Whether it’s putting ornaments on the Christmas tree, spending time with family, or dumping all your money into buying overpriced gifts, the holidays come with many traditions. However, one of the more “interesting” traditions that comes with the holidays is the White Elephant game. 

For those who don’t know White Elephant, here’s how it works: it’s basically Secret Santa, but instead, you make the gifts as strange or as funny as possible, while still being something that someone would actually want.  In White Elephant, everyone is given a number, which becomes the order that they pick gifts. You can also steal a gift that someone else already took, if you really want to celebrate the Christmas spirit. 

While White Elephant is fun, a lot of presents in it end up being pretty boring. So if you want to make your gift stand out from the rest, and know how to pick one that isn’t horrible, keep reading.

When buying a gift, you want yours to stand out. For an easy stand out idea, get something that’s trendy–like something that’s big on Tik Tok. 

Another way to make your gift stand is by making it actually unique, while still being useful. I know that’s the entire point of the game, but most people don’t know what this really means. To find a unique gift, try thinking of a fun and useful product that most people wish they had, but never would actually go out of their way to buy.

Since your guests probably don’t have these unique presents, but have thought about buying them, the surprise of seeing these items comes with a thrill and excitement that is sure to make your gift wanted by most people.

There are also several ways to make your gift funny, but these strategies are a lot more unconventional.

The easiest way to do this is by just buying something that’s weird or an inside joke between you and one or a few of your guests.  What makes it even funnier is that while one side of the room will be laughing, the other side will look soulless. 

If you want to get creative however, there are other ways to make your gift funny, besides the actual item. 

If you hate your guests, then you can make them go on a mini scavenger hunt. For example, put a note inside the first box telling them to look under a chair. They’ll find a note under the chair telling them to flip the note around. Once they do that, they’ll find another note telling them to look under the couch, where they’ll finally find the actual present. You can take this as far as you want, but it’s sure to get some good laughs, and one person left traumatized.

By making it both unique and funny, you can make the perfect White Elephant gift. Above is an example of a unique present, a mini gumball machine, inside multiple boxes, making it funny.

Picking a stand-out gift is fun, but that’s only half of White Elephant. Let’s be real, most people in your family or friend group aren’t going to read this article, which means a lot of people’s gifts are not going to be good, and the only thing more important than making a good present, is taking a good present, so here are some strategies for that. 

Now I’ll admit that a lot of picking something good in White Elephant comes down to luck, but there is some strategy to it. Generally, getting a later number in the order is better, because you can steal anything right at the end. However, if you enjoy manipulating your friends and family, you can ruin the surprise and ask them what they bought. If they do tell you, and you want one of their presents and get an early number, you actually shouldn’t take it. If you do, it’s far more likely to be stolen. Instead, take a gift that you think will be relatively popular. That way, when it gets stolen, and you get to pick again, it will be in one of the later rounds, and you can pick the one you want. And even if you don’t get the one you want, you could always try to make a trade when the game is over.

Whether or not you make or take a good gift, all White Elephants really come down to is a way to have some laughs and some fun with your friends and family during the holidays.  Even if someone steals your present in the final round, watching you die inside, always try to have fun with it.