Then, you can play this holiday Christmas gift exchange game to see who takes home each gift!
Gift Exchange Dice Game
To begin the gift exchange dice game, have all of your guests arranged in a circle holding the gift that they brought. Select someone to roll the die. Depending on what is rolled, your guest(s) will have to do one of the following:
- Switch with the person to your right
- Everyone passes to the left
- Swap gifts with anyone you choose
- Unwrap your gift (note – if the gift is already unwrapped they can just roll again)
- Take a Truth Card
- Take a Dare Card
When their turn is over, the die is passed to the next person in the circle and the game continues until all of the gifts have been unwrapped. When the last gift is unwrapped, everyone goes home with whatever gift they ended up with. If someone ends up with their own gift they can either trade it with someone willing or keep it.
Gift Exchange Game: Truth or Dare Twist
This is my favorite twist to the game. If your guests roll a “take a truth card” or a “take a dare card” they get to have a little extra fun to complete their turn. These cards add a little more get-to-know-you to your game and provide lots of opportunities for some good laughs!
For the truth cards, everyone gets to play! The person that rolls will pick and read a card. These cards give a scenario and ask anyone that it applies to, to stand up and exchange gifts. For example, a card might say “Stand and exchange gifts if you bought a Christmas present for yourself and plan to act surprised on Christmas Day”. After reading the card, anyone who has indeed bought themselves a gift (that would include me for sure – I do it every year haha) would come to the center. Everyone that came to the center would then randomly swap gifts and then sit back down. Fun, right? You will definitely be learning a lot about your party guests with this game!
The dare cards are a little more individual. These cards will have your guests humming, acting out charades, and competing in silly tasks. The cards will explain it all – including how to exchange or unwrap their gift after their dare is complete.
Creative Christmas Gift Exchange Game
There are a lot of Christmas gift exchange ideas out there, but here is what I love about this particular idea:
- This would be fun and appropriate for any Christmas party you might be planning. Whether you are doing a gift exchange with family, co-workers or even a youth group, everyone will love this game!
- This game will last longer than your typical gift exchange. I have been to parties where the game is over is 10 minutes and then what? This game has so many twists, turns and tasks that it will last a lot longer.
- Most Christmas gift exchange ideas include one form of swapping gifts, but with the dice, there are way more options than just left and right.
- This gift exchange game works with any Christmas party theme. If you want to do themed gifts, practical gifts, silly gifts – the game will blend in with any theme you choose.
We hope you enjoy this gift exchange game! The holidays are all about giving and this is just a fun little twist to make it even more memorable!
Thank you for the Gift Exchange Party download. We always play a game, either Left/Right or A Dice Game. This takes it to a whole new level and I am excited to see how much fun everyone will have. Thanks Again. I can’t believe this download was totally free!
Isn’t it fun! It adds a very fun twist! I hope you ave a fabulous party!
Thank you so much for such a fun printable! Can’t wait to use it!
You are so welcome! Enjoy!
Such a fun twist on a gift exchange!
Thank you! We hope you enjoy it!