Organising a Secret Santa gift exchange can be an exciting challenge if the people involved are difficult to buy for!
Perhaps you have participated in one before but have not given any thought to how they are set up. They are very popular in the workplace (where there are often some special rules to follow) but can also be fun for families. But you do have to set some rules so as not to leave anybody disappointed.
The Basics of Secret Santa
It’s a straightforward idea. Everybody who wishes to participate writes their name on a slip of paper, which is folded and added to a “hat”, a container. You then take turns selecting a paper without revealing whose name you have been assigned. And then buy that person an appropriate gift! Wrap the present, add a label, preferably disguising your writing, and add it to the pile of gifts.
As the organiser, you need to decide on the budget first. It would be embarrassing if somebody spent a lot of money on their choice of gift, and others didn’t. Once established, a decision has to be made as to whether it will be a fun, joke item or something that the recipient would really like.
If you choose to go with a genuine gift, it could be helpful to have people list a couple of choices on their name slips.
Getting organised
Finally, you need to arrange the date when the gifts will be exchanged. Perhaps at the office party, or maybe on Christmas Eve if it is a family gathering. And part of the fun is trying to guess who was your Secret Santa! Just how well do they really know you? Not just a one-off activity, you could make this an annual tradition.
