• 42 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Christmas Gift Exchange Ideas for Coworkers

Run the exchange at work as a secret gift week, a lunch-hour swap, or across shifts and time zones.

Christmas Gift Exchange Ideas for Coworkers

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  1. One Thank-You Each, Drawn by Name1. Draw names among those who signed up.2. Each person writes a thank-you to their colleague for one specific thing they did this year, such as covering a shift or explaining a system twice without sighing.3. Seal the notes in envelopes and hand them out together.4. Nothing is bought and nothing is read aloud unless the reader chooses.Gift: nothing bought. Players: 4 to 60. You need: note cards and envelopes.
  2. Swap Them Wrapped, Open Them Together1. Those who signed up bring a wrapped gift and draw numbers. In order, each person takes a gift and leaves it wrapped.2. Go around again in reverse order. This time each person may swap their wrapped gift for any other.3. Nobody knows what they are giving up, so nobody loses a gift they have grown fond of.4. Open everything on three.Gift: one wrapped gift each. Players: 6 to 30. You need: numbered slips.
  3. Cards for a Care Home1. Ask a local care home whether it welcomes holiday cards for its residents, and how many it would like.2. Set out blank cards and pens in the break room for a week.3. Anyone who wants to join writes a card with a plain winter greeting and signs with a first name.4. The organizer delivers the bundle in one envelope before the holiday.Gift: one gift from the whole team. Players: 5 to 100. You need: blank cards and pens.

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Secret gift weeks at the desk 7

  • A Card From Everyone, One Colleague a Day 1. List the working days left before the break and write one name beside each day, from those who signed up. 2. On your day, a card goes around the team while you are away from your desk. Everyone writes one line about something you did well this year. 3. The card is on your chair when you get back. 4. Nothing is bought, and the organizer keeps the list so that nobody is missed. Gift: nothing bought. Players: 5 to 25. You need: a card for each person and a list of days.
  • A Clue a Day About the Giver 1. Draw names among those who signed up. 2. There is one gift, and it comes on Friday. From Monday to Thursday, leave a clue card about yourself on your person's desk: a hobby, a home town, the floor you work on. 3. On Friday, each person writes their guess on the back of the last card before opening the gift. 4. Go around the room. A giver who was not guessed stands up. Gift: a gift for one colleague. Players: 6 to 30. You need: four clue cards for each person.
  • Desk Decoration Helpers 1. The sign-up sheet has a box to tick: "My desk may be decorated." Only those who tick it are in the draw. 2. Each day, add one paper decoration to your person's desk before they arrive, such as a paper chain, a cut-out snowflake or a folded star. 3. Nothing covers a screen, a keyboard or a walkway. 4. On the last day, everyone tours the desks and each person guesses their decorator. Gift: nothing bought. Players: 5 to 25. You need: colored paper, scissors and tape.
  • Five Small Desk Drops, Monday to Friday 1. Put up a sign-up sheet a week ahead. Only people who sign it are in the draw. 2. The organizer sets one cap for the whole week and draws a name for each person. 3. Each morning, leave one small thing on your person's desk before they arrive, such as a tea bag, a pen or a note. All five together stay under the cap. 4. On Friday, everyone guesses their giver out loud, and the givers own up. Gift: a gift for one colleague. Players: 6 to 30. You need: a sign-up sheet and slips for the draw.
  • Good Deed Week, Nothing Bought 1. Draw names among those who signed up. 2. Each day for a week, do one small helpful thing for your person without being seen: refill the printer by their desk, leave a kind note, bring their mail up. 3. Nothing is bought, and nothing touches their work itself. 4. On Friday, each person names the deeds they noticed and guesses who did them. Gift: nothing bought. Players: 5 to 30. You need: slips for the draw.
  • The Traveling Box 1. Write the names of everyone who signed up on the lid of a box, in a shuffled order. 2. The first person puts a small wrapped gift in the box and leaves it on the desk of the second name. 3. That person takes the gift, puts in one of their own for the next name, and passes the box on by the end of the day. 4. The last name on the lid leaves a gift for the first. Gift: a gift for one colleague. Players: 5 to 20. You need: a box with a lid and a marker.
  • Wish Cards on the Board Before the Draw 1. Anyone who wants to join pins a card to a board with three things they like that fit under the cap, and one thing to avoid, such as scents or nuts. 2. After a week, the organizer takes the cards down and deals them out face down. Nobody keeps their own. 3. Each giver buys from the card they hold. 4. Gifts go on desks on the last working day, with the wish card as the tag. Gift: a gift for one colleague. Players: 6 to 40. You need: a pin board, cards and pens.

Lunch-hour swaps with a number draw 7

  • Lunch-Break White Elephant, One Steal a Gift 1. White elephant, cut to fit a lunch break. Everyone who signed up brings one wrapped gift under the cap and draws a number. 2. In number order, open a wrapped gift or take an open one. Whoever is robbed opens a new gift and may not steal back. 3. A gift that has been stolen once is frozen with its new owner. 4. One steal a gift keeps the turns short enough for a lunch break. Gift: one wrapped gift each. Players: 6 to 25. You need: numbered slips.
  • One Gift per Agenda Item 1. Fold the exchange into the last team meeting of the year. Those who signed up bring a wrapped gift and draw a number at the door. 2. After each agenda item, the next number chooses a gift and opens it. 3. Nobody steals, so the meeting keeps moving. 4. If the numbers outlast the agenda, the rest open together at the end. Gift: one wrapped gift each. Players: 5 to 20. You need: numbered slips and the meeting agenda.
  • Open Together, Then One Trading Minute 1. Everyone who signed up brings one wrapped gift under the cap. Put the gifts in a pile and let each person take one that is not their own. 2. On three, everyone opens at once. 3. Start a one-minute timer. Any two people may swap, but only if both say yes. 4. When the timer rings, trading stops and everyone keeps what they hold. Gift: one wrapped gift each. Players: 6 to 40. You need: a timer.
  • Practical Gifts Only 1. The sign-up sheet says what counts: something a colleague would use at work or on the way there, such as an umbrella, a lunch box or a desk lamp. No joke gifts. 2. Everyone brings one wrapped gift under the cap and draws a number. 3. In order, each person chooses a wrapped gift and opens it. 4. After the last gift, anyone may swap with anyone who agrees. Gift: one wrapped gift each. Players: 6 to 30. You need: numbered slips.
  • Swap Them Wrapped, Open Them Together 1. Those who signed up bring a wrapped gift and draw numbers. In order, each person takes a gift and leaves it wrapped. 2. Go around again in reverse order. This time each person may swap their wrapped gift for any other. 3. Nobody knows what they are giving up, so nobody loses a gift they have grown fond of. 4. Open everything on three. Gift: one wrapped gift each. Players: 6 to 30. You need: numbered slips.
  • Table by Table in the Lunchroom 1. For a big team, seat everyone who signed up at tables of six, mixed across departments by a draw at the door. 2. Each table puts its six wrapped gifts in the middle and runs its own swap at the same time as the others. 3. At each table, the person whose birthday comes next picks first, then go clockwise. 4. A big team is done in the time one table takes. Gift: one wrapped gift each. Players: 12 to 100. You need: table numbers for the draw at the door.
  • Three-Word Tags, Pick by the Tag 1. Each person who signed up wraps a gift under the cap and ties on a tag with three words that describe it without naming it, such as "warm, striped, pair". 2. Lay the gifts out with the tags showing. 3. Draw numbers. In order, each person reads a tag aloud and takes that gift. 4. Open them together and vote for the tag that was the most honest. Gift: one wrapped gift each. Players: 6 to 30. You need: gift tags, pens and numbered slips.

One-kind swaps for the break room 7

  • A Book With a Note Inside the Cover 1. Each person who signs up brings one book they finished and liked. A second-hand copy is welcome. 2. Inside the cover, write one sentence about who would enjoy it. Do not sign it. 3. Wrap the books in plain paper and lay them out. Each person takes one. 4. Read the notes aloud and guess who brought each book. Gift: everyone brings the same kind of thing. Players: 5 to 30. You need: plain paper for wrapping.
  • A Puzzle for the Desk Drawer 1. Each person who signs up brings one small puzzle under the cap: a wire puzzle, a pocket jigsaw, a book of crosswords or a folding cube. 2. Wrap them and number them. 3. Draw numbers and hand each person the puzzle that matches. 4. Leave five minutes at the end for everyone to try what they got, and swap freely with anyone who would rather have yours. Gift: everyone brings the same kind of thing. Players: 5 to 30. You need: numbered slips.
  • A Snack From Where You Grew Up 1. Everyone who signs up brings one sealed snack from the town, region or country they grew up in, with the ingredients printed on the pack. 2. Add a card that says where it is from and when people eat it. 3. Lay the snacks out with their cards. Each person takes one home. 4. Before anyone picks, each person tells the story of their snack in one sentence. Gift: everyone brings the same kind of thing. Players: 5 to 30. You need: cards and pens.
  • Desk Plant Swap, Cuttings Welcome 1. Everyone who signs up brings one small plant for a desk, or a cutting rooted in a jar. 2. Tie on a card with its name and how often to water it. 3. Set the plants on the break room table and draw numbers. In order, each person chooses one. 4. Keep the cards by the sink, so whoever waters during the holidays knows what each one needs. Gift: everyone brings the same kind of thing. Players: 5 to 30. You need: care cards, string and numbered slips.
  • Hot Drink Jar Swap 1. Everyone who signs up fills one clean jar with a week of a hot drink: tea bags, ground coffee or cocoa mix, in its sealed shop packs. 2. Label the jar with what is inside and whether it has caffeine. 3. Line the jars up on the kitchen counter and draw numbers to choose. 4. Anyone who does not drink what they got swaps on the spot. Gift: everyone brings the same kind of thing. Players: 5 to 30. You need: jars, labels and numbered slips.
  • Mug Swap That Stays on the Break Room Hooks 1. A mug swap for a team that shares a kitchen. Everyone who signs up brings one mug under the cap, wrapped in newspaper. 2. Each person picks a parcel and unwraps it. 3. The mugs stay at work, on the hooks or the shelf, and each person writes their name on a strip of tape under theirs. 4. The mug with the most compliments by Friday earns its giver first pick next year. Gift: everyone brings the same kind of thing. Players: 5 to 30. You need: newspaper for wrapping, tape and a marker.
  • Next Year's Calendar Swap 1. Each person who signs up brings one wall or desk calendar for the coming year, wrapped flat. 2. On the wrapping, write one word about its pictures, such as "lighthouses" or "vegetables". 3. Each person picks by the word. 4. Before the calendars go up, everyone writes the team's shared dates in theirs: the first day back and the summer outing. Gift: everyone brings the same kind of thing. Players: 5 to 30. You need: pens.

Remote and hybrid exchanges 7

  • A Thank-You Thread Around the Clock 1. For a team spread over time zones, no call is needed. Draw names among those who signed up, and mail gifts to arrive before a set date. 2. On that date, the organizer opens one thread in the team channel. 3. As each person's working day begins, they open their gift, post a photo and thank the giver. 4. The thread fills in across a whole day, and everyone reads it over their own breakfast. Gift: a gift for one colleague. Players: 5 to 60. You need: a team channel.
  • Five Free Favorites 1. Each person who signs up writes a list of five things that cost nothing: a recipe, a walk, a long article, a podcast episode, a way to fold a paper star. 2. Draw names and send your list to your colleague. 3. Each person tries at least one thing from their list over the break. 4. On the first call of the year, everyone says which one they tried. Gift: nothing bought. Players: 4 to 60. You need: nothing.
  • Postcards From Where You Work 1. Everyone who signs up draws a name. The organizer passes on a work mailing address for each person, not a home one, unless they offer it. 2. Each person mails a picture postcard from the town they work in, with a few lines about their street. 3. Hold the cards up on a call in the new year. 4. The cards go on a wall in the office or on each person's shelf at home. Gift: everyone brings the same kind of thing. Players: 4 to 60. You need: a postcard and a stamp each.
  • Recipe Swap, Cooked by a Date 1. Draw names among those who signed up. Each person sends their colleague one recipe they make at home, written out in full. 2. Nothing is bought for anyone else. Each person cooks the recipe they received before a set date. 3. Post a photo of the result in the team channel. 4. On a short call, each cook says what they would change and thanks the sender. Gift: nothing bought. Players: 4 to 40. You need: a team channel for the photos.
  • Ship to the Office First 1. For a team that is partly remote, nobody has to give a home address to a colleague. Draw names among those who signed up. 2. Remote givers ship their gift to the office, marked with the name of the person it is for. Office givers hand theirs to the organizer. 3. The organizer sends parcels on to remote colleagues in one batch, from addresses already on file. 4. Everyone opens on the same call. Gift: a gift for one colleague. Players: 5 to 40. You need: a list of who is in the office and who is remote.
  • Ten Songs for One Colleague 1. Everyone who signs up posts three words about the music they like, such as "quiet, piano, mornings". 2. Draw names. Each person makes a list of ten songs for their colleague, built on those three words. 3. Send the lists on the same day. 4. A week later, each person names the one song from their list that they have played most. Gift: nothing bought. Players: 4 to 40. You need: nothing.
  • Twenty Minutes of What You Know 1. Each person who signs up lists one thing they could teach in twenty minutes, such as a spreadsheet shortcut, a bread starter or how to fix a bike tire. 2. Draw names. Each person books twenty minutes with their colleague and teaches it, on a call or at a desk. 3. Nothing is bought. 4. In January, each learner shows the team what they picked up. Gift: nothing bought. Players: 4 to 40. You need: nothing.

Exchanges for teams on shifts 7

  • A Basket From Each Shift to the Next 1. Each shift that wants to join puts together one basket for the shift that follows it: days for nights, nights for mornings. 2. Fill it with sealed snacks and a card signed by the whole shift. 3. Leave it at handover. 4. The shift that receives it writes a reply on the back of the card and pins it up where the givers will see it. Gift: one gift from the whole team. Players: 6 to 60. You need: a basket and a card for each shift.
  • Draw Across Shifts, Hand Over at the Change 1. Split the names of those who signed up by shift, and have each person draw from a different shift than their own. 2. Each giver brings the gift to a shift change, when both crews are in the building. 3. Hand it over in person and say your name. For some pairs it is the first time they have spoken. 4. Mark each handover on a chart by the clock, so everyone can see the draw closing. Gift: a gift for one colleague. Players: 6 to 60. You need: slips sorted by shift and a chart.
  • Locker Drops With a Thank-You Board 1. Draw names across all shifts among those who signed up. 2. Each giver leaves a tagged gift at their person's locker or pigeonhole whenever they are in. The tag names who it is for, not who it is from. 3. Put a board up in the break room. Each person writes a thank-you and a guess at their giver. 4. On the last day before the break, givers sign under their own thank-you. Gift: a gift for one colleague. Players: 6 to 60. You need: gift tags and a board.
  • Numbered Bags on a String 1. Hang a string of paper bags in the break room, numbered from one up, with one bag for each person who signs up. 2. Each person draws a number and fills that bag with a small gift under the cap. 3. Each person draws a second number: the bag they will open. Draw again if it is your own. 4. One bag is opened each day, whenever its owner comes on shift. Gift: a gift for one colleague. Players: 6 to 31. You need: paper bags, string, pegs and numbered slips.
  • Stocking Wall, Filled Shift by Shift 1. Hang a paper stocking or a paper bag on the break room wall for each person who signs up, with their name on it. 2. Over two weeks, anyone who joined drops in small things on any shift: a wrapped candy, a note, a drawing. 3. Nobody has to fill every stocking, and the organizer tops up any that look thin. 4. Everyone takes theirs down on their last shift before the holiday. Gift: a gift for one colleague. Players: 6 to 60. You need: paper stockings or bags, tape and a marker.
  • The Swap Shelf 1. For a team that is never all in at once. Clear one shelf in the break room. 2. Anyone who wants to join leaves a wrapped gift under the cap on the shelf at the start of their shift and takes a ticket from the jar. 3. From the next shift on, a ticket holder may take any gift except their own and leave the ticket in its place. 4. The shelf runs for one week. Gift: one wrapped gift each. Players: 6 to 80. You need: a shelf, a jar and tickets.
  • White Elephant on a Whiteboard 1. Wrapped gifts from everyone who signed up sit on a table under a whiteboard with the picking order. 2. When you come on shift and your name is next, open a wrapped gift or take an open one. Leave a note on the board saying whose gift you took. 3. Anyone robbed opens a new gift on their next shift. A gift can be taken once. 4. The game ends when every name is crossed off. Gift: one wrapped gift each. Players: 6 to 40. You need: a whiteboard and a table.

Give-instead ideas, nothing swapped 7

  • Bring a Dish in Place of a Gift 1. In place of gifts, hold one shared lunch. Those who sign up write what they will bring, so there is not a table of desserts. 2. Every dish gets a card with its name and its ingredients. 3. Anyone who does not cook brings fruit, bread or plates. 4. Each person takes home one recipe card they liked. Leftovers go to the next shift. Gift: one gift from the whole team. Players: 5 to 60. You need: a sign-up sheet and ingredient cards.
  • Cards for a Care Home 1. Ask a local care home whether it welcomes holiday cards for its residents, and how many it would like. 2. Set out blank cards and pens in the break room for a week. 3. Anyone who wants to join writes a card with a plain winter greeting and signs with a first name. 4. The organizer delivers the bundle in one envelope before the holiday. Gift: one gift from the whole team. Players: 5 to 100. You need: blank cards and pens.
  • Mitten and Sock Tree 1. Stand a bare branch in a pot, or tape a paper tree to the wall. 2. Anyone who wants to give hangs a new pair of mittens, gloves or warm socks on it with a clothespin. 3. Ask a local shelter which sizes it needs most and post the answer by the tree. 4. Take the tree down on the last working day, and deliver what it holds. Gift: one gift from the whole team. Players: 5 to 100. You need: a branch or a paper tree, and clothespins.
  • One Gift for the Break Room 1. The team gives itself one thing in place of many: a kettle, a toaster, a plant or a new set of spoons. 2. Post three choices. Everyone who wants a say puts a tick beside one. 3. Giving toward it is a choice, goes into a closed envelope and is never tracked by name. 4. Unwrap the winner together on the last day and vote on where it lives. Gift: one gift from the whole team. Players: 5 to 60. You need: a sheet with three choices and an envelope.
  • One Thank-You Each, Drawn by Name 1. Draw names among those who signed up. 2. Each person writes a thank-you to their colleague for one specific thing they did this year, such as covering a shift or explaining a system twice without sighing. 3. Seal the notes in envelopes and hand them out together. 4. Nothing is bought and nothing is read aloud unless the reader chooses. Gift: nothing bought. Players: 4 to 60. You need: note cards and envelopes.
  • One Wish List From a Local Charity 1. In place of a swap, the organizer asks a local charity for a holiday wish list for one family or one resident. Lists come with names removed. 2. Post the list. Anyone who wants to join writes their initials beside one item. 3. Bring the items unwrapped by the date the charity gives. 4. The team wraps them together over one lunch, and two volunteers deliver them. Gift: one gift from the whole team. Players: 5 to 60. You need: a wish list from a charity, wrapping paper and tape.
  • Toy Drive Box and a Paper Chain 1. Set a box by the door for new, unwrapped toys, and check the collection date with the group that runs the drive. 2. Anyone who wants to give drops a toy in. Nobody keeps a list of who gave. 3. For every toy in the box, add one link to a paper chain along the wall. 4. On the last day, measure the chain and tell the team its length. Gift: one gift from the whole team. Players: 5 to 100. You need: a box, paper strips and a stapler.

How it works

These Christmas gift exchange ideas for coworkers are for whoever got the job of organizing it. Joining is a choice in every one, so nobody is in the draw by default, and the organizer sets one cap for everyone.

Read the full guide

Pick by where the team is

A team that eats lunch together can finish a swap in one break: see Lunch-hour swaps with a number draw. A team that is never all in at once needs an exchange that runs across days, such as The Swap Shelf or Stocking Wall, Filled Shift by Shift. Remote and hybrid exchanges include four where nothing is mailed.

Keep it voluntary and neutral

Not everyone keeps Christmas, and not everyone has spare money in December. Consider calling it a year-end exchange on the sign-up sheet, never ask why someone sat out, and look at Give-instead ideas, nothing swapped.

  • Ask about allergies and scents before any exchange with food or candles.

Questions and answers

How do you do a gift exchange with coworkers?

Put up a sign-up sheet with one cap and a date. Then either draw names, so each person buys for one colleague, or have everyone bring one wrapped gift and draw numbers to choose. Lunch-Break White Elephant, One Steal a Gift fits a lunch break.

What is a good gift exchange for a remote team?

One where nothing has to be mailed. In Recipe Swap, Cooked by a Date, each person sends a recipe and cooks the one they get. If gifts are mailed, Ship to the Office First means nobody hands a home address to a colleague.

How does Secret Santa work at the office?

Each person who signs up is randomly given one colleague to buy for, and the giver stays secret until the end, or for good. Five Small Desk Drops, Monday to Friday spreads it over a week.

What can coworkers do instead of exchanging gifts?

Give together. One Wish List From a Local Charity has the team buy for one family, Mitten and Sock Tree collects for a shelter, and One Thank-You Each, Drawn by Name costs nothing.

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