🎅 Secret Santa bingo

How to play Secret Santa bingo

In a Secret Santa or gift exchange, the opening can take a while, and most of the room is watching. Secret Santa bingo gives them something to do. The squares are gifts that turn up at almost every exchange (a mug, a candle, fuzzy socks, a desk plant, a gift card) plus the moments around them: a badly wrapped gift, a correct guess, a wrong guess, a gift that hits the budget exactly. Players mark squares as each gift is opened. It works for office exchanges, family draws and friend groups, and it fits any December holiday party.

1. Hand out cards before the exchange starts. Everyone keeps playing while they open their own gift.
2. Mark a square when a gift or moment matches. The group decides on borderline calls such as "Is a tumbler a mug?"
3. The first full line wins. Small prize ideas: a chocolate, first pick of the cookie tray, or choosing the next gift to open.

Tips for a better game

• Add your budget and your office's classic gifts to the word box. Inside jokes land best.
• Remote exchange? Have people open gifts on camera and play on their phones with the share link.
• Doing a steal-style swap instead? The holiday party list includes "Someone steals a gift".