Christmas is a time to give and to be gifted. But not only effort is required thinking about what to buy; also money, and a lot. As an alternative to give to each of our family and friends , the invisible or secret friend appears, which allows you to buy a single gift and have them do the same with you. However, we are already more than used to it and it may start to seem somewhat heavy.
Although it sounds exaggerated, giving away to an invisible friend can be quite distressing . How easy it is to buy a detail from your best friend or your mother, but how complicated if, for example, our gift is an acquaintance or someone with whom we do not have too much relationship. It is not difficult for this to happen, since the secret friend is celebrated in more and more circles of people who are not necessarily friends.
For this reason, we want to offer you ideas from different invisible friends, who adapt to different situations and budgets . In the following lines, you will find useful tips if you are in an invisible friend group with colleagues or acquaintances; if your budget is around 10 euros; Or even if what you want is that, in addition to receiving a gift, the laughter is more than guaranteed.
Before you get to know a new world around this game, keep in mind that the first thing you should do for almost any modality is to carry out a draw , to find out who gives who and who no one is left without their details. Then, establish an approximate budget , which can range from 5 euros if you want to give crafts to 40 or 50 if you prefer something more sophisticated.
Contents
- Invisible friend with clue game
- Invisible friend themed
- DIY invisible friend
- Invisible stolen friend
- Other forms of invisible friend
- Invisible enemy
- Invisible friend I put
- Game board
- Organize a nightstick
Invisible friend with clue game
The clue game is a fun dynamic that is used to guide your participants to a final prize. Therefore, the mix between the game of tracks and the invisible friend can be an original way to do something different this year with your family or friends.
The invisible friend with clues game can have two variants . One is that the clues are used to guess who the person who made the gift is. The other is the one that, through the clues, you find your gift, which will remain hidden in some room of the house where you celebrate it.
- Guess who your invisible friend is with clues . Through various clues, you must guess who has bought your gift. It can be done with various notes that accompany the gift or even lengthen it over time and offer clues as the days go by. What is clear is that the complexity should be increased: first you can tell her your age (if there is homogeneity in the group); then your hair or eye color; and continue with various data until you finish something that only you two know.
- Find your gift with clues . It is the most typical form of the clue game in which we have all participated in a birthday. In this case, you should not put too many ideas, since if there are several of you in the group, the game can be very long. It is best to put one or two clues or riddles that lead to the gift to her gift. An example is to start with a riddle of the type ‘A young lady with very soft meats, who is always in bed without being sick’ so that the person goes to a pillow and there is a last clue that may be a question about culture general or something more physical like walking 20 steps in a straight line. Thus, with just two clues and little time, the experience of delivering the gift will be something different.
Invisible friend themed
The invisible friend theme is to establish a specific theme before the game is held, so that all the gifts will revolve around the same theme . It is an original idea that can be very fun as long as the chosen theme is according to the tastes of all the participants.
There are multiple options ranging from movies to sports, through music, literature or fashion. Do not lock yourself in the ‘most common way’ of these themes and open your mind so that the gifts are not similar . If the theme is music, you do not have to give away only CDs, you can also buy a ticket for a concert or even some music helmets; everything will depend on the budget.
Of course, you can complicate everything you want. Choose a much more specific theme and give it imagination. Think about what would happen if the theme were pirates or Ancient Greece. The gifts can be so varied and strange that laughter is guaranteed!
DIY invisible friend
If what you want this year is to reach the hearts of others , the best option is the invisible friend DIY ( Do it yourself ) or ‘made by you’. Leave aside the large stores and the most common stores to go to an ‘Todo a 100’ store to buy cardboard, markers and other items. Finally, give free rein to your little hands.
The main characteristic of this type of invisible friend is that you cannot give away anything that has not been manufactured by the participants themselves . It is always a good option to make more emotional gifts , with notes or letters telling how important that person is to you.
To do this, you can use photographs you have with that person and do some crafts with them. A different and original photo frame, a collage , a book about his life … However, this type of invisible friend lives not only from stationery: you can use ceramics, draw, paint, sew some garment or even dare with a plate or a personalized dessert for him / her.
This kind of invisible friend has a lotmore sense in groups of people who know each other well ; It is difficult to give something emotional to someone with whom you do not have much relationship. However, in the latter case, you can always choose objects that anyone can use, such as a homemade vase with flowers, a calendar of the new year with beautiful and inspiring photos, or a box with movie names for different moods.
Invisible stolen friend
One way to make the secret friend a hilarious moment and to share with friends or family, is to celebrate it in its stolen mode. This, unlike the rest, does not require a draw and all participants must buy unisex gifts . This game allows you to be much more original and buy what you really want, since you do not have to think about whether your gift will like it or not.
At the time of delivery, attendees will leave their gifts in a room in the house so that the rest cannot know which is theirs. When they are all, they are deposited in the center of the table where the game is going to be held. Logically, none will have a name because they are not intended for a specific person. From here, follow these rules:
- Each participant takes a gift from the center of the table.
- Establish a game turn : the oldest or smallest person at the table can start or do it by draw.
- Match the number of rounds : a single chance of theft or more than one.
- Everyone opens their gifts at the same time.
- The robbery begins with a single normal: nobody can steal from someone who has previously stolen from him.
- When your turn comes, you can choose whether to keep the gift that you have received or if you prefer to make sense of the game and steal yours from someone.
There is another version of the stolen secret friend, in which the person who starts is the only one who opens a gift on the first turn. The second participant then decides whether to steal the old gift or take a new one from the pile, and so on.
It can also be done without anyone opening the gifts on their turn, so participants will decide whether to steal a package or not simply by looking at the packaging. Another option is to leave it to chance . Use a coin: if it is expensive, take a package from the pile; if it is a cross, it must steal the previous one.
Other forms of invisible friend
Invisible enemy
If you are bored that the invisible friend game is similar every year, in addition to taking into account all our tips, you can propose to your friends or family to do something totally different and groundbreaking. One of those crazy ideas is to make an invisible enemy. The grace of this game is that everyone will receive gifts that you cannot expect .
The dynamic is the same: do a raffle and buy gifts on a pre-established budget. However, instead of taking into account the tastes of your gift, focus on what you know you do not like or opt for humorous or two-way items. It is better that you do not make him have a bad time with something that scares him or disgust him, but you can give him, for example, an article of clothing that you know he would never wear or a book if he does not like reading much. Maybe you will discover new hobbies or styles that you love!
Invisible friend I put
The invisible friend I put is another of the forms that this game has adopted as the years have passed. This is mainly characterized by the fact that gifts are useless or “crappy” objects that we all have in our homes. Some ideas that you can use are to give away that little figure that you have picking up dust on a shelf, a dictionary that you no longer use because you use your mobile or a keychain from when you were in London 15 years ago and that you have never used.
Game board
Another option to innovate with the invisible friend is to use a game board to make unexpected things happen . Sit in a circle, each person will have a gift in front of them. You can choose between two variants: buy unisex products for all tastes or make it even more fun and buy gifts with one of the participants in mind, even though you know that it is most likely not for him / her.
Starts the game! Take a die and choose the person who is going to start playing the board. Download it so you can print it and have a fun time with friends and family.
- Switch between two gifts: choose two people from the group and have them exchange their gifts. You can be one of them.
- Open one at random: choose any gift you want to open so everyone can see what it is, but the gift stays with the person who had it from the beginning.
- Choose the one you want: choose one of the gifts and keep it for yourself.
- One on the left: move all the gifts one place to the left.
- One to the right: move all the gifts one place to the right.
- Open yours: you open your gift and you keep it. No one can take it away from you. You’re out of the game.
Organize a nightstick
Finally, an idea to accompany almost any form of invisible friend is to make a club all together. Each one should write down on a piece of paper who they think has touched whom . Establish a prize, material or immaterial, for the winner. The day you distribute the gifts, get your pools out.
An example of a prize is that the winner can give orders to the rest of the participants during a day such as ‘Give me a foot massage’ or ‘I’m thirsty, bring me a glass of water’. In this way, in addition to receiving and giving a gift, you can live fun moments all together and extend a little the magic of the invisible friend.
So far our ideas to make your invisible friend this year something totally different! If you use other dynamics that do not appear in this post , do not hesitate and send them to us through the comments. We love reading you!
