Give the time-honored tradition of a gift exchange party a modern tune-up with these free apps, printables, and games for a fun holiday party, whether virtual or in person.

During the holidays, you need to figure out the best gifts for people close to you while staying on budget. But for large groups, gift exchanges are an excellent way to have an enjoyable gathering without making anyone go over budget. The idea is to swap gifts in a fun way and in good spirits.

1. Jolly (Android, iOS): Secret Santa App With Free Shipping

One of the coolest gift exchange activities for a Christmas party is to host a Secret Santa gift exchange. Jolly is a free platform to set it all up and includes an Amazon-like online store to make a wishlist and buy gifts.

Sign up for Jolly, and you can create a "party" or join an existing one. There are even a few public secret Santa parties you can join. Add a password to keep it private, a max capacity if you want, and a price range for the gifts. You can also set a theme for the gifts and add a last day to join and a last day to buy the gift.

Once people join and the party is created, they'll be automatically matched up with someone else, creating your secret Santa chain. Each party also has an open chat to talk with others.

Users can also add items to their wishlist, searching through the many gift-worthy purchases on Jolly. Jolly will ship these for free within the US, making a convenient way to buy a gift your receiver wants. Of course, you could talk to them and buy something else too.

2. White Elephant Online (Web): Play White Elephant Gift Swapping Game Online

If Secret Santa isn't your thing, White Elephant is another game to exchange gifts in a large group where everyone gets and gives one gift. Often, it's a gag gift or something inexpensive, with the main idea being to have fun. While it's best in person, White Elephant Online makes it easy to play it remotely on a video call.

Here's how it works. Every participant pledges a gift by adding a link and a description and then virtually wrapping it. When the game starts, everyone is holding a wrapped gift. The first person "steals" someone else's gift, and exchanges their own wrapped gift in return, with the stolen gift being unwrapped in the process.

Participants can then choose to unwrap someone's gift, or steal a gift. You can do a few rounds of this and set a limit on the number of times a participant can be robbed in a round, as well as the number of times a gift can be stolen in a round. At the end, when all gifts are finalized, participants can either purchase and ship the gift or send a gift card for that amount to the recipient.

White Elephant Online is free for up to 10 people to play personally. If you want larger groups or use it for office purposes, there are paid options. Try it out, it's actually easier and more fun than hosting a Secret Santa gift exchange.

3. Play Party Plan (Web): Printable Gift Exchange Games to Play in Person or Online

Play Party Plan has some of the best printable gift exchange ideas and games, such as the dice-based game to swap gifts

Play Party Plan has put together a list of 13 Christmas-themed gift exchange games for all ages. Each game can be downloaded and printed for free on its own page, or you can support the site by purchasing the package of 13 games for a small fee.

You'll find a variety of game types to choose from in the article. Some of our favorites among the games are:

  • Dice-based gift exchange games: Each roll of the dice has a meaning, like letting a participant swap a gift with another, switch a gift with someone to their right or left, or reveal a wrapped gift.
  • Card-based gift exchange games: Play Party Plan has several creative card games that will lead to an exchange of gifts based on luck or skill.
  • Scrooge your neighbor: A creative Christmas-themed gift exchange game with lots of stealing and skill-based rules. This one's for those who love games like Mafia.

While many of these games are designed to be played in person, it would be pretty easy to play them on a Zoom video call too. All you'll need is one administrator who runs the party and a way to distribute the printables to the participants before you start the call.

4. The Left Right Game (Web): Simplest Gift Exchange for Beginners

The Left Right game is one of the simplest gift exchange games for beginners, especially those who don't like "stealing" and just want a swap based on luck

The Left Right Christmas game is one of the easiest gift exchange games. It's appropriate for people from any age group, and for any social setting like family, work, or friends. The game starts with everyone in a circle, holding a gift.

The basic principle is that one administrator will read out a story or sing a carol, which has the words "left" and "right" interspersed. On cue, everyone must pass the gift in the said direction.

We found a few awesome and free downloadable printables and stories for the Left Right Christmas game online:

  • All Gifts Considered has five stories for the game with Christmas themes and office themes, including two stories that you can customize by adding the names of the game participants.
  • All The Party Ideas has the game in the form of poems, carols, stories, and a dice version of the game.
  • It's Always Autumn has a beautifully formatted printable that's ideal for in-person gift exchanges, where you can distribute the printable afterward or make it a part of the gift.
  • White Elephant Rules has three stories for the game, including one which is Left, Right, and Across.

The Left Right game is best played in a physical group with participants in a circle. But you can run a virtual version on a video call. You can set the circle as alphabetical order of first names, participant ages, or ask them to wear a funky hat and rank them in the colors of the rainbow. It's a great way to make your Zoom Christmas party actually fun.

5. That Gift Game (Web): Draw a Card to Exchange Gifts

That Gift Game is a polished, slick card game to exchange gifts at a party

One of the simplest ways to do a gift exchange is by drawing cards at random and following their instructions. Of course, you'll need cards with instructions for that. That Gift Game is a slick set of cards to play a gift exchange game.

It's a mix of red, white, and grey cards. The red cards determine the order of play, the white cards have instructions on them that each player has to follow, like "trade gifts with the person whose birthday is next" or "take the most uniquely wrapped gift." And if a white card says Surprise, you'll need to draw a grey Surprise card for some quirky instructions.

That Gift Game isn't free thought; it costs $30. If you don't want to spend on that, there are a few other free printable draw-a-card gift exchange games online.

Love Our Crazy Life's gift exchange game is a set of 42 cards over two sheets of paper. Print it, cut the coupons, mix them up, and let people draw them in random order. Similarly, Modern Mom Life and Frugal Coupon Living offer printable draw-a-card games.

You can also get creative and make your own set of cards. If you're playing with a group that all know each other well, it can be more fun to customize these cards with inside jokes.

The Unsaid Rules of Good Gift Exchange Parties

All of these gift exchange party ideas are a riot. You can even play multiple ones in the same party. But no matter which ones you choose, remember the unsaid rules of gift exchange parties.

The first unsaid rule is to set a budget that everyone is comfortable with. Also, talk with people about themes and humor. At gift swapping parties, it's best to go with gag gifts, cheap gifts, and cute DIY gifts. And most importantly, make people realize that the first goal is to have fun, and the next goal is to try and score the best gift.