
Last week I shared a detailed post on how to host a gift exchange. If you need help organizing your gift exchange, be sure you read that post first.
Today we’re getting creative, and I’m sharing Christian-themed gift exchange ideas and some general gift exchange themes. You’re welcome to grab an idea and make it your own.
Gift exchange themes can add a unique twist or challenge for your participants.
I must admit, I’m partial to the Christian-themed ideas below. Far too often, women’s ministry events and activities are labeled as lacking substance. On the surface, a gift exchange could appear to be just another fluffy, fellowship event.
Gift exchanges provide an opportunity for us to offer:
- Fellowship
- Service
- Spiritual message
Let’s embrace the opportunity to point women to Christ in every activity and event.
14 Christian-Themed Gift Exchange Ideas
A Christian gift exchange can, and should, include a spiritual message. Selecting a theme that points women back to God’s Word is one way to keep the focus on Christ and not on the gift.
- Beauty Bits (1 Peter 3:3-4) – Gifts for a personal spa night or gifts that are beautiful.
- Clean (Psalm 51:10) – Gifts that can be used to clean.
- Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9) – Garden-themed gifts.
- Joy (Psalm 16:11) – Gifts related to joy and happiness.
- Feathered Friends (Matthew 6:26) – Bird-themed gifts.
- Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) – Fruit-themed gifts.
- Keep Warm (Ecclesiastes 4:11) – Gifts to keep the giver warm (blankets, scarves, hot drinks, fuzzy socks, etc.).
- Light of the World (John 8:12) – Light-themed gifts.
- Love One Another (John 13:35) – Valentine’s Day exchange or give a gift you love (favorite thing). You’ll find ten other “love one another” verses here.
- Pieces of Peace (John 16:33) – Gifts that are calming or bring about peace.
- Proverbs 31 (Proverbs 31:10-31) – Any gift that’s related to the verses in Proverbs 31.
- Refreshers (Acts 3:20) – Gifts that provide physical or spiritual refreshment.
- Sonshine Gifts (John 20:31) – Ask women to send a gift that’s yellow or only contains items that are yellow. You can find some fun Sonshine gift ideas and tags in this post.
- Taste & See (Psalm 34:8) – Food-related gifts or restaurant gift cards.
14 General Theme Ideas for Gift Exchanges
With a little creativity, you might be able to pair each of these with a Scripture verse too.
- Accessory Swap – Necklaces, scarves, and earrings.
- Alphabet Exchange – Pre-select a letter from the alphabet. Gifts must begin with that letter.
- Book Exchange – I was a member of a writing group that hosted an optional Jolabokaflod (in short, an Icelandic tradition of giving books). Encourage your women to send a favorite Christian book to one another.
- Favorite Things – Give one of your favorite things. Encourage women to include an explanation of why it’s one of their favorite things.
- First Letter of their Name – Gifts must begin with the first letter of the recipient’s name. Or the gift must start with the first letter of the giver’s name – have the recipients guess who the giver’s identity.
- Game Exchange – Ask women to send their favorite board or card game to each other.
- Gift Card Exchange – Ask women to limit their gifts to gift cards of a certain amount ($5 or $10). One of our former Youth Group leaders would do this at Christmas, and they gave out a prize for the most unique gift card given. You’d be amazed at the random gift cards you can purchase!
- Green Things – All gifts must be green. You could do the same for other colors—for example, a Purple Parade or a Pink Party.
- Holiday Décor – Ask women to give an item the recipient could use to decorate for an upcoming holiday (Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, 4th of July, etc.)
- Kitchen-themed Gift Exchange – All gifts must be something they would use in a kitchen.
- Mug Exchange – Ask women to give a mug and their favorite tea or packaged beverage. Invite everyone to share a photo of the mug they received in your Facebook group.
- Snack Swap – Ask women to give a snack they love or a snack they think the recipient will enjoy.
- Sock Swap – Ask women to give the gift of socks. My son’s girlfriend mentioned they have a crazy sock exchange at work every Christmas. The socks range from crazy to comfy, and it’s a lot of fun. Encourage women to post a photo of their socks online or wear them at your women’s retreat.
- Tiny Gift Exchange – The item or items must fit inside a brown paper lunch bag.
I hope these gift exchange themes have inspired you and your team to get creative with your next gift exchange.
You may also want to read:
How to Host a Gift Exchange
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