This Christmas, Ditch Secret Santa And Try These 7 Things Instead!

It’s that time of year again for the annual round of Secret Santa at work! Secret Santa is clearly one of the fun things to do at work in December, but it can become a hassle sometimes. While some individuals enjoy seeing the festivities unfold, others are terrified of having to buy a gift for someone they barely know. Or, even worse, getting it incorrect and seeing someone get unhappy because the perfume kit didn’t suit them! 

7 Fun Alternatives To Secret Santa! 

So, for everyone who is searching for a fun alternative to the conventional Secret Santa game, we’ve come up with a mix of best employee engagement activities during Christmas and virtual employee engagement ideas for Christmas that will make holiday gift-giving less stressful.

1.  Make Use of Festive Vouchers

The goal of the game is to get everyone in the company to do something kind for someone else. It’s also one of the best office Christmas activities for coworkers to get to know one another better.

Everyone must draw a name to be matched with someone else in the office, just like conventional Secret Santa. Now it’s up to you to get creative and make a unique voucher for your recipient. Vouchers may be for a free cup of tea at any time, a free lunch, or a promise to buy them a bar of chocolate on a Friday afternoon.

2. Mystery Bags 

A thoughtful bundle full of Christmas delicacies is a fantastic way to bring seasonal cheer and is one of the best employee engagement activities during Christmas.

Everyone buys a tiny gift bag and stuffs it with their favorite Christmas delights, such as baked goods, candy bars, etc. Players choose numbers from a bag to determine the order of play, then choose the bag that appeals to them the most and find out what’s inside their mystery bag. 

3. Pirate Santa 

Pirate Santa is ideal for people who are always envious of others’ gifts!

Here’s how it works – 

• Everyone spends up to a certain limit on a funny surprise present
• All of the gifts will be wrapped and stacked
• The sequence of play is determined by the players picking numbers from a bag
• The player chooses a present
• The next player can either choose a fresh gift from the pile or ‘steal’ the gift from the previous player. If they choose to ‘steal,’ the preceding individual has the option of choosing a new unopened gift or ‘stealing’ from someone else
• The game continues until everyone has received a gift

You could turn this into one of the many virtual employee engagement ideas for Christmas by making all the gifts virtual. 

4. Christmas Auction

Amongst all the fun things to do at work in December, this is one of the best office Christmas activities for folks to obtain a new gift while also giving away something they no longer want. 

In this game, everybody brings in a piece of entertainment to give away, such as a book, a DVD, or a board game. After that, each piece is auctioned off. Each player is given 50 tokens with which to bid. The item goes to the highest bidder. When there are no more objects to bid on, or when players run out of tokens, the game ends.

If two or more players place the highest bid, the auctioneer will ask a series of trivia questions. The player who correctly answers the most questions wins. You could charge each person a nominal amount to play and donate the money to charity if you want to make it really special.

5. Guess The Gift

Guess The Gift is a game similar to Passing the Parcel, but for adults!

Everyone buys a gift worth up to a particular limit, with the stipulation that it be oddly shaped.

The gift will be wrapped and placed in a stack, and the players choose numbers from a bag to determine the order in which they will play. If the first person can’t figure out what the gift is, the gift must be handed on to the next player. The player who correctly guesses receives the present, and if no one does, a clue is offered, and the cycle begins again. You can make this a virtual game by having each one of your colleagues hold up their gift on Zoom and have everyone guess what it is.

6. Caffeine Swap

This is ideal for an office setting because no one knows your caffeine addiction better than your coworkers. Secret Santa-style, draw names from a hat and have each participant purchase a beautiful mug and a box of coffee or tea for their gift recipient. Make this a virtual game by having everyone draw names using an online site and then mailing your mug to the person you picked.

7. Wish List

Write your name and five present ideas that you’re truly wishing for this Christmas season on a piece of paper. Fold the paper, place it in a bowl with the papers of the other participants, and have each guest pick a new piece of paper randomly. It’s similar to Secret Santa, but with a larger probability of your present making your receiver happy. Another game that can easily be turned into a virtual version by using internet tools to draw names.

Wrapping- Up (Pun Intended!)

These are just a few suggestions to get your creative juices flowing. There are a plethora of other fun things to do at work in December and you’ll surely find one that works for your office. We hope you’ve gotten some great ideas for alternative Secret Santa presents! If you’d want to start a discussion about this at work, feel free to forward this post to your coworkers. Merry Christmas!