Present Swap Game

  • 30
  • 60
Time
+ -

Benefits
  • Bring Joy
  • Stay Active
  • Celebrate Achivement
+ -

Participants
  • Group Activity

What you need

  1. 3 small wrapped gifts labelled clearly with 1, 2 and 3 (they could be chocolate, soap, a hairbrush or tissues)
  2. 2 large packs of playing cards
  3. Bag of chocolate for the group

Intro

Who doesn’t love getting a present?! In this fun game, emotions run high as you gain and lose gifts, until three people ultimately get to keep them.

This is a great game to play whenever there’s a special occasion or time of year where you want to play with prizes. Christmas is especially good, as you can use festive wrapping paper.

Warning! This game can get quite competitive. So explain to everyone how the game works first, letting them know that they will probably get their gift ‘stolen’ before they might win it. It’s all part of the fun!

The Activity

  1. Deal out one pack of cards to the group – there should be enough for about 5 cards each (if you’re playing with a small group, only use 2 suits from the pack)
  2. Get the presents ready to go
  3. Take the second set of cards – these are the calling cards
  4. Draw the first card and tell the group what it is
  5. The person with the matching card gets to choose a prize (1, 2 or 3). Don’t let them open it yet – they just need to hold on to it for now
  6. Remind the group that at this point the prize is not necessarily theirs yet, as someone else might ‘steal’ it from them. Don’t worry, it’s all part of the game!
  7. Draw the next card and once again invite the person with the card to pick a present (1, 2 or 3). Again, don't let them open it
  8. Presents can get ‘stolen’ from one another at this stage. If someone has present 1 but then another person wants it when they match a card, they can take it
  9. Continue calling the cards and swapping the presents until all the cards have been called out
  10. The people who are left with the gifts at the very end get to open and keep them!
  11. Hand around the bag of chocolate, so the people who didn’t win don’t feel left out
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