By Tresa Erickson

Feature Writer

Gift giving is a time-honored tradition, but how do you keep it affordable with a great number of people? If you have a rather large family and buying gifts for each and every person is out of the question, what can you do? You can have a gift exchange, and there are various ways you can go about it. Here are a few of the more common ones.

Be a secret Santa

Secret Santa exchanges take place over a series of days. Participants draw names, purchase several small gifts for the person whose name they draw and arrange for a gift to be delivered daily in secret. Gifts may be themed, and the identities of the Secret Santas are revealed on the last day of the exchange.

Draw names

Name drawings are fairly straightforward. You set up a time for the drawing to take place, throw the names of everyone participating into a hat and have each person draw a name and tuck it away. This is the person for whom they must purchase a gift. Parents of young kids are responsible for purchasing a gift for the names drawn by the kids. The actual gift exchange takes place later at the date, time and place designated.

Give back

Charity exchanges work well for individuals who don’t need anything and would rather give back something to their community. Participants write down the name of their favorite charity and insert it into a hat. They then draw a name of a charity from the hat and pledge to support it with either a monetary donation or volunteer work.

Go the white elephant way

White elephant gifts are generally inexpensive, sometimes funny, sometimes used gifts. For your white elephant gift exchange, you may select a theme and price limit, such as gag gifts for under $5 or odd items from home. Participants must then wrap a gift that meets those specifications and bring it to the exchange. The person first in line selects a gift, unwraps it and holds it up high for everyone to see. The next person selects a gift, unwraps it and either keeps the gift or swaps it for the other person’s gift. The fun continues until everyone has a gift. Exchanges may be limited to a certain number, and participants may be given one final opportunity to swap gifts if they so desire.

Regift

Regift exchanges usually take place after the holidays and require participants to bring something they received but do not want or need. Participants then get to swap what they don’t want for something that they do. Any gifts not selected may be donated to charity.

None of these ideas appeal to you? No problem. Design your own gift exchange and theme it anyway you want. Themes can run the gamut from board games to cooking gadgets to pet supplies. It’s your choice, and with only one gift required instead of several, participants are sure to have fun whatever is involved.