Posts Tagged ‘online party’

White Elephant gifts that shift left and right

You may have played a gift sharing activity called the left right game with family or friends. Now learn the rules of the Lefty the White Elephant gift exchange.

The host should choose someone to be the story teller and be given a printed version.

.(we have a PDF version Left Right Story HERE)

Explain to all the players that they will be participating in a unique white elephant gift exchange that involves both gift swapping and gift passing. Let them know that whenever they hear the words right, left or gift in the story, that something will happen in the game.

#1 Start the white elephant party as usual with all the gifts in the middle of the room and players sitting around the pile.

#2 Put the name of every player into a hat for a random drawing.

#3 Draw the name of the first player who picks a gift and opens to reveal to others.

#4 Return the name back into the hat for potential re-drawing.

#5 The story teller begins reading the right-left story of “Lefty the White Elephant”.

#6 When the first mention of Lefty is read, the first gift opened moves one person to the left.

#7 The story teller continues until the next mention of left or right.

#8 The gift moves one person to the left or the right.

#9 The story teller continues reading the story as the gift moves ether left or right on each mention of the word.

#10 When the story teller reads the word Gift , another name is drawn from the hat. (…on his Christmas shopping list. Lefty was looking for just the right white elephant gift.)

#11 The picked player has the option of stealing the opened gift or opening one of the unwrapped gift in the middle of the room. All gifts are openly displayed to every player.

#12 When a gift is stolen from a player, the player can then open a replacement gift or steal another opened gift from another player. NOTE: No direct steal-backs are allowed.

#13 The story teller continues with the story until left, right or gift is mentioned again. With the word gift the story stops.

#14 Another name is drawn from the hat (remember to put all names back into the hat for re-drawing purposes).

#15 The picked player can steal any opened gift or open a new one. The player who has the gift stolen can then open a new gift or steal another opened gift.

#16 The story continues with all opened gifts passing left or right depending upon the story line. Whenever the word gift is read, stop the story and draw a name for the gift stealing or opening exercise.

#17 If a name is drawn of a player who has an open gift, they must donate the gift to someone who is currently not holding an opened gift.

NOTE: The Lefty the White Elephant story has the word gift listed 16 times. Because the stealing and opening is completely random you may need to read the story a couple of times to get all the gifts opened, this is OK. If you open all the gifts before the end of the story, just keep reading and just do gift passing until the end of the story.

This wacky white elephant party game is just one more way to share in the gift-giving fun with family and friends.
AlbinoPhant, the online white elephant exchange wants you to find great ways to connect with those you love. If you have distant family or friends that you still want to enjoy a gift swap with, you might try our online version of the white elephant gift exchange.

You are going to love this party!

The Story of Lefty the White Elephant

Christmas was almost here, and Lefty, the White Elephant was finishing what was left on his Christmas shopping list. Lefty was looking for just the right white elephant gift.(stop to draw a name from the hat) Lefty’s father suggested that he should head right over to the mall to find a huge selection of gifts (stop to draw a name from the hat). As Lefty walked down the right concourse he found one of the gifts (stop to draw a name from the hat) he was looking for sitting right in from of the toy store entrance and it seemed like there was only one left. Right after Lefty entered the store he realized that he had left his wallet in the trunk. But as you know one of the greatest gifts (stop to draw a name from the hat) of being an elephant is that your trunk is right in front of your face.
Once Lefty had found his wallet he marched right up to the cashier and put his white elephant gift (stop to draw a name from the hat) on the counter right next to the cash register. To his amazement Lefty’s old circus trainer friend Suzie Wright was the cashier. Suzie had left the circus a few months earlier to take a job as the mall gift (stop to draw a name from the hat) wrapper. Even though the Wright family owned the circus, Suzie had felt that it was the right time to leave and take a job in the gift (stop to draw a name from the hat) industry. Working in the mall gave Miss Wright the opportunity to meet all the right people to help her advance her career. Lefty was impressed that she had found a cashier job soon after leaving the gift (stop to draw a name from the hat) wrapping position. Like the rest of the Wright family, Suzie was a gifted (stop to draw a name from the hat) individual and Lefty was so happy that he was now in the right place at the right time to meet Miss Wright once again. As Lefty gathered his gift (stop to draw a name from the hat) he shyly asked Suzie how many hours she had left on her shift. Miss Wright explained that she was off right after 2, but then needed to get one more gift (stop to draw a name from the hat) that was left on her white elephant gift exchange shopping list. Lefty mustered every bit of courage that he had left and asked Suzie if he could accompany her on her gift (stop to draw a name from the hat) shopping task right after work. Miss Wright smiled, said yes and handed Lefty her phone number on the back of an expired Home Depot gift (stop to draw a name from the hat) card she had left-over from a recent remodeling project at her condo that is located right next to Lefty’s favorite bistro.
After leaving the store Lefty could hardly wait to see Suzie, but he still had one more gift (stop to draw a name from the hat) left on his list. He knew that if he was to give Miss Wright the right amount of attention in her gift (stop and draw a name from the hat) shopping efforts he would need to pick the right time to finish his shopping and he only had a couple of hours left to finish.
Right before 2 pm Lefty came back to Miss Wright’s store for their gift (stop to draw a name from the hat) shopping date. Suzie and Lefty enjoyed what was left of the afternoon exploring the gift (stop to draw a name from the hat) shops of the mall to find the right gift (stop to draw a name from the hat) for the Wright family gift exchange.
To make a long story short, Lefty and Miss Wright fell in love, married and had several little leftys, making Grandpa Wright and Grandma Wright very proud.
THE END

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

White elephant exchange + spin the bottle!

The popular white elephant gift party and the game called spin the bottle can now be joined for some gift sharing fun. This is a great way to add some variety to your group gift parties this year.

 

If you are doing a traditional white elephant party instead of an online gift exchange like AlbinoPhant, then the white elephant spin the bottle game will make your party even more fun than ever.

You will need to set-up the room so that all of the chairs are in a circle and spread apart enough to easily identify a player turns when the bottle is pointing at them.

Remember that unique white elephant gifts are the secret to creating fun conversation during the party. Encourage every one to take some time to shop for something fun.

It is better if you have a hard surface for the bottle to spin upon, so use a table top or do the party on a hard flooring surface.

Just like any white elephant gift exchange, you should gather all of the wrapped items into one spot and get everyone seated.

#1 The game starts with all players in their seats.

#2 Someone spins the bottle until it points at one of the players (re-spin if there is any question as to who it is selecting)

#3 The first person selected by the bottle opens one of the gifts from the wrapped gift pile.

#4 The bottle spins and selects the next player, who can ether open one of the wrapped items, or steal the opened gift.

#5 If a player has a item stolen they can ether open a replacement gift or steal from another players opened gift. (Remember, no direct steal-backs)

#6 The bottle spins again after the stealing and opening have stopped.

#7 If the bottle  lands on a person with an open gift, they have the option of swapping their current opened item with another persons opened gift, or donating it to a player that does not currently have any gift. If they donate, then they must open one of the wrapped gifts from the pile.

#8 Continue play using the bottle as the turn selector, until all the gifts have been opened.

We have included some instructional slides that will help you understand the rules of the white elephant spin the bottle gift exchange game.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

The Yankee Swap rules build group fun

The white elephant gift exchange is also known as the Yankee Swap in some areas of the country. Both are very engaging social party activities that allow fun gift sharing among friends and family.

Yankee Swap Video

Watch this time elapse video of a group gift exchange party. Thisvideo demonstrates the white elephant gift sharing action that takes place within the party game.

We counted about 25 people in this gift exchange video, that looks like it was hosted in a typical living room. The Yankee Swap rules are the same as the white elephant git exchange, so gifts are opened, stolen and conversation is created. You can get a feel for the fun in the party by watching this in quick-time view.

What is interesting is the social dynamics created as a result of the party. If you watch the last few seconds of the video you will see how conversations and groupings continued even after the clean-up was finished.

Group white elephant gift parties are greatly enhanced by using an engaging game like the Yankee Swap. It is no wonder that this game or its cousin the white elephant gift exchange are the most popular group parties during the holidays.

swap 2010 time lapse from Roy Hodgman on Vimeo.

Using this gift exchange activity will allow your group to share unique and zany gifts without breaking the bank. It is these fun gifts that really add to the conversation and social engagement that will make your party even more memorable.

Our family has enjoyed this style of gift exchange for many years so we have created an online version of this party game. Much of the same dynamics can be mimicked in the AlbinoPhant white elephant party.

Your going to love this party!

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

A sitting elephant can join your next party

The white elephant gift exchange is the most popular group gift party in North America. Families, church groups and businesses use this fun gift giving event to bring people together in a lively social experience during the holidays.

The white elephant party involves people sitting down to play a gift swapping game, so it seem fitting to use some sitting elephants as a part of the decorations for the event.

The best and most wacky white elephant parties will carry some theme throughout the event, so we have gathered together some ideas for the sitting elephant gift exchange.

Most of the sitting elephants that we have seen are not white, but a little white spray paint and presto – White elephant party decorations!

Elephant decorations

There are several places you can purchase sitting elephants carved from teak, like the one pictured on this page. Prices range from $15 to $25 dollars for a carved sitting elephant. You may be able to find a sitting elephant figurine molded from resin for less money, but you will need to search around to find this option. Spray painting a resin version is probably a better value that one made of expensive wood.

Sitting Elephant Prize

We have found that it is fun to add an extra gift surprise at the party. You could award a carved elephant to the person who brings  the most unique white elephant gift that is stolen the most during the game. Another idea is to have a random name drawing and give a unique gift away raffle-style. This extra award is similar to the Master of ES award that we offer in the AlbinoPhant online gift exchange party.

We have included a couple of YouTube videos for some other elephant decoration and desert ideas, so let your imagination and creativity take the party from here… Your going to love this party!

Sitting elephant cake…

Create a paper sitting elephant

If you have family and friends that live a distance away, then an online verision of the white elephant gift exchange might be fun. You can “test-drive” the AlbinoPhant system HERE.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

Sitting an elephant down is challenging

Because we are the white elephant gift exchange headquarters, we feel it is our responsibility to instruct you on how an elephant gets on its Hindquarters.  So here are the details for sitting an elephant…

Getting an elephant to sit requires a combination of patience and some physical effort before the massive pachyderm will finally sit back on its haunches. Regardless of the effort, any circus worth its salt needs several sitting elephants to fill the seats in the tent. So training elephants to sit is a much bigger deal than just a regular party trick.

Elephant physiology suggests, and elephant trainers know, that these animals can sit down; it is just not something that they do regularly and especially on command. Intense training shifts an elephant’s paradigm from a four-legged position to one where sitting on the hindquarters becomes a regular part of the show. It takes a great deal of work between trainer and elephant to change the thinking, so this long process is not a party for the elephant or the instructor.

Changing a pattern of action is always a challenge, and takes work.

AlbinoPhant, the online white elephant party is changing the paradigm of group gift giving. The challenge is to change our thinking from location-based parties to internet-based gift sharing activities. Up until now we would gather in one room to sit as a group for the gift exchange. The family room, the church basement or the office conference room was the normal gathering place for these fun activities between family or friends. But distance and time have made this action more challenging for many groups and all seek a better way to share gifts.

New social applications like Facebook and YouTube have demonstrated that distance can be bridged using the internet. Groups can now gather and share conversation in a virtual space, changing the dynamics of personal interaction using a computer screen.

AlbinoPhant takes the virtual conversation one step further by allowing fun white elephant gifts to join the conversation and groups to gather for a traditional party game online. The AlbinoPhant gift exchange is not limited by the confines of the old family room, as the online party can span any distance, gathering all who want to support one another during important life events. Personal interactions can now play-out online as gifts are revealed on the computer screen and then delivered by UPS in the days that follow the party.

Like the training for a sitting elephant, we continue our work to make the online party become “The Greatest Show on Earth” for families and friends.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

Images of Elephants in the Room

To further our understanding of the use of the Elephant in our language and our art, we have included some fun images of the elephant in the room. We have also included some of the context that are supported by this imagery.

We believe that the tyranny of distance is the elephant in the room for families and friends when it comes time to share gifts with each other. This is why we have created an online platform for sharing gifts, no matter the distance..

Enjoy these images of the elephants in the room…

Elephant in the boardroom.
Venture Beat suggests that multi-billion dollar funds could soon be a thing of the past, so the investment firms are ignoring the possibility, thus and elephant in the room.

Elephant in the Room represents net neutrality.
The Sponge-ist blog discusses a massive elephant in the room in the debate over abandoning net neutrality?

Elephant in the Room and Poetry
Amy Abrahams shared this image and a poem concerning the elephant in the room.

The 800 lb nuclear elephant in the room
Pamela Geller likens political posturing to a large elephant in the room when it comes to government policy for Iran.

Elephant in the Room and blogging

Fuel Your Blogging posted that some stories like Haiti, create an Elephant in the room when it comes to planning a blog post.

The elephant in the room for many families during important gift events is the missing people who could not attend the party. Sharing time together is an important social support system and we feel badly whenever someone is left out of the activity.

This is the reason that many chose to stay connected online using various web-based tools.

How are you addressing the elephant in the room?

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

The Elephant in the room has left the building

The term “the elephant in the room” creates an odd picture. Maybe that is why it has such a powerful influence upon our thoughts when used to describe something completely idiotic.

Here is how the Wiki’s are describing the topic: “Elephant in the room” is an English idiom for an obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed. The idiomatic expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss.

It really is silly to consider that a massive beast, like an elephant could wander into a house and someone not say or do something about the occurrence. But since the 1800’s we have used the expression “Elephant in the room” to paint the picture of something that we tend to ignore and put off fixing.

We developed an online white elephant gift exchange system to fix the “elephant in the room” of family gift giving events. Most of the time we ignore the fact that some family members can not come to the party because they live so far away. These people don’t get an invitation and are thus left out of the fun.

The elephant in the room is even more glaring on the day of the party, when others ask why Grandpa or Auntie Barbara is not in attendance. These subjects become the elephant in the room that nobody wants to bring up to spoil the mood of the day. The online gift party application removes the elephant and allows everyone to attend and share in the fun.

There is an elephant in the room poem that speaks to what we are talking about, even though it has a bit of a darker side to the subject.

The Elephant in the Room

By Terry Kettering
There’s an elephant in the room.
It is large and squatting,
so it is hard to get around it.
Yet we squeeze by with,
“How are you?” and, “I’m fine,”
and a thousand other forms of trivial chatter.
We talk about the weather;
we talk about work;
we talk about everything else—
except the elephant in the room.
There’s an elephant in the room.
We all know it is there.
We are thinking about the elephant
as we talk together.
It is constantly on our minds.
For, you see, it is a very big elephant.
It has hurt us all, but we do not talk about
the elephant in the room.
Oh, please, say her name.
Oh, please, say “Barbara” again.
Oh, please, let’s talk about
the elephant in the room.
For if we talk about her death,
perhaps we can talk about her life.
Can I say, “Barbara” to you
and not have you look away?
For if I cannot,
then you are leaving me alone
in a room—with an elephant.

↓

Take the Elephant in the room out of your family gift giving celebrations and invite everyone to the party.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

 

$35 White Elephant Gifts You Can Wear…

Even though the white elephant gift exchange is a tradition for many groups, we are still interested in some variety from time to time. We suggest that you shake things up and have a “Wear-it-Home” style white elephant party.

This type of white elephant exchange has just two unique rules: One, the gift must be worn once it is opened and two, it must be worn home by the final owner of the gift.

We went into the AlbinoPhant online white elephant gift marketplace and pulled out some $35 dollar white elephant gift ideas that can be worn during and after the game. You can have a virtual “Wear-it-Home” white elephant party if you wish, using the AlbinoPhant system.

Here are 6 wacky and unique white elephant gifts that you could wear during the gift exchange. These gifts will definitely be stolen many times during the fun!

Your going to Love the Party!

 

 

 

 

 

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

Gift exchange rules

The gift exchange party is the most common way to share unique white elephant gifts among groups of family and friends. These events are held during various holiday celebrations and for office parties, family and class reunions.

The most common and popular gift exchange is the Secret Santa gift swap game. It is primarily used to exchange gifts directly from one person to another.  This activity is akin to the standard name draw exchange that many groups use to establish the rules of gift purchasing among groups during important life events. But before we move into the rules of Secret Santa we will start with the most common rules of all gift exchange games, parties or events:

The Name Draw or Drawing Name Exchange

The name draw style gift exchange is used as a means to save money among members of various sized groups. Rather than purchasing a present for everyone, the name draw system randomly parses out the gift purchasing responsibly evenly between each member of the group.  This helps with the gift giving budget because each person only purchase one gift for one person in the group.

The main rule of the name draw is that all members of the groups put their name into a common holding area.  This holding devise could be a hat, or a box, or a bucket.  Newer online versions of the name draw exchange uses an electronic mimic of the hat using special randomizing name drawing software.  Instead of names written on slips of paper, the group adds the names electronically on a website. Here is a fun site the shows a virtual hand going into the hat and pulling out a name.  The online party version of these name draw systems can really be described as a fun generator for any name draw exchange.

There are several online name draw sites that will help simplify your name drawing and simple gift exchanging events. Here are some links to those that we found in a quick Google search for Name Drawing, Secret Santa Name Generator and Random Name Draw Generator:

Name drawing .com

Draw names .com

Virtual name draw .com

Sneaky santa .com

Boggol drawing names .com

Boogspace secret santa name picker .com

You can use many of these simple and free online tools to randomly select the names for your name drawing events and never draw names from a hat again. No matter what name holding devise that you use, the rules for the gift exchange remain the same; one name drawn for each potential gift to be shared, so that everyone gets a gift.

The Secret Santa Gift Exchange or Secret Kris Kringle

The next level up from the family name draw is an group gift exchange activity known as the Secret Santa Exchange or in some other parts of the world, the Kris Kringle Gift Exchange. As we mentioned before, the Secret Santa is the most used style of gift exchange in the world.

The main difference between a standard name draw gift exchange and a Secret Santa exchange is the idea of secrecy. In a Secret Santa event the members of the group draw names just like any name draw activity, but you don’t share who you are purchasing an item for. The internet also provides a few online secret Santa organizer sites that can help put the party together. We have listed a few of them here for you to explore:

Secret Santa Organizer .com

Elfster Secret Santa .com

Secret Santa .com

Sly Santa .com

Secret Gift .com

Evite Secret Santa

Kris Kringle gift exchange

NOTE: the Kris Kringle gift exchange is popular in the UK and Australia.

The secret Santa gift exchange follows the same rules as the regular name draw, so there is one item per each person in the group. The parings are selected randomly from all members of a group and there is still the expectation that each person will purchase and deliver a gift to another person. The unique rule in a secret Santa event is that the random name selection is secretive.  There are version of the secret Santa that involve providing clues as to how the shoppers are, with guessing and questioning opportunities provided to ad to the fun.  Some secret Santa exchanges use the rule that no item can be shared until a certain date and time. This is usually a rule when the gift exchange is a part of a group party of other event.

Gift Exchange games that involve random gift swapping

The most complicated set of rules for gift exchange activities are associated with gift swapping parties.  The most common of these swap or “stealing” parties is the White Elephant gift exchange party, but there are at least 22 other party games that use the same basic rules. Here is a list of the various titles of gift swapping parties:

Yankee Swap

Scottish Gift Exchange

Chinese Gift Exchange

Chinese Christmas

Thieving Elves

Dirty Santa

Thieving Secret Santa

Rob Your Neighbor

Dirty Christmas

Pollyanna Swap

Cajun Christmas

Devil’s Santa

California Swap

Steal-a-Thon

Snatchy Christmas Rat

Gift Grab

Cutthroat Christmas

Nasty Christmas

Redneck Santa

Rob a Santa

Grinch Exchange

The Grinch Game

No matter the name, the rules follow a basic format and require each members attendance at a group event or party activity. There is even an online white elephant gift party called AlbinoPhant, that also uses these same basic rules of play:

White Elephant Gift Exchange common rules

The rules for a white elephant gift game are pretty standard. All invitees to the party must purchase a gift for sharing. The item should be something that all would find interesting or unique, because nobody knows which gift will eventually be going home with which person. Unusual gifts are great for these gift swap parties because they really help get the conversation going and make the party more interesting.

Gifts at the White Elephant party are required to be wrapped so that the contents will be a surprise when it is opened. There should be no identifying marks on the item so that the purchaser remains anonymous to the other attendees at the gift exchange event.

The game begins with a random name draw for all those in attendance, in order to select the first player.  From this point the game allows gifts to be opened and to be “stolen” , which is the term used to describe the gift swapping rule of the game.  Any item that is opened can be stolen on any players turn. Another basic rule concerning stealing is a restriction that stops any player from stealing-back a gift that was just stolen from them.  The final common rule of the game is that once a item has been held by 3 people it is “frozen” from the stealing process for the rest of the game. This rule does not apply in the case of a white elephant gift exchange game titled Commando, where stealing is allowed up until the end of the game, no matter how many times the item goes around the room.

One final rule that is common in these white elephant style events is the “first shall be last” rule.  This rule says that the first person that opens a gift is given the last chance to exchange any item that is not frozen.  This rule is used to reduce the possibility of the first person missing out on all of the action, if nobody every steals their gift.  There is a school of thought that suggests that this rule is lame, so you can make the decision to use it or not.

There you have it… The most common rules of the Gift Exchange, from simple name draws to complicated gift stealing exchanges.  You can find very complete details of the rules for each of the exchange activities here on this site.

If you have any thoughts, additions, corrections or suggestions, please add them here in the comment box.

Have a great time at your group gift exchange party and remember to play by the rules!

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

Share

Another giant in online retailing is moving closer to the online party concept. Ebay announced a new group gift giving application for sharing gifts.

Retailers understand that gift giving in the US is a 100-billion dollar market, and that families and friends support each other in groups. Millions of groups gather every week to celebrate birthdays, weddings, baby births and more. Right now we do the gathering in homes and businesses, but in the future we will do more gathering and giving online.

Ebay is taking a step in the right direction with this gift purchasing idea. The cost of gifting and the increased expense of travel makes online solutions to sharing practical.

Ebay is finding ways to join these groups together in an online group activity that centers on gift giving. You get the social interaction and the added personal reward of being supportive to someone you care about.

It is a party that we do when we want to join in gift sharing. Now Ebay is suggesting ways to link with others in the shopping experience. Ebay has always been a good source for white elephant gifts so taking the next step makes perfect sense.

All of this gift sharing, gift shopping and gift exchanging with online tools will someday make the delivery of gifts to distant groups be like giving UPS drivers a party hat…

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists