You'll Be the Hit of the Party with These White Elephant Gifts (2024)

FAQs

How to explain white elephant gift exchange? ›

If you're new to the term, a White Elephant gift exchange involves participants bringing quirky, humorous, or downright unusual gifts to swap. Last year, I felt pretty proud of myself for gifting a Tamagotchi to our annual holiday party!

The most common one is a re-gift (i.e., an unwanted item that people have lying around the house). However, the theme could be anything – ornaments, coffee table books, candy, do-it-yourself crafts, etc. Want to Make Your White Elephant Party Sparkle?

The premise is to bring a wrapped gift to a party. People then choose a wrapped present or they can steal a gift from someone else if another player's item looks more enticing. Here's what to know about White Elephant gift swaps and how to play the game.

The White Elephant Game Rules

Bring a wrapped, anonymous gift to the shindig. Draw numbers to determine who gets to unwrap a present when. 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.

A white elephant gift exchange, Yankee swap or Dirty Santa is a party game where amusing and impractical gifts are exchanged during festivities.

An unwanted or useless item, as in The cottage at the lake had become a real white elephant—too run down to sell, yet costly to keep up , or Grandma's ornate silver is a white elephant; no one wants it but it's too valuable to discard .

A white elephant is a burdensome asset, property, or investment whose cost of upkeep is not in line with its usefulness or value. The term derives from the old Thai custom of gifting rare, expensive-to-keep white elephants to the reigning monarch. Nowadays it is often associated with unprofitable real estate.

Some examples of white elephant gifts that you'll easily find include candles, holiday-themed treats, a cozy blanket or gag gifts like funny snacks or stuffed animals.

Meaning of white elephant in English

something that is expensive, or that costs a lot of money to keep in good condition, but that has no useful purpose and is no longer wanted: She believes the development may become a white elephant that fails to attract suitable tenants.

How do you make the white elephant game more fun? ›

If the people in your group are used to playing it a certain way, you might want to throw them a curve by using rules variations. For example, you could try the “swap before opening” version of the game. Or, if you're hosing a smaller group, you could try playing the game with dice.

: an object no longer of value to its owner but of value to others.

Gift Idea #1: A Decorative Candle

A decorative candle makes an attractive centerpiece or accent piece. The wide variety of candles and accessories available means the gift of a candle can fit just about any home and you can find a style that's sure to please.

White Elephant Rules

Once everyone is assembled, have each person draw a number. 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.

White Elephant and Yankee Swap are essentially the same game. The only key difference is that instead of deciding whether to open a new gift or steal a gift, in Yankee Swap players always open a new gift, and then if they don't like it they'll swap gifts with another player.

The rules of the white elephant gift exchange

Hosting tip: Set a spending limit, such as $10 or $25, to make sure all of the gifts are around equal value. 2. Guests sit in a circle around the gift pile so that everyone can see each gift. Draw numbers from a hat or find another means of deciding who picks a gift first.

Quartz has written an excellent and through explanation of the history of white elephants, which explains the cultural significance of gifting a white elephant to someone: “To possess a white elephant connoted political power, wealth and prosperity, great wisdom, and the love of one's people.

A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of without extreme difficulty, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness.