Christmas Gift Exchange Ideas

With rising costs and growing families, the commercialization of Christmas can get your shopping lists out of hand in a heartbeat. One way to help fray the costs is with the Secret Santa Gift Exchange.

Name swapping is a great way to both keep the spirit of giving alive and cut down on the expenses. The main idea behind it is that you place the names of everyone who's participating into a bowl and each person draws a name out of the bowl. If you draw your own name you need to draw again.

You can do this for families, for the gang down at the office, your Sunday School class, or for whatever group you want.

Each person then buys a gift for the person whose name they drew out of the bowl. As with all activities, there are a few guidelines that everyone needs to follow. This helps everyone get something they like and no one has to go broke.

• Propose the Secret Santa gift exchange before Thanksgiving so people have time to make up their minds about doing it. Everyone who wants to participate has the chance to sign up.
• Set clear guidelines for the gift exchange. Some examples are setting a limit on the amount that can be spent, both a high price and a low price. This is very important, as it will help make sure that the gifts stay on the same level.
• Some people will shop at a dollar store and others will buy a much more expensive gift. If you've set some limits then no one feels "cheated". A limit of around twenty dollars for the office is not unreasonable and for families the amount can be higher.
• Have each person make a list of three things they want for Christmas that fall into that price range. Your Secret Santa gets to decide which of those three you get. If you ask for something that's under the price limit, your Secret Santa can get you more than one thing as long as it doesn't exceed the limit.
• Set the date for doing the gift swapping. It can be when your family normally gathers for Christmas or you can set a special date for it. At the office it can be done at the Christmas party or you can pick a day that is close to Christmas where everyone will be there.

Ideas for a Christmas gift exchange don't have to be limited to the Secret Santa. You don't have to keep the names a secret for example. See what other ideas you can come up with. Another example is having everyone make a gift from a specific list of things.

Get creative and have a wonderful Christmas.

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