Secret Santa ideas: what to give, how to play, how to reveal
For anyone organizing Secret Santa or still looking for an idea for their person: gifts that work with a small limit, variants for more fun and a plan where the photos come together at the end too.
The short answer
The best Secret Santa gifts are personal, small and useful: something homemade, a shared experience or something for a hobby. Use wish cards beforehand to find out what each person would enjoy. For a change, try a variant such as Engerl-Bengerl through Advent or Schrottwichteln with dice.
Checklist
Before: group, limit, wishes
Good ideas come more easily once it is clear who you are giving to and within what limit.
- Agree on a shared gift limit. The smaller the limit, the more creative the ideas.
- Have everyone fill in a wish card: what they'd enjoy and what they'd rather not get.
- Draw the names so nobody gets themselves, on a phone or on paper with our free lots.
- Agree whether gifts may or should be homemade. That takes away the pressure to find something big.
- Write the gift limit and the date of the gift exchange on the lots so nobody has to ask.
- Plan for photos while unwrapping, and set up a shared album with a QR code.
Ideas: what goes down well at Secret Santa
Six directions that work in almost any group, whether family, office or friends.
- Homemade: cookies, granola, flavored salt, mulled-wine syrup in a nice jar or knitted pot holders.
- Personal: a printed photo from a shared experience, a playlist of songs that suit the person or a family recipe.
- For a hobby: seeds for the balcony, a jigsaw puzzle, a card game, yarn or a notebook for the next hike.
- Time instead of things: baking cookies together, an evening of babysitting or a walking tour of your own neighborhood.
- For the office: a nice mug, good tea, a plant that copes with office light or a book of puzzles.
- Last minute: a letter with three shared memories and an invitation for a coffee.
After: reveal, say thanks, collect
The gift exchange is the highlight. With a few simple steps, more is left of it than a pile of wrapping paper.
- Reveal together: first everyone guesses who their gift is from, then it is revealed.
- Ask everyone to upload their unwrapping photos to the shared album by QR code right away, no app and no sign-up.
- Send a short reminder the next day for the last photos, and hide anything in the album that isn't meant for everyone.
- Create a short recap with music from selected photos as a thank-you to the group.
What EventDrop handles and what it doesn't
What EventDrop handles
- Free lots and wish cards on our Secret Santa page, drawn in your browser, no account needed.
- One shared album for the gift exchange, reachable by link or QR code.
- Uploading from guests' own phones in the browser, with no app and no account.
- Photo tasks for the evening and a live photo wall from Spotlight.
What EventDrop doesn't handle
- No algorithmic gift suggestions and no gift delivery.
- No wish list that we store for you.
- No storing of the names from the draw: reload the page and they're gone.
- No guest list: anyone with the link or QR code can upload, and a PIN can be passed on too.
Frequently asked questions
What do you give at Secret Santa if you barely know the person?
Something almost everyone enjoys: homemade treats, a nice mug, a puzzle book or a plant. Even better is a wish card collected beforehand. Then you don't have to guess.
How much should a Secret Santa gift cost?
Enough that everyone can join without thinking twice. Agree on the limit together before the draw. Homemade gifts can happily come in below it.
What Secret Santa variants are there?
In classic Secret Santa, everyone draws a name and gives one gift. In Engerl-Bengerl, small surprises are often added over several days. In Schrottwichteln, everyone brings something from home, and the gifts are handed out by dice and swapped.
How do you draw Secret Santa names online?
On our Secret Santa page you enter the names, your browser does the draw, and nobody gets themselves. Print the lots or send each person their own link by WhatsApp or email. The names are not sent to EventDrop.
What makes a good Secret Santa gift for the office?
Neutral and useful: a mug, tea or coffee, a hardy plant, a notebook or something homemade. Skip joke gifts that could embarrass someone.
How do we collect the photos from the gift exchange?
Create an album and put the QR code on the table. Everyone scans it with their phone camera and uploads their photos, no app and no account. The lots don't depend on it and stay free.
Set up an album for your gift exchange
One QR code on the table: everyone adds their unwrapping photos to one album, no app needed.
Set up album