Christmas is said to be a time when family members come together to spend time with each other. Though gifts are said to be a way of showing our love and appreciation for other people, often, buying gifts for all the members of a family can burn a hole in your pocket.
Many a 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, there are family Christmas gift exchange games, where a person has to give a gift to just one member of the family.
Let's look at some ideas where every individual will receive a gift that he/she wants, and you will not have to worry too much about your Christmas budget either.
A white elephant gift exchange is where you do not have to spend money on buying anything, rather, you can give away something that you do not use at all.
White Elephant
This can range from some old gift that you got from someone, and has been lying in your wardrobe for sometime, or maybe 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.
Name Picking
Write the name of every family member on a piece of paper, fold and place them in a bowl. Every person in the family should pick up one piece of paper, and buy a gift for the person they have selected. To make it more interesting, keep this a secret affair, and when all members have received their gifts, they can guess who brought it for them.
To ensure that everyone receives something that they want, ask each one of them to make a wishlist on the same paper that has their name. This is one of the most common whole family Christmas gift exchange ideas, and surely will be perfect if you are on a budget.
The following idea will be perfect if you want to hold a large family Christmas gift exchange. If you are a part of a large extended family, with many uncles, aunts, cousins, children, etc., most likely you may not be meeting them on a regular basis.
As you do not know many of them closely, buying gifts for them may become a very difficult task. Here, this family gift exchange idea will come to your rescue.
Exchange Game
Firstly, fix a budget for a gift which everyone can afford. For instance, no one should buy a gift that is more than $40 or $50. After the Christmas dinner, place all the gifts on the floor.
Each person will pick out a number from a bowl. The person who gets the first number should pick a gift from the lot and open it in front of everyone. The second can either grab the gift from the first person or select a new one. This should continue till the last person receives a gift.
The chances of grabbing the gifts should be restricted to 2 or 3 times, per person. Also, see to it that you do not buy a gift that is less than the decided budget, because this will not be fair to other people.
This gift exchange will not only make sure that people get a gift that they want, but also will add fun to the party. However, children may not understand this concept, and it is always better to give each child a separate gift.
Handmade Gifts
Exchanging handmade gifts can also be a great idea. This is also an inexpensive 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 a wide variety of handmade Christmas gifts that can be exchanged. Home baked cookies, cakes, knitwear, crafts, embroidered cushion covers, photo frames, and the like, can be good options for family gifts this Christmas.
Treasure Hunt
Apart from these family Christmas exchange ideas, you can also try a treasure hunt exchange gift idea, where you will have to hide a gift for a person and give him or her some clues to find it. This kind of gift exchange will definitely be loved by young children.
So, this Christmas, try one of these ideas, and we assure you that every family member will enjoy giving as well as receiving a thoughtful Christmas gift.