Yankee Swap
Yankee swaps are always a fun event at work. (Some locals call it a Gift Swap, Black Santa, Chinese Gift Exchange, Dirty Santa, Greedy Punter, Thieves' Christmas) This is a great way to get people together and have some social fun.
There are different ways you can implement the Yankee swap, here are some of the rules that our company implemented at the last Yankee Swap:
- Everyone has to have a gift to participate, and the maximum spend is $20.
- All gifts have to be wrapped or in a gift bag.
- Everyone draws a number out of a hat.
- The person that has the number one ticket gets to pick the first gift.
- Everyone else has the opportunity to pick a gift from the pile OR they can steal someone else's gift.
- If someone takes your gift you must pick an unwrap gift.
- At the end, the person that picks first has the opportunity to swap their gift with anyone in the room. (That is they have the opportunity to get the best gift.)
Some gift ideas seen at several different Yankee Swaps:
- Lottery scratch tickets - Most popular item that people try to swap!
- Itunes Gift card
- Dunkin/Starbucks gift cards
- Liquor gift packs
- Wine
- Page-A-Day and wall Calendars
- Office toys
- DVDs
- Books
When selecting your gift idea try to be creative. Some people get a couple of things and try to have a theme, such as a book with a lottery ticket.
Have fun with your Yankee Swap!