Secret Santa Game with a Twist

This particular game of Secret Santa works best with families or a group of close friends. You need to have a more in depth understanding of the person you are buying for than that of the typical co-worker relationship.

In a normal game of Secret Santa each persons name is placed in a hat and shuffled. Each person then draws the name of a person to shop for. You buy a gift and tag it for the recipient without giving away who bought it. As each person opens their gift they attempt to guess who their Secret Santa is, if they are unable to guess Santa usually confesses.

In this version of the game you will want to put a bit more thought into your gift.

Once you have the name of the person you are buying for jot down a few thoughts on that person. What memories do you share with them? What makes them tick? Do they have a favorite hobby or activity that they are active in? Do they have a great sense of humor and enjoy practical jokes? Keep these thoughts in mind when shopping.

The idea behind this type of Secret Santa is to buy a gift that in some way describes the person to you. Look for that gift that will show how you see that person or demonstrate why you value that person for being who they are.

At the gift exchange each person will still tag their gift anonymously and the recipient will attempt to guess who gave the gift. After each person has discovered who their Santa was this version takes it one step further with the recipient trying to guess why you chose that gift.

In many circles gift giving has become a tense competition to see who can spend the most money or give the biggest gift of the season. This version of Secret Santa helps to bring back into focus the true meaning of family and celebrations.

Family and friends alike will delight in discovering the meaning behind their gift. Many will discover new about themselves as you share your thoughts about your relationship with them. This is a great way to share thoughts and feelings about what makes that person such a special part of your life.

This is also a great way to get siblings to share their feelings in an un-pressured manner.

The reasoning behind their gift can be as simple as the fact that the gift they gave happens to be a sibling's favorite color.