Jennifer Murphy
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2018
I would like to adapt a gift-giving game that I've played several times with adults for a Christmas Eve party for 6 grandkids. It's sometimes called the White Elephant game.
In the adult version, everyone bring a wrapped present to a party. The presents are placed in the middle of a room. The names of the participants are placed in a hat and drawn randomly. The person whose name is drawn first chooses a gift, unwraps it, and shows it to everyone. After that, each person whose name is drawn has the choice of unwrapping a present or "stealing" one from someone who already has one. There are rules for how many steals there can be in each round.
In the games that I was involved in, the presents were mostly silly and some were downright stupid. A few were kinda nice. We usually had price target, like $25. If you opened one of the junk gifts, you were out of the game and stuck with the junk, because no one would steal from you and you had already had your turn.
In the kids version, this could result in tears or even temper tantrums, especially with the younger kids. And anyway, no kid should have to sit out of a game just due to a bad luck-of-the-draw.
So, I want to add a variation or two that will ensure that every kid remains in the game as long as possible and they all get something that they like. I will solve most of that problem by buying all good gifts. There will be no junk gifts. But the kids range in age from 4 to 12 and we have both boys and girls. I'll try to buy gifts that are gender and age neutral as much as possible, but finding something that both a 4 year old boy and a 12 year old girl would like will be a challenge. And I am also worried about missing out on gifts that certain kids would really love in favor of ones that they would be just OK with.
I have a couple of ideas. I would appreciate feedback and other ideas.
1. Label the gifts with age ranges in pink (more for girls), blue (more for boys), or green (both). That will allow the kids to choose gifts that they are likely to like. I do worry a tiny bit about gender stereotyping, but I guess that can be sorted out in one of the trading rounds.
2. Add a second round. Round 1 as described above is the "Steal Round". Round 2 will be the "Trade Round". I need to come up with rules for how the trades will work.
3. Buy extra gifts for Round 2 -- maybe enough so that every kid will get two. Then in Round 2, as their names are drawn, they can try to make a trade or open a new present.
4. Add a third "Deal Round" after all presents are open where they can try to make deals to exchange presents.
My goal is a fun evening where each kid gets at least one gift that they really like and no kid feels left out.
Thanks,
-jm
In the adult version, everyone bring a wrapped present to a party. The presents are placed in the middle of a room. The names of the participants are placed in a hat and drawn randomly. The person whose name is drawn first chooses a gift, unwraps it, and shows it to everyone. After that, each person whose name is drawn has the choice of unwrapping a present or "stealing" one from someone who already has one. There are rules for how many steals there can be in each round.
In the games that I was involved in, the presents were mostly silly and some were downright stupid. A few were kinda nice. We usually had price target, like $25. If you opened one of the junk gifts, you were out of the game and stuck with the junk, because no one would steal from you and you had already had your turn.
In the kids version, this could result in tears or even temper tantrums, especially with the younger kids. And anyway, no kid should have to sit out of a game just due to a bad luck-of-the-draw.
So, I want to add a variation or two that will ensure that every kid remains in the game as long as possible and they all get something that they like. I will solve most of that problem by buying all good gifts. There will be no junk gifts. But the kids range in age from 4 to 12 and we have both boys and girls. I'll try to buy gifts that are gender and age neutral as much as possible, but finding something that both a 4 year old boy and a 12 year old girl would like will be a challenge. And I am also worried about missing out on gifts that certain kids would really love in favor of ones that they would be just OK with.
I have a couple of ideas. I would appreciate feedback and other ideas.
1. Label the gifts with age ranges in pink (more for girls), blue (more for boys), or green (both). That will allow the kids to choose gifts that they are likely to like. I do worry a tiny bit about gender stereotyping, but I guess that can be sorted out in one of the trading rounds.
2. Add a second round. Round 1 as described above is the "Steal Round". Round 2 will be the "Trade Round". I need to come up with rules for how the trades will work.
3. Buy extra gifts for Round 2 -- maybe enough so that every kid will get two. Then in Round 2, as their names are drawn, they can try to make a trade or open a new present.
4. Add a third "Deal Round" after all presents are open where they can try to make deals to exchange presents.
My goal is a fun evening where each kid gets at least one gift that they really like and no kid feels left out.
Thanks,
-jm