Need teen white elephant gift ideas for a teen holiday party, teenager Christmas sleepover, or gag gifts for Christmas, or wondering what can I do instead of exchanging gifts for Christmas? Play the White Elephant gift exchange gifts (aka: Yankee swap) for fun holiday ideas for teens and tweens and a great group party game for any time of year (and we even have directions on how does a white elephant gift exchange work if you’ve never played!).
BEST TEEN WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT IDEAS 2024
Whether you’re looking for funny cheap Christmas gifts, funny gift exchange ideas or gag gift ideas for Christmas, these are perfect white elephant gift ideas teenage girl or guy, youth group white elephant gift ideas, high school Christmas party ideas, and tween gift exchange ideas or even Secret Santa ideas! So, what white elephant gift exchange gifts are the best? Here are cool gifts for teens and cool white elephant gifts ideas…
What are some good white elephant gift ideas?
56 Cool Gifts For Teens For A Holiday Party Gift Exchange:
- AirPods or earphones / headphones
- Membership to a local museum, zoo, etc.
- Taylor Swift merch
- Cash (wrapped in a really pretty box for a useful gift / practical gifts)
- Apple gift cards or Amazon gift cards
- Touchscreen winter gloves / tech gloves
- Eco friendly reusable straws
- Membership to a subscription box
- Box full of snacks
- Set of random vinyl stickers for laptops, phone cases, and drink cups
- Lego brick sets
- Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza game
- Funny t-shirt (novelties shirts)
- Phone or tablet stand
- Lip balm set
- Giant lobster claws hands or Hulk hands
- Gift card to a local movie theater
- Funny mug with gourmet hot chocolate packs
- Coupons to local events or small businesses
- Gift card for digital game downloads
- Giant Jenga (or other oversized lawn games)
- Card games
- Fanny packs
- Bluetooth trackers
- Stuff animals or Squishmallows
- Oversized jumbo playing cards
- Funny board games
- TikTok lighting set
- VSCO girl drink cup pack (drink cup, metal straw, save the turtles patches, lip balm, etc.)
- Apple AirTags
- Different Gummy Bears gift package
- Donut pillow
- Burrito blanket
- Mermaid tail blanket
- Poo “Jenga” Game
- Gourmet or unique chocolate bars (we got these one year and people still talk about it!)
- Bonsai tree (or other seed starter kits)
- Hot dog bun and toaster
- Sushi socks, pizza socks, or socks with funny sayings
- Funny stickers and a Hydro Flask
- Breakfast sandwich maker press
- Amazon giftcard
- Fun desk accessories
- Star Wars theme gifts
- Cool coffee drink tumbler and gift card to a local coffee shop, hot chocolate or apple cider packs (or a coffee mug with gift cards – teens love this Bob Ross mug!)
- Screaming Goat (perfect gag gift for White Elephant swap!) – we fought over this gift at our gift exchange!
- UFO Cow Abduction
- Sushi sock set
- Mini corn hole
- LED photo clip lights or string lights
- Headphone hat
- 101 Pooping Puppies puzzle
- Scratchy notes set
- Shape shifting cube
- Mini blue tooth speaker
- Disco light drone
- Cinema light box with changeable message
- Poop Shoot game
- DIY journal set
- Box of retro candies
- Light up word clock
- Portable iPhone charger
- Temporary tattoo markers
- Chia poo head
- Microwave s’mores maker
These make the best Secret Santa gifts for teens or great stocking stuffers, too!
If you’ve had fun white elephant gift exchange for teens that teenagers love, let us know and we’ll add them to our list! Keep scrolling for more festive gift exchange game ideas, more white elephant gifts for teens and examples of white elephant gifts, and how to play White Elephant games (white elephant rules)!
GAME PLAY TIP: Don’t stress about the best gifts! Great gift ideas for teens for the holiday season are funny gifts! If you’re at a loss, ask college students or teenagers for best white elephant gift ideas for teens or best gag gifts! Or, look for things with five star reviews.
Any item that would be fun gift exchange ideas for friends are great white elephant present ideas! (Also think: gag gifts for teenagers!) Just be sure to set a gift cost limit and then stay within the limit! Also, sometimes it’s funny to include a bad gift or two that you KNOW people will want to get rid of to encourage swapping and gift stealing.
DON’T MISS: Gift Exchange Theme Ideas and Dice Game Ideas For Holiday Parties
Before we get to the holiday gift exchange party game rules, you may be wondering…
What is a white elephant gift?
A white elephant gift is part of a Christmas gift exchange where party goers steal wrapped gifts without knowing what is inside. A white elephant gift usually has a set dollar limit (like $25 and under — even just $10 gifts!) and can be any new present that the person wants to bring as a gift to exchange.
CHRISTMAS GAME TIP: Set a spending limit! If you set a gift price as the best white elephant gifts $40, you may be making the price too high. People can easily find unique elephant gifts / good gifts for high schoolers cheaper.
You can also put on the holiday party invitation what types of gifts to bring: luxurious, but impractical, or funny Christmas gag gift, gift cards only, or any gift within the price range.
Original white elephant gifts were gag gifts, but your gifts can be any type of cool elephant gifts you want.
Just be sure you’re clear about any holiday theme or item requirements for gift exchange gift ideas on the invites so that there’s no confusion about your teenage white elephant gift ideas.
TIP: It’s better to make white elephant gifts gender neutral so anyone who gets the white elephant present can enjoy it.
Let’s get to our practical and hilarious white elephant gift ideas for young adults and the game rules…
White Elephant Gift Rules And Game FAQs
How To Play The White Elephant Gift Exchange
The goal of a White Elephant Gift Exchange Party is to entertain the party attendees while also getting a fun gift.
(See our huge list of teenage gift exchange ideas if you’re wondering what are good gifts for white elephant!)
If you’ve never played, you’ll be surprised what the partygoers fight over for what becomes the highly sought after gift or the cool elephant gift ideas.
So you can go for the easy white elephant gift ideas over the nice gifts for white elephant if you want!
What’s a great white elephant gift is solely up to you!
One year at our White Elephant Party, the most popular gift that everyone fought over was a fanny farting bank.
FOR REAL.
It’s one of the most creative white elephant gifts we’ve ever given and it was a huge hit!
(Who knew this was one of those white elephant gifts everyone will fight for?! Great for hilarious white elephant gifts!)
So don’t be afraid to get silly for your cool gift ideas for white elephant parties.
If you’re hosting a white elephant gift exchange but have never played the White Elephant game, here’s the white elephant gift process…
How do white elephant gifts work?
The White Elephant Gift Exchange Game works like this:
- Everyone attending the party brings one, wrapped gift within the budget limit. (You usually set and affordable price range like $10 white elephant gifts or no more than $20 gifts.) There should be one gift for each person playing the Christmas game. For example, if there is a family of four and each person wants to leave with a gift, that family needs to bring four wrapped gifts. Each gift should be wrapped so that it can’t be identified. (Sometimes we overwrap our gifts, like a box in a box in a box, to make them seem more enticing.)
- All gifts are placed on a table near where you are going to play the game.
- Party guests then sit in a circle. The first player (Player A) chooses a gift and unwraps the gift and sets it aside, but where other players can see it.
- The next player (Player B) has two choices: steal gifts or choose a new gift! Player can steal Player A’s unwrapped gift or choose a wrapped gift from the table. If Player B chooses Player A’s gift, player A chooses another wrapped gift from the table and unwraps it. It is then Player C’s turn. Player C can choose Player A’s unwrapped gift, Player B’s unwrapped gift, or a wrapped gift from the table.
- Play continues until the last wrapped gift on the table has been unwrapped and all players have a gift. When the last wrapped gift is unwrapped the game ends.
How do you pick a white elephant gift?
There are several ways to pick white elephant gifts:
1. USE SWAPPY THE WHITE ELEPHANT GAME
Swappy The White Elephant Game is a cute white elephant that has cards that you draw out of an area on his back.
Each card gives a different direction for swapping and stealing gifts.
It’s a really fun twist to a gift swap exchange and will be a huge hit for a white elephant gift teenager game!
2. GO IN ORDER
For your white elephant gift for teens party, have everyone sit in a circle. Choose a person to go first.
After the first person plays, the person immediately to their left either chooses the first person’s gift or chooses a new gift.
Game play continues in order around the circle until the last person has gone and there are no more new gifts to choose or unwrap.
3. DRAW NUMBERS
For this version of the white elephant gift for teenager game, have everyone draw numbers.
(You can write out numbers for white elephant gift exchange or use this handy White Elephant Party Kit).
Each party attendee goes in order of their number and follows the rules of either stealing a present from another person or choosing an unwrapped gift from the table.
(We like this version of white elephant for teens games because it skips around and you never know who is going next until you get to the number.)
Is a white elephant gift new or used?
Unless otherwise stated by the holiday party invitation or host, a white elephant gift is always a new, wrapped gift that falls in within the price limit set by the party host.
For a teen party, make the white elephant gift ideas for 12 year olds and up.
About the White Elephant Gift Price Limit
What is a good unisex gift for white elephant?
When playing the white elephant swap game, you need to be aware of your guests and set an appropriate price limit. If you’re having a tween or tween holiday party, set the limit to be a $10 white elephant gift or $20 white elephant gift. That means each person shouldn’t spend more than $10 or more than $20 on a gift (but it can be less).
Always set a white elephant gift limit maximum for your white elephant presents!
(To be safe, keep it at unisex white elephant gift ideas $20 and under for coed white elephant gift ideas.)
While gift exchanges are great Christmas party ideas for teens, remember that not everyone has the extra money for expensive gifts!
Setting a cost limit range for teenage white elephant gifts will be helpful to party guests and they can get creative white elephant gifts within that range.
And, to be honest, the inexpensive white elephant gifts are often the funniest and most popular (even over the really cool white elephant gifts)!
What do you wear to a white elephant party?
What you wear to a White Elephant party will be dictated by the host on the holiday party invitation. Some hosts have a theme white elephant party, where you dress following the theme. Others just have a regular Christmas party with a white elephant game as part of the party. Then, you would wear festive holiday sweaters, holiday party dresses, etc. If in doubt, ask the hosts what you should wear to the white elephant party event.
TO GO ALONG WITH WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT IDEAS FOR TEENS, ALSO CHECK OUT:
Teen Christmas Sleepover Ideas and Teenage Christmas Party Ideas
Teen New Year’s Eve Sleepover Ideas
But what if you need to shop teen white elephant gift ideas at the last minute or need last-minute elephant game gifts ideas?
No worries!
We have one of the best ideas for white elephant gift exchange if you forgot you needed a gift or need last-minute white Santa gifts!
Easy Last Minute White Elephant Gift Ideas
Gift cards are a great last-minute Christmas gift idea for a White Elephant party because you can run into a convenience store on the way to a party and then just throw it into a gift bag. For a holiday teen party or white elephant gift ideas for youth group, think gift cards for coffee shops, fast food restaurants, a hot new video game console release or gamer membership, or even a popular teen clothing store. Gift card gifts are a perfect white elephant gift for male or female.
A gift card is also good for white elephant gift virtual holiday party because you can make a coupon for a gift card and then email a gift card to the winner.
(For example, you can do a virtual gift card from Amazon for great Christmas gifts for high schoolers.)
These are all gender neutral teenage gifts and easy white elephant gifts.
Gifts for white elephant $20 are inexpensive white elephant gift ideas teens will love!
More Christmas Party Games For Teens
ALONG WITH WHITE CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS, ALSO CHECK OUT THESE OTHER FUN HOLIDAY PARTY GAMES AND GIFT EXCHANGE GAME IDEAS:
(Gift bingo swap is one of our favorite alternatives to white elephant gift exchange and fun for teenager gift exchange ideas, too!)
What are your favorite Christmas exchange gift ideas or youth white elephant gift ideas?
Let us know your best cheap white elephant gifts and we’ll add them to our white elephant gift ideas teenage list!
We hope you have fun with these teen white elephant gift ideas!
