Examples of white elephant gifts

White Elephant is a gift exchange game that is very similar in style to Yankee Swap, although the emphasis is to “steal” gifts rather than swap them. In a White Elephant gift exchange, each participant brings a wrapped, unmarked gift and places it in a designated area.

The rules of the white elephant party are simple. Everybody who attends is required to bring a wrapped gift worth no more than a specified amount — generally between $10 and $20. In turn, the rest of the participants, in order, choose to either unwrap a new gift or to “steal” a previously unwrapped gift.