Christmas is one of the few times in the year that family members receive gifts from each other. Exchanging gifts is a great practice that fosters generosity, kindness, and compassion. The Christmas family get together brings along with it the prospect of giving and receiving gifts. Though gifts are said to be a way of showing our love and appreciation for other people, many times buying gifts for all the members of a large family can surely burn a hole in your pocket. Moreover, many times, the gifts that we give or receive, may not be something useful, which makes it a total waste of time and money. To solve this problem, we have family Christmas gift exchange games where a person has to give a gift to just one member of the family. No matter which route you take, you can purchase the materials for the best gift exchange from your local craft or gift store. Once you have some tips down pat, you can easily decide on how to go about your family gift exchange.
Handmade Gifts
Family Christmas Gift Exchange Ideas
Exchanging handmade gifts can also be a great idea. This is also an expensive way to celebrate the joy of the season with your family and friends. You must make sure that the exchange should be only of handmade items, rather than those bought in stores. There can be wide variety of handmade Christmas gifts that can be exchanged. Home baked cookies, cakes, recipes, knitwear, crafts. embroidered cushion covers, photo frames and the like can be a good option for family gifts on this Christmas.
White Elephant
A variation to the name picking family exchange gift ideas will be the white elephant gift exchange. A while elephant gift exchange is where you do not have to spend money in buying something, rather you an give away something that you do not use at all. This can range from some old gift that you got from someone and has been lying in your wardrobe for sometime or may be something that you brought, but did not use. Wrap this gift in a nice gift pack and gift it to someone who you think will love and appreciate it.
Gift Giving as Entertainment
Instead of focusing on the exchange aspect of gift giving, lead an activity with gifts being the items each guest makes. For example, play a holiday trivia game or charades and award simple prizes such as holiday bells or ornaments, or provide aprons and all the materials for a cookie-decorating activity. If your space permits, designate a photo-display site in front of the Christmas tree and provide fabric, cardboard and instructions for making picture frames.
Gift-Giving Games
With passing games, the game itself is part of the fun. For about 20 people or fewer, pile wrapped gifts in the center of the group. Draw numbers and let the first person pick and unwrap a gift; the second participant chooses to open a new gift or “steal” the unwrapped gift, allowing the first person to choose again. For children, reimagine musical chairs and have the children pass gifts around a circle, keeping the gift in the kid’s hands when the music stops.
Cakewalk Exchange
Label objects, such as Christmas ornaments, with numbers, using a labeler gun or numbered decorative paper scattered on the floor. Each person picks a number and stands beside it. The facilitator draws a number from a glass jar, or any container, and the person with the drawn number gets to choose a gift from the gift stack. Since no one has gift assignments beforehand, you can get extra creative and fun with the gift you choose. Wrap all gifts in the same sized gift box to eliminate the first taker getting the biggest gift.
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