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Five-ish years ago, some cousins told us about this Christmas Eve tradition. And life has never been the same.
So, if you’re looking for a crazy-fun-and-totally-epic-holiday-tradition, you’re in the right place.
Rewind. Let me tell you a little bit about Christmas Eve around here, or at least what it’s changed and grown into as the years have passed. We always start with a Christmas devotional and a recounting of the Christmas story. Usually fully (and ridiculously) dressed up. The shepherds are in bath robes and the angel has a slip on her head. It’s getting even more fun now that there are little ones around to be sheep.
All joking aside, it’s this part of the night when my soul feels Christmas all the way through.
Then, while the grandkiddies are still awake, we put them in their Christmas jammies and take them outside to throw peanuts on the roof for the reindeer. Does anyone under four feet tall ever hit the roof? No, but that’s not the point, ha!
The itty-bitty ones go to bed, and then the fun begins.
Basic idea: There are 3 wrapped gifts for each who is playing. These gifts are not serious gifts. They are Q-tips, and hairspray, and Justin Bieber dollar store puzzles. Mom collects them through the year. Then, at Christmas time she goes out and gets two gift cards and a $50 bill. These three things are hidden (separately) in the gifts before they are wrapped. We pass out numbers (there are currently 8 adults, 3 gifts each, so numbers 1-24) on little slips of paper. The numbers determine the order of picking and opening the gifts. So, in the appointed order (from 1 to 24), we go around the room and people start selecting (shaking) and opening (carefully!) the gifts.
Each gift can be stolen 3 times. So, if the person who draws #1 picks up a gift and opens it, and then person who draws #2 wants that gift, he or she can steal it. After the steal, the person who was stolen from goes back to the pile and picks out another gift. Then you start where you left off in the number order. But after a gift has been stolen 3 times, it’s dead. It can’t be taken again.
We also have a rule that you have to show people what you open, but you don’t have to take out and show the whole thing. You can be sneaky…. make people think you have something special so they steal it and you get to try again! (But, that can backfire if you have a masterful gift card/cash hider.)
How to get ready for the game:
1. Start collecting gifts as far in advance as possible. Anything goes. There’s the free stuff my dad gets at conferences, dollar store finds, and mostly a bunch of practical everyday-use kinds of items that are inexpensive but useful.
2. Hide the gift cards (restaurants, movie tickets, etc.) in the items. Mom is getting CRAZY good at this. Often, the person who has the gift card or the cash doesn’t even know it. One year, she made a tiny slit in the Q-tips container and slid the $50 bill in. No one could see it. No one could find it. So: make sure you write down where you’ve hid the goods. With a couple dozen wrapped gifts, it’s easy to forget.
3. Give yourself a good chunk of time to wrap the gifts. We used just over 2 rolls of wrapping paper for this year’s game (so if you want it all to match-it doesn’t have to-be sure to pick up a few rolls). Find a great audio book and enjoy wrapping!
It’s a fantastic Christmas tradition for older kids-you know, once they’re too big or too cool to sit on Santa’s lap or other younger family traditions. It’d also make an awesome Christmas party for an office or group of friends or any other group of human beings who love a good time. We hope you love it!
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This sounds like such a fun game! We may have to do this at our Christmas party too!
Hahaha! Our game lives on!! Though in our version we don’t open the gifts as we go and we have to do dares for additional gifts… Your version seems a bit friendlier 🙂
Yes! We are forever in your debt. Seriously! We all look forward to this ever year. But it sounds like things are little more dangerous with the Dawsons!! Probably much more fun to watch!
I’m so doing this next year!! I would love to hear your version, Stephanie!
I love this idea! My family is always in need of fun ideas.
We have played this game for many years. We set a price limit of $10.00 and everyone in the game buys 1 gift. It’s played the same way.
My Uncle came up with a new game one year. The candy cane game. At the beginning of the evening while we sit down for dinner everyone gets a small wrapped candy cane. So the rule is no negativity noting at all. If you ask someone a question and they say something negative they have to give you their candy cane. Now your candy cane be stolen at anytime someone is ask you a question and you respond with a negative answer or you hear someone saying something negative. It’s that simple.
It’s fun to play because you don’t realize how often we say something negative. The family will get tricky. The person who has the most candy canes at the end of the evening wins the game.
We have a similar game within our family but use a deck of cards to arrange the order for selecting. My husband’s family have played it since he was little.
What if the gift with the hidden gem ends up “dying”?
Hi Jamie! Thanks for stopping by. By dying, we mean that it can’t be stolen anymore. So the third person to steal it keeps the gift and eventually finds the gift card or the money.
It stays with the 3rd steal person.
I did this at a faculty Christmas party. Everyone brought a white elephant. Little did I expect that my KU toilet seat would be the hot item (I’d just moved to KS). No gift cards or cash were involved.
We play a similar version of this at our office holiday celebration. The main difference is that we are allowed to re-gift something or place a “gag-gift” in the pile, such as a roll of paper towels or a pack of sponges. We also do not do the hidden gem part, such as the gift card or $50, but we have a lot of fun stealing each other’s gifts!
Our family does something similar, but with dice and it’s timed… we usually play for 30 min and set a timer. A random amount of cheap, wrapped gifts are put out on the table along with 1 golden gift. Then you give values to the dice. If you roll a 7 you get the golden gift (whether it’s in the center or if another player has it), roll a 3 or 9 to take one of the other gifts, roll another 2 numbers to put a gift back in the center, roll a double gets to roll again… when all the gifts have been taken from the center, that’s when it gets fun, you get to take a gift from another player. You proceed to roll the dice, taking gifts and putting them back, all trying for the golden gift until the timer goes off. At the end of the game, everyone opens the gift(s) they have accumulated.
We did something similar. We set a $ amount – usually around $10 and everyone brings a wrapped gift. It can be anything – useful, fun, silly, etc. Everybody chooses a number and goes with one just like your game. We can steal until the last gift is opened. We called this a Chinese auction. My daughter ended up with one of those fighting fish in a fish bowl one time. Lots of fun.
We do it with all the adults because it’s a large Italian family and it’s too hard to buy gifts for all. $20 limit.
You draw a number out of the hat. The aim is to get the highest number because you can steal anyone’s gift and give them your own. So instead of people getting to re-draw, you’re left with what other people trade you.
Last year, I was holding on to a set of latte glasses and tea leaves for ages, until number 19/21 stole it. I ended up with wine glasses, no big deal- probably even better. It’s funny watching some people get lumped with the gifts they do, but it’s all in good fun. Once the formalities are over, people usually swap amongst themselves. My partner’s cousin traded him a bath gift set for the matching white wine glasses, so we were pretty happy, as was she.
So each adult picks 3 numbers and picks 3 gifts?
Yes, three numbers for three gifts. You’ll pick the gifts in the orders that the numbers designate.
This is brilliant!!! Thanks for sharing!
We have played this game for as long as i can remember (for some reason we call it dirty polly). Ours is with a deck of cards. Each person that comes has to bring $20 in wrapped gifts. 1st deck of Cards are handed out each person gets 5. All the gifts go in the centre of the room. When your card is called you get a gift from the centre. After all the gifts are gone, the deck is shuffled and a timer is set for 2 minutes. This time when your card is called, you can steal the still wrapped gift from the person of your choice. Whatever gifts you are left with at the end of the timer are yours to keep and unwrap. We always have so much fun with this
I came across your post last Saturday as I was the planner of our department white elephant party aka The Fun Manager. Everyone was already bringing a $5 or less item and I supplemented with 2 more items per person. With the extra gifts I added 2 gift cards and some cash as well as added some surprise “gifts” – notes that skipped turns or required participants to pass a gift to the person on their left. Needless to say through out the game we were laughing so hard – it’s priceless when the only guy playing gets the clip on earrings (and wears them the rest of the game!)!! Thank you for sharing – I don’t think any white elephant / dirty santa party I host will be the same!
Thanks so much for coming back and letting us know how it went! So glad you had a great time. It’s definitely a favorite around here!!
Could you tell me in more detail how this is played? I have 12-14 people coming for Christmas Eve & would love to try this. 3 gifts per person? How do you do the “notes ” to pass gift , etc.? Give me as many details as possible! Sounds like great fun! Thanks, Lana
Hi Lana! Yes, we do 3 gifts per person. So if you have 12 people there and decide to also do 3 gifts per person, you’ll need 36 gifts and the numbers 1-36 written down individually on 36 different slips of paper. You can have your guests each select 3 pieces of paper, and depending on the numbers each person draws, that will be the order for gift picking. So you’ll start with the person who drew #1 and go from there. If you have any other specific questions, let us know! We’d love to help. Good luck with your game on Christmas Eve!!
does the person who organized the game get to play?
Hi Andrea! Yes, the person who organized it can play. Our mom organizes it and still plays so she can go home with some of the fun stuff too!
Yesterday, my family did this for the first time. We had SOOO much fun! Thanks for the suggestions!
I like your rules! There’s an added rule that we used to have…no matter whether or not your gift was stolen you get to keep the wrapping. This caused us to all come up with creative wrapping paper like lottery tickets or beautiful, reusable bags or scarves. Gives people reason for choosing the gift to open and you always “win” something.
I love this! My question is how do you make sure not one person gets more than one of the good gifts? Or do you do it that if they do its just their lucky day?
It’s just luck. We’ve never tried to make it so one person doesn’t get more than one of the gift cards and/or cash.
We have a small family, 6 adults. Will this still be fun with so few, or will the game be over too fast?
Hi Carol! Six adults will work. With 3 gifts for each person, you’ll have 18 picks/rounds – plus any stealing rules you might decide to add. It should be a great time!!
Our family does a variation on this game….We do this in 2 rounds and with dice.
All the presents go in the middle of the circle/table – one at a time people go around the circle rolling 2 dice. If you roll a double, you take a present and put it in front of you. This goes until all the presents are taken.
**the presents stay wrapped until the end of round **
The second round is a timed round (usually about 5 min – enough so you can go around the circle a few times).
This time, if you roll doubles, you get to steal a present from whomever you choose and put it in front of you. When the timer is up, you keep and open the presents in front of you.
We have split this up into kids & adults – the kids game has toys/books/etc from dollar stores, or toy stores.
The adults game has mini liquor bottles, gift cards, etc.
It’s a fun game – our family has been playing it for 50+ years!!
We do a version of this with my husband’s family, but there really are 24 of us, so we each get one gift! We all bring our own (with a few extras from Grandma, who always puts money in them, because of course, it’s Grandma). One year I took a HUGE Halloween wreath (that I got 90% off clearance after Halloween!) and my nieces chose it. Last year I got a staple gun (which I was THRILLED about!). There’s never a dull moment 😉
My friends family use to do something similar this. She bought Christmas material on sale and made bags with cord to tie closed. Reusable, so no wrapping and eco-friendly.
We always played this at bridal showers: Thief Bingo!
Add a twist to your game. Instead of simply “stealing” the gift from someone, we have a battle with dice. It’s a really fun! If Bob wants Sue’s gift, they both role dice. Sue keeps the gift on a tie. (of course, if Sue would like to give it away, she is more than welcome to hand it over).
enjoy!
What a fun twist! Thanks for the suggestion!!
I’ve played this with friends with varying rules around Christmas time, but I’ve never thought of playing it with my own family. But, my children are grown now and my mom passed on last Christmas Eve, so I think this is just the thing to distract us from the sadness I know this coming Christmas will hold. Plus, I know my mom would have loved it. Thanks for the great idea.
I absolutely love <3 this idea..Christmas is a big deal in my house and we will definately be playing this on Christmas Eve 🙂 thank you
I’m always looking for new games to play on Christmas Eve and this looks like a fun one! For whatever reason I’m a little confused on the “stealing” part of the game. If #1 gets their gift stolen from #2 and then #1 gets to go back for a new gift, does #2 then get to go pick out a gift to open or does it then go to #3? Could you please help to understand? Thank you!
Hi Laurie! If the person with the #1 gets their gift stolen, they get to pick a new gift. Then, it would go to #3. There are the same number of gifts as numbers, so each number represents a turn to pick a gift. Because #2 stole a gift, they already have the gift for that turn. I hope that helps! And I hope you have a great time playing on Christmas Eve!!
Yes it does, thank you! Basically, the “stolen” gift WAS their choice rather than choosing from the pack. As the game continues and the numbers get higher, do they get to pick from ANY of the gifts to steal from all of the numbers before them or is it just from the number directly in front of them (ex. #8 has a turn to pick, can he/she pick from #’s 1-7 or does he/she only get to steal from #7)? Thanks again!!!
You can steal any open gift at any time. We usually set a rule that each gift can only be stolen twice so the game doesn’t drag on.
Great! Thank you!!
Hi!
I am so excited to play this game on Christmas Eve! I have my 36 gifts purchased/hand-made, hidden the “bonus” items (cash and gift card), and have everything wrapped and ready to go. One thing I failed to ask in a previous correspondence is: Since this is our first time playing this game, do you tell people the “twist” (hidden cash and gift card) as your explaining the rules in the very beginning or do you keep it a secret till the end and THEN tell them that there is a hidden gift card and some hidden cash?
I love this idea and would like to start it this year! I know you mentioned earlier in the comments that your mom participates, even thought she is the organizer. But how does that work? She knows where the prizes are hidden so how do you get around that? I’m just trying to figure out how I can participate . . . . being the one who hides the prizes.
Hi Kara! Mom can participate for two main reasons. The first is that with 9 adults (for us), that makes for 27 little gift wrapped boxes. She tries to have everything ready by the beginning of December, so by the time it’s Christmas Eve, she usually can’t tell/remember what is where. The other reason is that, if she can remember, she avoids the gift card and cash boxes. Hope that helps! And I hope you guys have an awesome time with the game!!
I could see where this would be a hit for all involved. I like the hidden gem twist.
Thanks for sharing this great idea Natalie. We used to do something similar when I was little, and my Nan would organise a ‘Lucky Dip’. Apparently it started instead of having shop bought crackers which were very expensive at the time, so my Nan gathered bits and bobs like in your game…cheap but useful things (dishcloths, shoe laces, soap etc) there were some chocolate coins for us kids and ALWAYS one roll of toilet tissue! Everything was wrapped and numbered. At the alloted time, the whole family squeezed into one room and the fun began… all the presents were laid out on the sideboard and the youngest got to take round a bag of raffle tickets. When everyone had a number, the kids then handed out the corresponding parcel. We had to wait till we all had a gift then unwrap together. There were a few things each, and once everthing hsd been opened the fun really began …bartering to swap items! The olders were always willing to take my toothpaste and let me have their chocolates but my brother was less keen to oblige! Depending on how many of us were together, the lucky dip could take hours, with plenty of sherry for Nan. It was always a really special part of Christmas, and we have played it dince. One year we hsd friends with us, so we were 9 in all, with 5 gifts each. I had included some mini bottles of booze and more choc for the 5 kids, but spookily, despite the random method of picking, one lad got the whole stash of bottles and chocs…and was VERY reluctant to swap. Ha ha. Happy times indeed. I love the idea of a few special extras and will definately include this. Thanks again for the post. Happy Christmas x
My neighor’s family has been playing this game for years. It grew out f her not having any money for presents when her kids were younger.
This sounds like fun, but it sounds like Mom is the one hiding the gift cards/money, etc. so how does she participate when she knows which items hold the “special” treats?
Well, there are two parts to that answer. Part one: mom usually preps this about a month in advance. For us, there are 9 adults, 27 gifts, so once everything is wrapped and a month has passed, mom usually can’t remember (or identify while wrapped) which gifts have the treats. Part two: from what she does remember, mom avoids the treat gifts.
We use our iphone to add some excitement and laughs to our holiday gift exchange. It’s so easy – no prep required. Each participant brings a gift and goes home with a gift. The gifts are traded, shuffled, and passed. You’ll never know what gift you will end up with until the very end. It can be found at http://www.giftexchangeapp.us.