12 Days of Christmas Ideas 2014 – Day 5
As seen on: Garnet Hill
Secret Santa, Steal (I’m sure it has other names but that’s what we always called it) or even just drawing names from a hat – these are all fun ways to exchange gifts at Christmas time. In fact it’s highly likely that most people reading this will have participated in at least one of these. Well today I wish to introduce to you another Christmas gift exchange, one that’s been around for a while, but is perhaps not so well known by us Kiwis.
The Christmas Stocking game, as I call it (I’m open to suggestions for a new name), is ideal for groups of around 5 – 10 people. Each guest brings to the party a Christmas stocking with their name on it, as well as a number of small gifts to match the number of guests attending. I suggest setting a value such as $2 – $5 per gift. As people arrive they hang their stockings in various places around the house, and at a designated time everyone goes and fills all the stockings, by placing one of their gifts in each of the stockings. Once all the stockings have been stuffed, everyone can collect their stockings and gather together for opening them. You can make up your own rules for how this is done if you like, but when I’ve played each person takes turns to reveal one item at a time. This can be rather amusing depending on the gifts. It’s especially fun when the giver puts a lot of thought into personalising their gifts to match the receivers.
You could easily put your own twist on this game so it is more tailored to suit your group of friends. If your friends are into arts and crafts then maybe you could stipulate that all gifts are to be homemade. Maybe your group are big chocolate lovers so stipulate that all the gifts have to have something to do with chocolate – the possibilities are endless.
This may, or may not work for you, but if you’re tired of the same old gift exchange year in and year out why not have a go.
