Gift Giving Game Ideas

These ideas are great for Christmas Parties and Exchanges! Everyone brings a gift to the party, this is fun for gift exchanges during the holidays. TO BEGIN: Everyone stands in a circle holding the gift he/she brought to the party. Someone reads the story, every time the word RIGHT is read, everybody passes his gift to the right. Every time the word LEFT is read, gifts are passed to the left. The gift that each person is holding at the end of the story is the gift he keeps. This is a fun game for the older grades because they {hopefully} know their right from left. For the younger grades, try the game at the bottom of this post.

Story Example:
The Right Family Christmas Story

Christmas was almost here and Mother RIGHT was finishing the Christmas baking. Father RIGHT, Susie RIGHT, and Billy RIGHT returned from their last minute Christmas errands. "There's not much LEFT to be done," said Father RIGHT as he came into the kitchen. "Did you leave the basket of food at Church?" asked Mother RIGHT? "I LEFT it RIGHT where you told me to," said Billy RIGHT." "I don't have any money LEFT." The hall telephone rang, and Susie RIGHT LEFT to answer it. She rushed back and told the family, "Aunt Tillie RIGHT LEFT a package for us RIGHT on Grandma RIGHT's porch. I'll go over there RIGHT now and get it," she said as she LEFT in a rush. Father RIGHT LEFT the kitchen and brought in the Christmas Tree. By the time Susie RIGHT returned, Mother RIGHT, Father RIGHT, and Billy RIGHT had begun trimming the tree. The entire RIGHT family sang carols as they finished the decorating. Then they LEFT all the presents arranged under the tree and went to bed, hoping they had selected the RIGHT gifts for their family. Now I hope you have the RIGHT present for yourself, because that's all that's LEFT of our story, except to wish you a Merry Christmas, isn't that RIGHT?

* THE and AND Game (kind of like hot potato) - Read T’was the Night Before Christmas Poem. Each time the words THE or AND are used, passed the (1) wrapped present. The last person holding it gets it. Give everyone a gift at the end.
I used a large Symphony candy bar as the wrapped gift and then rewarded everyone with something smaller at the end, like a candy cane.