Secret Santa

Planning a Secret Santa gift exchange? Play the Secret Santa game!

Traditionally, Secret Santa is played as a gift exchange through a draw, typically by drawing names out of a hat. Today, there are other ways of playing the classic Secret Santa game and new variations like White Elephant and Yankee Swap.

Classic Secret Santa game This is the mostly widely played version of the Secret Santa gift exchange. A group comes together, everyone writes down their name on a piece of paper, and each participant draws a random name out of a hat. You are the Secret Santa for the person you draw. Next you write down a gift suggestion or two on a wish list and your Secret Santa chooses a gift for you from that list. Of course, you don’t have to do it all with papers and hats anymore, you can do a draw and create wish lists easily online using a Secret Santa generator! The fun part of the classic Secret Santa game is keeping a secret and, of course, being surprised by a gift! White Elephant game What is White Elephant? It’s a popular version of the classic Secret Santa game, but with an extra twist! The term refers to something that’s more trouble than it's worth, so in the white elephant game, people bring wrapped unlabeled gag gifts. Participants take turns unwrapping the silly gifts and trying to steal them from each other. Check out the White Elephant rules. Yankee Swap game This version of the Secret Santa game has rules like those of white elephant in that each participant brings a wrapped unmarked gift. The difference is that Yankee Swap gifts are supposed to be more useful or practical in nature. The silly rules still make this version of the Secret Santa gift exchange a lot of fun!