The holidays are a stressful time, with so many gifts to buy and people to remember. It can be especially stressful when it comes to taking gifts to work and purchasing for bosses and coworkers. With the right approach, however, the holidays at work do not have to be stressful, financially or otherwise. The right game ideas can turn purchasing for your fellow coworkers into a fun event rather than a tense one. Not sure what office holiday gift games you may want to play? The following is a list of the top options that you may want to consider for your next holiday office party.
Secret Santa
Secret Santa is one of the best holiday games that offices can play as a group. In this setup, all names of individuals participating are written on a piece of paper and placed in a bowl. Individually, each individual who is playing will then draw someone else’s name, keeping it a secret from all those in the office. This is the name of the individual that they will purchase a gift for.
There should be a price limit placed on the amount of money that can be spent so as to avoid conflict. If someone buys a gift for fifty dollars and another fifteen, this can cause tension or problems. By putting a cap, you are ensuring an affordable budget and no hurt feelings. At the holiday party, each individual brings their gifts and presence it to the individual whose name they pulled.
This ensures that everyone receives a gift and that no one is left out. It also helps to ensure that a single person does not have to purchase for multiple people. This is a great game to play in offices with a large staff because it allows for the potential for individuals to interact with others that they may not have previously met or talked to.
White Elephant Gift Exchange
White Elephant Gift Exchange is another popular holiday game. During these games, each individual participating purchases a gift and brings it to the holiday party. The gifts are lined up in their wrapping with no clear distinction of what is inside of it. The presents are counted and pieces of paper are placed in a bowl for each of these numbers. For example, if there are twenty six presents, twenty-six individually numbered strips of paper will be placed in a separate container.
One by one, every attendee who brought a gift draws a number from the bucket. Whoever draws the number one goes up and picks a gift from the table, not knowing what was inside. Whoever draws number two chooses next and so and so forth until all gifts are chosen. The last person will receive whatever gift is left. As with Secret Santa, there should be a limit placed on the amount of money that can be spent on the gift so that the playing field is level and no one spends too much or too little. You may also wish to have a theme for gift giving as well, such as something related to sports, a television show, movie, etc. They can also be gag gifts to see what kind of creativity individuals have and have a bit of fun with the game.
Consider
Make sure that if you are in charge of creating and preparing these games that you make the rules very clear. Be wary of a “dirty” gift exchange or one that is not appropriate for the office. Also, be clear on any rules regarding the purchase of alcohol or other substances and paraphernalia. Further, be distinct and definitive on the amount of money that is to be spent on the gift and, finally, be sure that you have fun! Remember, this is as much about learning about each other as it is the actual gift itself.
Author Bio
Jason Phillips is an author and writer of web content for many different web sites. He wrote for Zombie Games 365 and got very much popularity for that.
I know how awkward that could be. Thanks for the two ideas, those are good ones. I actually work at a RV dealership, and there are many different kind if personalities. Playing games like this might take some of the awkwardness away. Thanks for the ideas!!!