The Best White Elephant Gifts Everyone Will Fight For
Perfectly Useless Gifts For The Best White Elephant Gift Exchange
We love a good gift exchange for a fun party game to liven up any crowd, and the sillier the better. Our favourites are Bad Santa and White Elephant style gift swaps where the goal is theoretically to try and end up with the best gift.... but in reality it's the ridiculous and useless gifts you probably don’t want that everyone will fight for the most.
If you've been invited to a White Elephant gift exchange party and don't know what to bring, we have fun and frivolous (and ultimately useless) gift ideas that everyone will want. The funniest thing about a white elephant gift swap is it's always the most absurd or impractical gifts that are the ones that get stolen the most!
What is a white elephant gift exchange?
The purpose of a white elephant gift exchange is not to give a sweet or sought-after gift but to entertain party-goers with the most hilarious and useless gift possible. Unlike a Bad Santa gift swap, a White Elephant gift exchange is fun at any time of year. Group gatherings like a bachelor party or hens night, a graduation party, family reunion, or office party are all great occasions to host a white elephant gift exchange.
What kind of gifts do you bring to a white elephant party?
A white elephant gift exchange party is only ever as fun as the gifts people choose to bring. It's not about bringing a bad gift. You want a gift worth stealing, even though no one has any idea what they are going to do with it when they get it home! Funny white elephant gift ideas that are impractical but make everyone laugh are the best things to choose.
Novelty and funny gifts are a great place to start looking for good white elephant gift ideas. But, often, what makes a good gift for one person is totally useless for someone else. So you can often find inspiration in unlikely places. A pregnancy belly plaster cast kit might be lovely for an expectant mum, but makes a hilarious white elephant gift at a party full of blokes with beer guts.
How To Play: White Elephant Game Rules
The White Elephant game can be played with a lot of different house rules, but the basic rules of this fun gift exchange are:
- A monetary value is determined by the White Elephant gift exchange organiser - typically between $25 and $50.
- Everyone brings a gift that is wrapped so no-one can guess what it is.
- The gifts are all deposited into a common gift pool.
- Players draw a random number to determine the order of play.
- Everyone sits in a circle around the central pile of gifts.
- The first player chooses a gift from the pile and opens it for everyone to see.
- The next player can either steal that gift, or choose an unopened gift from the centre pile.
- When a player's gift is stolen, they can either choose an unopened present from the pile, or steal someone else's gift.
- Play continues in order until everyone has had a chance to open or steal a gift.
- The game is over when everyone has a present.
To keep things fun and fair, there are a couple of limits on gift swapping:
- A gift can only be stolen once per round.
- When a person's gift is stolen, they can't steal it back. They have to either choose from the pile or steal someone else's present.
- Each gift can only be stolen three times per game (or twice per game if playing with less than 10 players).
Host's Advantage rule variation means the host goes first. In this case, at the end of the game when everyone has chosen or stolen a gift, the host can, if desired, steal any gift from any player.
Three Strikes And You're Out rule variation means a player can only be stolen from 3 times at which point they get to keep the gift they are holding.
What would be a good white elephant gift?
The best white elephant gifts are the perfect balance of weird, wonderful, and wildly impractical. You want to choose something that is borderline useless, but also strangely appealing! Funny white elephant gifts everyone will fight for and boast about winning, but also have absolutely no need for! Useless gifts that make everyone laugh when they open it, and everyone else covet it.
If you're buying gag gifts for co-workers, be sure to keep things tasteful. Ridiculous gifts will get a laugh, but a white elephant should be fun for everyone. An office Bad Santa or White Elephant gift swap is not the place for inappropriate gifts. A bachelor party, on the other hand, might have an entirely different set of rules.
Our Top 10 White Elephant Gift Ideas
1. Sweet Treats Mini Vending Machine
Nobody needs it, but everyone will want it.
$29
Ready for any little accident.
$10
The perfect white elephant gift for a summer BBQ.
$19
A classic gag gift that never goes out of style.
$15
5. Beautiful Poetry Of Donald Trump
One can never have too many poetry books.
$25
A classic for a bucks party if the budget allows.
$79
Everyone is going to want this present!
$49
8. Billy Bass Wall Mounted Singing Fish
The most popular useless gift ever!
$70
9. Fake Sunscreen Stealth Flask
This white elephant gift idea is actually useful!
$22
A clunky controller with out-dated games, they'll all want it!
$29
All The Best Fun Gift Ideas Online From Gifts Australia
Browse funny gifts for women and the ever popular novelty gifts for men for even more gift ideas. For every gifting occasion and for every type of recipient and budget, from thoughtful gifts they'll love, to useless gifts they didn't know they needed, you'll find all the best presents online at Gifts Australia.
