Secret Santa themes: 15 ideas for a different exchange
After a few years of mugs and candles, a theme gives everyone a new problem to solve. A good theme is one rule that changes how people choose. Here are fifteen.
What makes a good theme
- One rule, easy to explain in a sentence.
- It works for every budget in the group.
- It leaves room for the gift to be about the person.
- It makes the reveal more fun: there is something to compare or to guess.
Themes about the gift itself
- One colour: every Santa draws a colour, and the gift and the wrapping are all in it.
- A challenge: the person receiving the gift sets two adjectives and a function, and the gift has to tick all three.
- A letter: every gift starts with the first letter of the name of the person receiving it.
- Something to eat or drink: nothing that lasts longer than January.
- Something to read: a book, a magazine, a comic, a map.
- Something for the home: for the kitchen, the desk or the balcony.
Themes about where the gift comes from
- Handmade only: baked, sewn, built, drawn or written by the Santa.
- Second-hand only: flea markets, charity shops and antique bookshops.
- Local only: made within fifty kilometres of where you live.
- From another country: each Santa draws a country and "translates" the gift into it, such as tea from Japan or a notebook from Italy.
- From one shop: everyone buys from the same market stall, museum shop or bookshop.
Themes about the game
- Two Santas each: every person gets two gifts from two different people, one useful and one just for fun.
- Mystery recipient: Santas see only a short profile of the person, without a name, and the group guesses at the party whose gift is whose.
- Guess your Santa: every gift comes with a clue, and you guess before the names come out.
- A tiny budget: a strict low limit, where finding something good is the game.
Which theme for which group
- Offices: one colour, something to eat, something for the desk.
- Families: a wishlist, two Santas each, handmade for the children.
- Old friends: a challenge, second-hand only, a tiny budget.
- Groups in different countries: something local to where each Santa lives.
Themes in Secret Santa Twist
Three formats are available now: Classic with an optional wishlist, Santa by Colour, and Your Challenge. In the colour format the app draws a colour for each Santa; in the challenge format it collects everyone's challenge before the draw and shows it only to their Santa.
More formats are planned, among them Double Santa, Translated Gift and Mystery Profile; they are shown in the app as coming soon. Any other theme on this page works with the Classic format: put the rule in the name of the event and tell the group.
If you know a theme that is missing, you can propose it from the app.
Read next
- Gift ideas by colour: what to buy for a one-colour Secret SantaIdeas for all twelve colours, from red to gold, and how to wrap them.
- Secret Santa challenge ideas: adjectives and functions to borrowLists of adjectives and functions for Your Challenge, with gifts that would meet them.
- Secret Santa, White Elephant or Yankee Swap: which one to chooseHow the three gift exchanges differ, and which suits your group.
- Santa by ColourEverything in one colour.
- Your ChallengeTwo adjectives and a function. Santa ticks them all.
- Classic Secret SantaDraw a name. Wishlists optional.
Run your Secret Santa here
It's free. Sign in with Google, create a group and share one link. The app does the draw and keeps it secret until the party.