How do you play the white elephant Christmas game?

The White Elephant Game Rules
Sit in a circle and place the gifts in the center, preferably under a festive tree. The person who drew #1 selects a gift from the pile, opens it, and holds it up for all to see. The person who drew #2 decides whether to steal that gift or unwrap a mystery present from the pile.
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How does the White Elephant game work?

The first person opens a wrapped gift, and the turn ends. On subsequent turns, each person has the choice to either unwrap a new present or to steal another's. When a person's gift is stolen, that person can either choose another wrapped gift to open or can steal from another player.
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How does Christmas White Elephant work?

White Elephant Rules

The person with number "one" chooses a present to unwrap. The person with number "two" has a choice: They may choose a new, wrapped present, or they may take the unwrapped present from the first person. If they take the present from the first person, that person chooses another present to unwrap.
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What are the rules of the Christmas game?

How to Play the Game
  • Roll a 1 – they switch gifts with the person on their right.
  • Roll a 2 – they switch gifts with the person on their left.
  • Roll a 3 or a 4 – Switch gifts with anyone in the circle AND unwrap the gift if it's not already unwrapped.
  • Roll a 5 or a 6 – Unwrap your gift.
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Do I put my name on a white elephant gift?

Part of the fun is watching players try to conceal their “good” gifts or encourage players to take their “bad” gifts. Each gift should be attractively wrapped with no nametag.
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How To Play The White Elephant Game For A Christmas Party



How do you end the white elephant?

After all players have had a turn, the first player gets a chance to swap the gift he or she is holding for any other opened gift. Anyone whose gift is stolen may steal from someone else (as long as that person hasn't been stolen from yet). When someone declines to steal a gift, the game comes to an end.
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How do you win white elephant?

How to Win at White Elephant This Year
  1. Combine Utility and Humor: White Elephant is about having fun so some element of humor is encouraged. ...
  2. Focus on the Packaging: People always say “Don't judge a book by it's cover,” but in this game you don't have much choice. ...
  3. Give the Gift of Life: ...
  4. Don't Undervalue Gift Cards:
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What is the difference between white elephant and Dirty Santa?

Whether you call it White Elephant or Dirty Santa, the game sticks to the same format. We're not sure where the word choice "Dirty Santa" originated but, it's meant to refer to game participants, the "Santas," stealing desirable gifts from each other.
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How do you pass a white elephant gift?

The game begins with people sitting in a circle holding their own gifts. Then someone reads a poem or story with many occurrences of the words “left” and “right.” Participants follow these verbal cues, passing gifts to their left or right until the story ends and each person keeps the gift they're holding.
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Do you put your name on a Dirty Santa gift?

Hosts can choose a theme for the gifts such as DIY only, gag gifts, gifts inspired by a popular show, etc. Before the party, guests should wrap or bag their gift without a name or tag. The goal is to stay anonymous. The most important part of Dirty Santa is just remembering that it's all fun and games.
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What are white elephant projects?

A "white elephant project" is a phrase used when referring to expensive endeavours which fail to live up to expectation.
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How do you play the Christmas gift exchange game?

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.
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What is a Dirty Santa Christmas gift?

For those not in the throes of holiday activities, Dirty Santa is basically a light-hearted gift swap with a competitive streak. It's similar to a game of White Elephant in that each person brings a funny, kitschy, or just plain weird gift within a given theme or budget—the more unique and LOL-worthy, the better.
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Is it best to go first or last in white elephant?

There are lots of variations on these rules, such as capping the number of times a gift can be stolen or letting the person who went first take another turn at the end. As you might already have figured out, the best way to win is to go last — you can pick almost any gift you want!
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Why is it called white elephant game?

The origin of White Elephant is centered around the idea that an elephant would be a burdensome gift to its receiver, which the King of Siam allegedly did. If you did him wrong, he'd generously buy you a white elephant!
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How do you play white elephant with family?

  1. Bring a wrapped white elephant gift that costs $5 or less.
  2. Sit in a circle with the bowls filled with the dice in the middle.
  3. Roll the dice when they come to you.
  4. If you get doubles, select a white elephant gift. ...
  5. Everyone gets a turn hyping their gift like a professional infomercial pitchman.
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What is considered a white elephant gift?

White elephant gift exchange basics

It typically consists of a group of people who each bring one wrapped awesome/bad/campy/funny gift (that could go to anyone in the group) of similar value and place them into a single, anonymous pile.
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What's another name for White Elephant game?

A White Elephant gift exchange is also known as a Yankee swap or a Dirty Santa gift exchange. It's a party game where amusing and impractical gifts are exchanged. The goal of a White Elephant gift exchange is to entertain participants rather than to gain something valuable or highly sought-after.
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How do you play Chinese Christmas?

The person who drew number 1 takes a gift from the pile, opens the gift and sits down with the gift in plain sight, generally on her lap. Then "2" then takes a gift, either from the pile or from 1. Then 2 sits down with the gift displayed. If 1's gift was taken, then 1 gets to take another from the pile.
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How do I host a White Elephant party?

Gather everyone into a circle (to make it easy, have them sit in the order of their number draw), and then have player number one choose any gift to open. Player number two then has the option of taking that gift or opening another. Everyone then gets a turn to open — or steal — a present.
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How do you play stealing Santa?

How to play 'Stealing Santa'
  1. Step 1: Each person buys a gift for no one in particular, of an agreed value. ...
  2. Step 2: Wrap the present in a way that makes you, and it, unidentifiable. ...
  3. Step 3: Put all the presents under the tree, or wherever you're going to 'play' on Christmas Day.
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How do you play the bad Santa game?

'Bad Santa' Kris Kringle

Whoever gets number one gets to pick a present and unwrap it, and so on. The catch is that anyone who unwraps a present can steal a gift from the person before them. If family member number two decides they don't like the present they've unwrapped, they can swap it for yours instead!
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What's in the Bag Christmas game?

Once your child guesses the object, let him or her take off the blindfold and see what object he or she is holding. After playing a round, put the objects back in the bag so the kids can blindfold you to play again!
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What is the Christmas dice game?

DICE GAME FOR GIFT EXCHANGE RULES

Sit in a circle and have everyone start with the gift they brought. The first person rolls the dice. Whatever number they roll is what they do with their gift. Continue taking turns until everyone has played.
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What is the example of white elephant?

a possession unwanted by the owner but difficult to dispose of: Our Victorian bric-a-brac and furniture were white elephants. a possession entailing great expense out of proportion to its usefulness or value to the owner: When he bought the mansion he didn't know it was going to be such a white elephant.
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