White Elephant

The way I've played it is that a gift may be stolen twice - the third owner keeps it. Also, the person who draws the #1, also goes last, giving that person an opportunity to steal too. If nobody steals, then everyone keeps the gift they unwrapped.

I always played that the gift could be stolen as many times as possible and we always drew numbers and opened one by one and only those that were opening gifts could steal.

Good morning A.,
We play at one of our Christmas get togethers too. We allow the gift to be gifted 3 times and on the third time it stays. We draw numbers to get so whoever drew #1 picks a gift from the pile, opens it and shows it to everyone. Then #2 can either take that gift from #1 or take from the pile. If #2 takes the gift from #
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then #1 picks from the pile again then #3 does the same until everyone has gone. Every gift won't be gifted 3 times. It just depends on how good the gift is.

My husbands family does this every Christmas Eve and we have a blast with it. The way we play is: Everyone draws a number. We do gifts based on gender (women bring for women and men bring for men) but we play in order of the numbers so men & women are picking in order of their numbers. #1 picks a gift from their gender's pile. #2 can either steal from #1 if they are the same gender or pick a gift from their pile. The 3rd time the item is touched (opened and then stolen 2x) it is frozen. When we get to the last person, they can either open or steal from any item that is not frozen. It's alot of fun and can get really going with all the stealing.

We play every year with all the extended family to save money. Ours is not a "White Elephant" which are traditionally gifts that nobody wants. But instead we have a $30 cap (paid, not value) on a cool gift. We all just call it "THE GIFT EXCHANGE".

As far as order, you can either draw numbers from a hat (what we do) or you can assign numbers in order of arrival (not so cool, since you want a lower number, so this encourages people to be late). You could also go by age, or alphabetical. But we draw so that every year it is a new chance for people.

We play a tree 'hand' rule, which is third hand to touch it, keeps it. So that would be opened (1), stolen (2), stolen again (3). The original opener may be the person who steals second (therefore keeps) but no one may steal what was just taken from them. If your gift is stolen, you may steal a different gift, or open a new one. If you steal, that person may steal another or open, and so on and so on until the last gift is unwrapped and kept by somebody.

Also, my family complains alot, so if people are not happy after 'round one' then we all redraw numbers and do a second round of just stealing. :-D We are on our 4th or 5th year of this and everyone really enjoys it. We play the Saturday before Christmas (this weekend!)

We don't have a seperate one for the kids, as they usually take one another's gifts anyhow, so we just assure that all kids bring a kid gift, and it sorts itself out. This keeps them involved with the whole family and saves time. :-P

Have fun and Good luck!

give everyone that participates a number. People choose gifts in the order of their number. Person 1 picks the first gift. Person 2 can pick either person 1's gift or take a new gift and on down the line. The gift can only change hands 3 times...so, when you 1st open it, that's 1, if someone steals it, that's 2, and if it gets stolen again, that's 3 and it's closed - no more stealing that gift. If you have a gift and it gets stolen, you can either steal another one or pick a new one. Then it goes back in number order. We play with this one twist...person 1 gets one more shot before it's finished to steal another present.

How many times you can "steal" depends on how many people you have and how long you want the game to last. Usually it is the third time the item is touched, it is locked. Meaning- the first time it is opened is one, then it can be stolen twice. I guess if no one stole in the first round, the game would be over. We do it at a cookie exchange and have a lot of fun!

We do one of these every year at our Christmas party. We had it Saturday, and the gift exchange is always a lot of fun! How we play is: Everyone draws a number. Number 1 chooses a gift and opens it. Number 2 can either steal the first gift or choose to open another, and so on. A gift can be stolen 3 times. We allow 3 steals, not counting the opening of the gift. Once the last present is opened, then the game is over, so if no one stole the first round, then the game would end there.

I am sure there are some variations on the game, but that's how we play, and it is always a good time! Have fun!

Every one who plays this tend to make thier own rules.
But here was what we do. but our group is small and we needed to keep things going longer for it to be fun.

1)Every one brings a gift, that they Make, Buy or Find and old tennis shoes have already been done. Re-gifting is OK
2)As the hostest I always had 3 or 4 extras wrapped in case someone was a pooper and didn't bring anything.
3) you can start by drawing numbers, alphbet by name or birth days (some people will lie, so they can get last spot in which case you check drivers licenses, ha)
4) FIRST PERSON, opens a gift
5) SECOND person, can take the gift or open a gift
6) THIRD person, can take any gift or open a gift.
NOW HER IS OUR VERSION WE ALLOW 3 takes each turn but taker cannot take the gift that was immidiately taken from them. But in another turn they can take back that gift as long as it was not taken on that turn. So you can actually steel the same gift back on every other turn if you get taken from. now, second and third can steel.
7) FOURTH person, can open a gift or steel one from person 1, 2, or 3 and each person stolen from (3 total steels) can take a gift that turn.

EVERY GIFT CAN BE STOLEN UNTIL THE GAME IS OVER, NO GIFT GET EXEMPTED FROM CHANGING HANDS. YOU MAY HAVE YOUR FAVORIATE GIFT SEVERAL TIMES DURING THE GAME AND GET IT TAKEN.

KEEP GOING UNTIL ALL THE GIFTS ARE GONE. And then after the game, everyone starts trading and trying to fight back the gift that they wanted and a certain amount begging, blackmailing, and other bribery takes place, until you get your prize in the car.

Encourage eveyrone to bring something wonderful so the gifts are desirable. Our family brings a lot of handcrafted things.

Hope that is not too complicated.

We do 2nd steal (so 3rd touch) is frozen. And then at the end we let #1 steal / swap with anyone who does not have a frozen gift, so that #1 had a chance to participate other than just opening the 1st gift. I think that some people only let #1 swap at the end if that person never got stolen from during the course. If they did get stolen from then they did get to choose another gift, and so got to participate already. -- Just be clear before you start whether you are going with the 3rd touch is frozen or the 3rd steal is frozen...otherwise you will have controversy! -- And when a gift is stolen the then-empty-handed-person can open a new gift or steal another gift, and so on.

My family plays this every Christmas Eve. Once the gift is stolen 3 times it can not be taken again, and the first person that picked get one last chance to pick if the gift that they pick the first time does not get taken away.

I've always played like all the other people mentioned. But, this year, I went to a party where we did it a bit different.

We drew numbers and each person, in turn, chose and opened a gift. They had to describe it as well. After everyone had opened a gift, a timer was set (and no one but the person setting it knew for how long--we did 20 minutes). Then, going around the circle, each person had the opportunity to trade with someone. You had to say their name and ask for their gift by name. You keep going around the circle and trading gifts until the timer goes off. It was really a lot of fun and you had opportunity to get more than just the gifts that were opened before you (a real bonus if you're number 2 or 3!)

We keep saying this year we'll make a rule about couples stealing the same gift. There is always some controversy at my in-law's Christmas when we do this because two siblings are single, so they can't conspire with their spouse/significant other to freeze a gift. For instance, my sister-in-law gets a gift, my husband steals it, and I steal it from him because he really liked it. Then it's dead and ours. Without fail, this ticks single people off.

This is so fun! We draw numbers and number one goes first of course, to pick their gift. Each person opens their gift and shows it to everyone. After each present is opened, we set a timer, usually as a general rule about 15 to 20 minutes, with no one but the person that set it knowing how long it is set for. We start back with the number one person and go clockwise around the room and you can steal gifts until the timer goes off, with no limit to the amount of times it can be stolen. That way, everyone gets a fair shot at all the gifts and you just don't know when it will end! It is so much fun.

ok this is how the game works , ( we just had our party and it was funny )
you will need to count all the gifts and put numbers in something so each person participating gets a number , you ask who has number 1 and so on the second person can choose number 1 or an mew gift if the next person wants on of the others gift the pesron who lost there gift gets to choose , you can have your gift stolen 2 times only. it will amaze you what people like , we put a amount of 20-30 , or you can go more if you want it makes it more interesing

We do this every year at our lady's church Christmas party. We usually have around 50 plus people. Everyone draws a number but we don't always start with number 1...sometimes we start with the last number (50 or whatever the highest number is). This is always so much fun when we reveal if we are starting "low" or "high". The first person goes to the "tree" and opens a gift. The next person can either take her opened gift or go to the tree to open another one..and so on with other people. We do it a little different than some of your other responses...we make it where the "person" has the same gift 3 times then it's dead. Also, we have the rule that if someone takes a gift from someone, that 2nd person might take a gift from someone else and the 3rd person involved HAS to go to the tree (otherwise no one would want to go to the tree if all we are doing is exchanging opened gifts! ha) It's so much fun when a particular lady is wanting something and she "finally" gets it for the 3rd time! Have fun and have a Merry Christmas!!

We are having a White elephant party tomorrow so I just happend to have the rules. (see below) Have Fun!!!

THE GIFTS:
1. This party's gift theme is XYZ.
2. The gift should be valued as close to $xx.00 as is reasonable.
3. The gift should be something someone would actually want or use. It should be in new or good condition.
4. The gift should be wrapped or in an envelope before arriving to the party. Gift bags are OK only if a wrapped item is inside.
5. Gift certificates are OK only if it is accompanied by some other item as part of the gift. For instance, a $xx Starbucks gift certificate, by itself, is not OK, but a $yy Starbucks gift certificate together with a coffee mug is OK.
6. As guests arrive to the party, the gifts should be placed in an area where few people can see who brought which gift. All efforts should be made to hide who brought which gift.
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THE GAME:
1. Each guest who wishes to participate must contribute a gift. Everyone sits or stands in roughly a circle around the pile of gifts.
2. Prepare slips of paper equal to the number of gifts with clearly written numbers. Be sure to distinguish 6 from 9, 1 from 7. Each participating guest draws a number and holds onto that slip of paper.
3. On the first turn, the guest with paper slip #1 chooses a gift, opens it, and all admire it.
4. On the second turn, the guest with paper slip #2 gets the choice of "stealing" any unwrapped gift (#1's) or choosing a wrapped one. If #2 steals #1's gift, then #1 must open a wrapped gift.
5. On the third turn, the guest with paper slip #3 gets the choice of "stealing" any unwrapped gift (#1's or #2's) or choosing a wrapped one.
The game continues based on the following:
1. If a gift is stolen from you, you can steal a gift (within limits, described below), or open a wrapped one.
2. The turn proceeds until a wrapped gift is chosen.
3. A gift cannot be immediately stolen back from the guest who just stole it.
4. The fourth "owner" of a gift gets to keep it. The gift is "dead" after it has been stolen three times.
5. "Owners" of "live" gifts must keep them visible and hold them up when requested.
6. The gift exchange ends when the last wrapped gift is opened. Usually, guests are encouraged to perpetuate the gift stealing as long as there are "live" gifts, but no one is obligated to do this.
Have a Happy Holiday season!