Spread a little love and joy with a Secret Sisters Gift Exchange. Include a fun twist for giving out name assignments – under a scratch off sticker!
I’ve participated in dozens of gift exchanges and every single one has been a blast. There are white elephant gifts exchanges, rules for stealing gifts & swapping, and ideas for multiple days, donations, and more.
This year, we’re encouraging our youth group to do a little bit of service along with their gift exchange.
How We’re Playing During Social Distancing
Due to current circumstances, we decided pulling names out of a hat at a gathering wasn’t the best way to launch our game. So we got to work brainstorming a way to get the word out and the assignments.
We created a brief survey (with a few questions about favorite foods, candy, color, scripture, etc.) using Google Forms. Then we sent the link in our weekly email and texted a reminder to our girls.
Our ward has recently been realigned and we’ve had quite a few new girls move in, so we’re working to encourage unity despite the fact that we’re social distancing.
We’ll print off responses and staple it to the back of the card with their name on it to help the girls get to know each other a little better. We’ve put a list of rules on the back of the card (this list is included in the file, but you could easily just leave it off!) setting our game rules:
- date for when to have them drop their final gift off ($5 limit on the gift exchange)
- ideas for things to do – heart attack their door, pray for them, shoot them a text, etc. during the days of our game
- write a thoughtful note to include with the gift or to drop off at another time
Doing mailbox drops works really well in our area – a leader drives the neighborhood dropping our items in the mailbox after our mailman has come through for the day – then we send a group text to let everyone know they’ve got a prize in their mailbox!
To keep things mysterious we landed upon these scratch off stickers – and I’m happy to report it’s every bit as fun and satisfying to scratch it off now as it was when I was a kid. (Do you remember these sometimes coming on advertisements in the mail too?)
Supplies for Prepping Your Secret Sisters Gift Exchange
Here’s what you’ll need to create your own Secret Sister Gift Exchange (there are cards that say Secret Santa Gift Exchange included – just in case you’ve got a mixed group or prefer that option!)
- download the file below for the gift exchange assignment cards
- white cardstock
- scratch off stickers
- ribbon
- candy canes
- paper trimmer or scissors
- hole punch
First you’ll want to open the file and type in the names of all the participants. The PDF is editable, meaning you can click on the “Name Goes Here” and type in whatever you’d like. Then print and cut your pages – be sure to attach any additional details about the girls you might be including before you stick the scratch off sticker on!
Tie your candy cane on and you’re ready for your mailbox drops!
*Note: The first page of the file has “Secret Sister” but I get that you might want to use the cards for a mixed group or just prefer Santa so the 3rd page of the file has “Secret Santa”.
