29 Best Gift Exchange Ideas for Creative Holiday Fun in 2024

Coming up with creative holiday gift exchange ideas on the spur of the moment can be tricky. It's helpful to have a list of possibilities on hand to make your gift-giving easy and extra fun.

Whether you shop for the gifts you give or prefer to add handmade items to your gift exchange ideas, the secret to a successful gift exchange idea is preparation and planning.

As Scientific American explains, giving gifts benefits the giver as much as the recipient, which makes choosing the right item an important task.

If you're gearing up for a present swap aimed at spreading holiday cheer, what is a good gift exchange idea to thrill your recipient? And how do you make your gift exchange into an interactive celebration?

We've collected our favorite gift exchange ideas for creative and thoughtful giving, as well as suggestions for games to make your gift exchange ideas entertaining for the whole crew. Tear into the list below and see if it’s what you’ve been hoping for! 

Jump to Section 

• Gift Exchange Ideas for Artists & Crafters
• Gift Exchange Ideas for Foodies
• Gift Exchange Games for Large Groups
• Gift Exchange Games for Small Groups

Gift Exchange Ideas for Artists & Crafters

1. Throw a Paint and Sip Wine Swap

Kick off the gift-giving season with a paint and sip celebration where everyone brings a bottle to swap. Book a paint and sip Washington, D.C., paint and sip in Orange County, or a paint and sip in Chicago for your next gift exchange idea for a party.

Start your session with a bottle exchange before creating your canvases. Find a paint and sip near you to explore paint party ideas for adults who love raising a brush as much as they love raising a glass! 

2. Let Them Choose Their Own Creative Gift

A Classpop! gift card as an experience gift exchange idea lets your recipient select from art classes, dance lessons, cooking sessions and more.

This is a perfect choice for encouraging the creatives in your circle to branch out into new mediums and formats. You could help a budding painter or secret sculptor discover their hidden talents. 

3. Have a Pottery Make-and-Take

By setting up a make-and-take session from among the pottery classes near you, you and your guests can paint bespoke pieces for one another and watch them come to life!

You'll find pottery classes in Boston, pottery classes in Los Angeles, pottery classes in Houston and other cities around the U.S. that are perfect for hosting these colorful gift exchange ideas.

4. Restock Their Supplies

New supplies make perfect gifts for crafters and artists who might be running low. Even novice creators will love receiving sets like the 148-piece deluxe collection from Amazon, with paints, pastels and colored pencils included.

5. Give a Wooble

Online crafters are going wacky for Woobles, crocheted amigurumi critters that are as cute as they are creative. Wrap up a sweet Wooble kit and give the fiber artist in your life a gift exchange idea that includes everything they need to complete their first project.

6. Share Some Inspiration

Inspiration dice let artists stoke their creative fires in new and inventive ways. A set of these artful wooden cubes printed with a variety of prompts could be just the gift exchange idea to refresh a flagging project or spark a whole new artistic venture.

7. Set Up a Studio Tour

Art fans love seeing creatives in their natural environment. For a gift exchange idea that brings them up close and personal with local artisans, arrange a studio tour with artists in your area. Include the purchase of an art piece of their choice as part of the package.

8. Present Handmade Items

How do you exchange gifts creatively? The best way is to give creative gifts! If you're a painter, knitter, sewer or woodworker yourself, spend a little time assembling a gift exchange idea custom-made for the occasion.

Your recipient will appreciate both the effort and receiving an example of your talent wrapped up with a bow, especially if you use these gift wrapping ideas.

9. Hand Out Tickets

An artful crowd is bound to appreciate experience gifts like tickets to a gallery showing, theater event or upcoming concert.

Check the calendars of venues in your area to find options that suit your crew and make sure to give enough lead time before the event.

10. Give the Gift of Zen

To make your gift exchange meaningful, give your crafty cohorts a Zen board and encourage moments of relaxation amid the creative chaos.

This enchanted easel lets artists use mere water to produce ink-black images that disappear when the surface dries. Zen boards also make great relaxation gifts for doodlers who need a mental break during the workday.   

Gift Exchange Ideas for Foodies

11. Foodie Experience Gifts

Gourmet gift exchange ideas like cooking classes near you will get your recipient in the swing of creating their own delicious dishes.

For big-city givers, check into cooking classes in Dallas, cooking classes in San Francisco and cooking classes in New Orleans for the perfect course.

You'll also find online cooking classes that offer fun opportunities for learning to cook at home.

12. Give an Edible Advent Calendar

When arranging favorite things gift exchange ideas, advent calendars make fun and simple solutions. From simple cardboard pop-outs with candy hidden behind each window to troves of whiskey samplers with a taste for every day of the month, you'll find an array of gift exchange ideas to make your recipient jolly.

13. Family Dinner Gift Exchange

For clans who love creative cuisine, restaurant gift cards make great family gift ideas. Choose a chain location that's popular with the group or pick up a certificate from a smaller local eatery for a gift exchange idea that helps small businesses.

14. Mix Up Their Bartender Tools

Home cocktail crafters will appreciate who includes additions to their home bar set up among their gift exchange ideas.

A full mixology kit with a shaker, a muddler, strainers and bottle openers like the sets at Amazon will get the new bartender off to a great start or help an experienced mixer get their bar tended properly.  It's perfect if you're looking for home bar ideas for your gift exchange.

15. Shower Them With Chocolate

Your gift exchange ideas would be incomplete without including the gift of chocolate! A box of signature truffles from Compartes is not only a delicious present, but it's also one of the most artful confections your recipient could ever receive.

For those with a more ravenous sweet tooth, you can load up on less expensive bars and bonbons to keep their cravings contained.

16. Lift Someone's Spirits

Bottles of choice liquor and wine are welcome gift exchange ideas in almost every holiday party scenario, especially when included among your work Christmas party ideas.

A single selection of something prime wrapped in a bow makes a spectacular top-tier gift. You can also throw a few budget-friendly options in a pretty gift bag for a gift exchange idea that helps your funds go a little further.

17. Make a Basket

Putting together a basket filled with fun treats provides a variety of gift exchange ideas you can customize for specific recipients.

A basket of movie treats and a Netflix or movie theater gift card gives cinema lovers a sweet treat to unwrap, while a selection of spices and seasonings will encourage a budding gourmet to expand their culinary horizons. There are tons of unique gift basket ideas to choose from!

18. Refill Their Mug

A coffee subscription from Bean Box is just the gift exchange idea for the coffee lover who can't get enough. Your recipient can look forward to new beans and grounds from all around the world or choose their favorites for monthly refills.

Get them started with a three-month sign-up so they can sample the goods and see what's brewing.

19. Gift Some Gadgets

Your gift exchange ideas can improve the kitchen lives of your foodie friends when you give helpful gadgets. An all-inclusive utensil set will refresh their tools and set them on a path toward new culinary creations.

For gourmet gearheads, specialty items like kitchen torches and BBQ branding irons will provide fun implements to set their imaginations ablaze. 

Gift Exchange Games for Large Groups

20. White Elephant

With the white elephant exchange idea, gifts with numbered tags are placed anonymously on a central table. Player one draws numbers from a cup and opens the gift that corresponds to their number.

Player two can either steal the first guest's gift or choose a number from the cup to receive their gift. Play continues until everyone has opened a gift.

After all gifts are opened, player one has a chance to swap gifts with anyone in the group. Create a list of white elephant gift ideas that can be enjoyed by anyone who claims them.

21. Secret Santa

Secret Santa gift exchange ideas may be the most familiar of all holiday present swaps. Participants choose the name of their recipient at random and exchange their gifts anonymously. Everyone reveals who they shop for as the gifts are unwrapped.

A fun twist on Secret Santa gift exchange ideas in the workplace includes leaving a small present on the recipient's desk each day of the week leading up to Christmas.   

22. Gift Auction

Looking for gift exchange games for large groups? A gift auction is just the thing to get the gang excited! Along with their wrapped gift, each participant provides a brief, three-adjective description of their contribution. For example, a candle could be described as fragrant, homey and decorative.

Guests receive 10 "credits" to use when bidding on gifts. The auctioneer reads the description for the first gift and starts the bidding at one credit.

Bidders raise their hands to signal their interest until the highest bid is reached. The auctioneer then moves to the next gift and bidding continues until all gifts have been claimed.   

23. Musical Presents

A holiday version of musical chairs, a game of musical presents sets the gift exchange ideas to music, preferably seasonal tunes everyone can sing along to! The group gathers around a table where one wrapped package at a time is passed around while a Christmas carol plays.

The present passing continues until the holiday carol stops. Whoever ends up with the gift is out of the game, and another present is passed around among the remaining participants. Game play continues until everyone has a gift to open.

24. Plastic Wrap Ball

For gift exchanges where both the groups and the presents are small, a plastic wrap ball exchange creates a suspenseful swap with layers of excitement built in. The host receives the group's wrapped gifts and wraps them again, this time between layers in an ever-growing ball of plastic wrap.

Each participant takes a turn unwrapping layers until they find a gift. The ball passes to the next player, continuing until all the gifts have been claimed. Items like gift cards, small trinkets and tech doodads work best for this game, allowing the plastic wrap to fully conceal each gift. 

25. Grab Bag Gift Exchange

Wondering how to do a grab bag gift exchange? The simplest method is to have participants add their gifts to Santa's Bag and allow everyone to reach in and choose a present at random to open.

If anyone draws out the gift they brought, they can drop it back in and try again. Exchangers can either open their gifts as they draw them or unwrap them all as a group once the bag is empty.

Gift Exchange Games for Small Groups

26. Holiday Trivia Gift Grab

Plan a gift exchange idea centered around festive trivia to give your holiday work party a little extra sparkle. Using a list of trivia questions like the one published by Parade, challenge your team to answer correctly to win their pick of gifts from the pile.

You can also select a gift to serve as a prize for each question, ramping up the competition as players vie for whichever present entices them most.

27. Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt is a fun small group gift exchange idea to get the group interacting before the unwrapping begins. The host designates a search area and hides participants' wrapped gifts within the boundaries.

Then, the team sets out to find a gift before returning to the party table. Everyone takes a turn explaining where they found their gift as they unwrap them.     

28. Candy Cane Spin

Give your gift exchange games for small groups a sweet twist by using a candy cane as a game spinner.

Arrange the gifts in a circle and let each participant give the candy cane a spin to determine which gift they'll open. The final spinner gets the last gift and the candy cane as a bonus prize.  

29. Roll the Dice

One of the simplest gift exchange games is a simple dice roll. Gifts are numbered two through twelve, and each guest takes a turn rolling the dice to choose the gift that matches their roll. If the gift has already been taken, the guest keeps rolling until they roll a number of available gifts. 

There are some simple aspects to think about when planning your swap. For example, how many people do you need for a gift exchange? The easy answer is at least two, but the bigger the group is, the more fun the variety of gifts will be.

For smaller groups, exchanging a few gifts will allow givers to put more imagination into their shopping. You can have participants choose names or let everyone buy a gift for all other members of the group.    

What are the rules for a gift exchange? Whatever you want them to be! For the gifts themselves, it's best to set a price limit to keep shopping easy and make the gifts relatively equal. Be sure to think about a price that will work best for the entire group to keep things fair.

For a gift exchange game, consider choosing an activity that maximizes fun during both the distribution and the opening of the gifts. This will extend the excitement and turn the gift exchange itself into a full-fledged holiday party from start to finish.

For even more fun gift ideas, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!