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Tag: Yankee Swap

December 14, 2025

How to Prevent Yankee Swap from Ruining Your Holiday Spirit

Here are three important ways I approach this group game to help minimize the pain if you don’t feel like a winner at your next Yankee Swap.

Many years ago, I learned the art of Yankee Swap. And that’s when I figured out it’s also a sport. This group holiday gifting game goes by other names, including Secret Santa and White Elephant. 

If you haven’t yet participated, Yankee Swap is a game of chance, as everyone first picks a number out of a hat to determine the order of gift selection from an anonymous pile of presents. However, there’s plenty of strategy involved, especially if family members ‘unofficially’ align as a team.

Yankee Steal
There are variations on the rules, but in short, each person picks a wrapped gift and then decides whether to keep or swap it with a previously opened present. If everyone gets into the spirit of the game, it becomes ‘Yankee Steal.’ There’s usually a gift or two that everyone wants, that those get swapped multiple times throughout the game.

So, if played properly, this game is effectively about stealing the best gift for yourself and leaving everyone else with the lumps of coal. (You’ve got to feel comfortable being a little ruthless.)

Three Ways to Feel Like a Winner
I must admit that after participating in this holiday tradition many times, I often found myself disappointed with the results. (Statistically, that’s going to happen to many players.)

So, I’ve learned a few tricks that help me feel like a winner, no matter what happens. Here are my top three tips:

#1
Worst Gift Ever
Yes, it’s always nice to give and receive a great gift. But a terrible gift… that can actually be the best Yankee Swap present ever. But it has to be over-the-top bad. If so, it will get a huge laugh in the group. 

The best ‘worst’ gift I ever saw was a 15-pound frozen turkey gift wrapped in a box. Priceless.

I’ve given my share of intentionally terrible gifts over the years. A few of my favorites include:

  • Ugly Lumberjack Winter Hat 
    (for a Brooklyn/Manhattan crowd)
  • Giant Angry Bird plush toy 
    (This one was an unexpected hit.)
  • NapSack Sleep Hood 
    (This was just a box with a photo of a man sleeping on a bench wearing a blue sack over his head. The box was empty. The gag was just the silly idea of it.)

#2
A Boring Gift Should Not Affect your Holiday Zen
But a boring Yankee Swap gift is that exactly that… and nobody wants one of those. Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of nicely wrapped boxes fall into this category. 

And these are the ones that can really suck the holiday spirit out of your soul. There’s nothing you can really do about it, other than accept it’s like walking into a casino… the house usually wins. 

So, the next step is to recognize that this game should be more about the fun and laughs…not snagging the best gift. That’s how you can retain your holiday Zen when holding that useless item. 

Yes, it will surely go in the garbage when you get home (or banished to your regifting pile, if you do that). But you’re still smiling thinking about that frozen turkey Uncle Harry got.

#3
Bring a Gift You Wouldn’t Mind Getting Back
I can’t tell you the number of times someone swapped back my own gift with me, especially the ones that were ‘terrible.’ That’s the result of other players learning my gifting style over the years and predicting I was the original culprit.

So, I’ve adapted my strategy a bit and made sure that I would be happy enough taking home whatever Yankee Swap gift I show up with.

That can also make shopping much easier. Simply buy a gift that you’d want for yourself. (That increases the odds you’ll bring home a present you can use.)

The Real Gift is Spending Time with Your Group
New England often has harsh winters. Yankee Swaps are no different. So, mindset matters more than anything when playing this game.

Remember, this is not about the present. It’s about being together with a group of people and having fun. It’s about celebrating this little world you’re a part of… family, friends, and yes… maybe even co-workers.

It’s about time well spent, being together… and not alone. And that’s usually a gift worth celebrating.

Happy Holidays, and here’s to always feeling like a winner at every Yankee Swap!

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December 17, 2023

Why the Worst Gift is the Best Gift for Yankee Swap

Don’t get angry the next time you’re stuck with a terrible Yankee Swap gift. Here’s how to even the odds for a happier outcome.

Many years ago, when I lived in Massachusetts, I learned about the fun but sometimes-unsettling holiday party game of Yankee Swap. Also known as Secret Santa, it’s essentially a group gifting game. But really, it’s a forced gift swap/stealing game. The item you choose is rarely the gift you end up with, because someone else can take it from you!

You can play it with family or work colleagues. I’ve done both, and I learned long ago that playing naughty makes the game much more fun. You just can’t allow yourself to get too attached to any of the gifts.

The Brutal Rules of Yankee Swap
Here are the basics: Everyone brings a wrapped gift, which then gets anonymously grouped with the other gifts. Often there’s a suggested gift cost, like $25-$30.

Participants pick numbers out of a hat and then each person gets their turn to choose a wrapped gift and unwrap it in front of the group. Then, they have the option to swap it with an already unwrapped gift that someone else has chosen.

Said another way, everyone gets their moment to steal away someone else’s gift. (Well, that’s not true for the first person to go.) And as you would expect, the last person can do the final swap. So that’s the best position to be in. (The number you choose matters in how well you can do in the game.)

The Ultimate Turkey
Obviously certain gifts appeal to different people. That said, there’s usually that one item that everyone wants and a couple that are stinkers.

Usually, a stinker is one that’s average and uninspired. Sometimes it’s a clear regifting moment. But one year from my Massachusetts days, I got inspired by a real stinker gift. It was hardly boring.

It was a 15lb frozen turkey! How absurdly wonderful was that? Everyone’s jaws dropped.

Sure… I suppose anyone could use a frozen turkey, unless you’re a vegetarian, but it’s a terrible gift… the ultimate turkey.

But it was still the star of the show. Everyone couldn’t stop talking about it for days.

You Can’t Stop Me
From that year on as I play the game, I’ve been drawn to the art of providing the perfect terrible gift. It wasn’t from a mean intent. Rather it was designed to maximize the fun.

But there were two problems with my strategy. First, my extended family eventually figured out my handiwork, and I got the reputation as a wacky gift giver. And then as a group response to repel my disruptive play, I would often end up with my own rotten gift. How ironic.

So, then I evolved my terrible gift choices to items that I actually liked, even if nobody else did.

I Like Terrible!
Here are a few examples of my past Yankee Swap gifts:

  • Star Wars Light Saber BBQ Grill Tongs
  • Red Lumberjack Winter Hat
  • Giant Angry Bird plush toy (This one was an unexpected hit.)
  • Huge diamond paperweight

Certainly, it’s an eclectic list. Not for everyone. That’s the point.

But I eliminated the downside, because I would still be okay being stuck with my own terrible gift.

Ho Ho Ho
So, the next time you go shopping for an upcoming Yankee Swap party, if you aren’t inspired to find a great gift, go in the opposite direction. Choose the absurd.

If it raises eyebrows, you’ve succeeded.

And if the swapping process brings it back to you, this worst gift will still bring you some holiday joy. I say that’s how to play Yankee Swap!

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