Yankee Swap Directions
During the holidays, you can turn your gift-giving and receiving experience into a game. Yankee Swap, for example, is a twisted spin off of the traditional Secret Santa gift giving party. The twist with Yankee Swap is that the gifts are all traded back and forth repeatedly. Knowing the directions for playing Yankee Swap gives you the ability to present it as a game for your next office Christmas party or other holiday get-together.
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Instructions
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Instruct each guest of the Christmas party to bring a single unmarked gift.
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Write a number on each strip of paper, starting with one for the first strip, and ending with a number that matches the number of presents. For example, if there are 10 gifts there should be 10 strips each numbered.
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Add the strips of paper to a basket or a hat. Shake it and allow each guest to take a strip of paper.
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Sit the guests in a circle around the gifts or nearby them if it isn't possible to form a comfortable circle around them. Instruct the guest who got the number "1" strip of paper to take their choice out of the gifts. Allow them to take their time to choose the one they like by the appearance of the wrapped gifts. They are allowed to shake gifts slightly or move through the pile.
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Instruct the guest who got the number "2" strip of paper to take their turn. They must select a new gift from the pile. Now, they have a choice to either swap it with the gift opened by guest number "1", or keep the gift. From here, each guest, in the order of the strips of paper they received, chooses a gift from the pile. Each person, in order is allowed one turn to either swap with one of the other guests, or to keep their gift.
Choosing to keep a gift, however, doesn't mean you will get to keep it. If another guests chooses to swap, the gift you chose to keep must be swapped with the other guest.
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