Friday, November 15, 2013

Secret Santa ! for 5&6

Edited by Ben Rubenstein, Nicole Willson, joni zuckerbrow-miller, Flickety and 18 others
The point of "Secret Santa" is to make Christmas shopping easier and to spread around the spirit of giving to those you might not normally have on your Christmas list. In addition, this is the perfect answer for large group environments, such as work, school or volunteer organizations; by buying a gift for one person only, you don't have to spend a million dollars and start the New Year out broke. And last but not least, there is the added surprise of who you get to give a gift to and who might have given you yours!

Steps

  1. Write the names of everyone participating on a piece of paper. If the group is larger and people don't know each other that well, it is a good idea to get people to write their names and what they would like/wouldn't like on a piece of paper or some distinguishing features such as "male astronomy buff, 65" or "female triathlete devotee, 34". In more intimate group environments, keep it as vague as possible so as not to give away who the person is, for example, "like adventure books, don't like music," etc. This leaves the buyer more choice and prevents guessing. Secrecy is very important to Secret Santa, so be sure to keep quiet about who's name you have! 
Cut the names out. If there is a need to include gender, age, interests, etc., each piece cut out will be slightly larger.  
 
3
Fold the name pieces in half. Put them in a bowl, hat, or an envelope––it doesn't really matter what you use as long as it can hold all the names easily.  

4
Ask everyone whose names are in the bowl to draw one (1) name.
 
5
Set a price limit. This can be done in discussion with the whole group or just by those who are organizing the event, such as the social committee. Set a fair price, one that you know everyone in the group will be able to afford. Given the cheap prices for lots of goodies these days, even a $5.00 limit can be workable.
If you're in an environmental or eco-oriented organization, set the limit at zero. In other words, the item has to be recycled, reused or made!
 
6
Don't tell anyone who you have drawn. That would defeat the purpose of it being "secret"! And don't badger people asking who they have, trying to find out who has your name. Part of the fun of this is working out who might have selected your gift. Head out and buy your gift.
 

 

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