Left Right Christmas Game: How It Works, Plus Story Tips

Left right Christmas game in 30 seconds

The left right Christmas game is a gift exchange where everyone sits in a circle holding a wrapped gift while one person reads a story aloud. Every time the reader says LEFT, you pass your gift to the left. Every time they say RIGHT, you pass it to the right. When the story ends, you keep the gift in your hands.

• Players: about 6 to 30, all at once
• Time: 5 to 10 minutes per story
• You need: one wrapped gift per player and a story with lots of LEFTs and RIGHTs
• Nobody sits out, and there's no stealing, so it's gentler than classic white elephant

What you need to play

The setup is tiny. Sort these out before the party, not while everyone is waiting.

• One wrapped gift per person, all under the same price limit, so whoever ends up with any gift is happy. $10 to $25 is common for adults; $5 to $10 for kids or a big office group.
• A circle. Chairs, a couch plus floor cushions, or seats around a table all work. Everyone needs to reach the person on each side.
• A story with LEFT and RIGHT written in capitals, so the reader doesn't miss any. Print it, or read it from a phone.
• One reader with a clear, loud voice. The reader can play too: they set their gift down and pick up whatever is passed to them.
• Optional: a spare wrapped gift or two for guests who forget theirs.

How to play the left right Christmas game, step by step

These are the same rules printed on the how-to-play page of our white elephant game printable, with a few host notes added.

• 1. Everyone puts their wrapped gift in their lap and sits in a circle.
• 2. Do a practice pass: say "left" once and "right" once so people learn which way is which. It saves a lot of confusion later.
• 3. The host reads the story aloud, slowly.
• 4. Every time you hear LEFT, pass the gift you're holding to the person on your left. Every time you hear RIGHT, pass it to the right.
• 5. Pause for a beat after each LEFT or RIGHT so the gifts can move. Speed up a little near the end if the group is keeping up.
• 6. When the story ends, stop. The gift in your hands is yours.
• 7. Unwrap all at once, or go around the circle one by one so everyone sees each gift.

A free left right Christmas story to read aloud

Here's an original story you can read straight from this page or print. Every LEFT and RIGHT in capitals is a pass. It has 10 LEFTs and 12 RIGHTs and takes about 3 minutes to read with pauses.

Christmas Eve at the Baker house was always loud, but this year Aunt June had a plan. "Nobody opens a thing," she said, "until the cookies are RIGHT."

She LEFT the kitchen to find her recipe card and came back with the wrong one. "That's the fruitcake," said Uncle Ray. "You're RIGHT," she sighed, and turned RIGHT back around. The real card was RIGHT where she had LEFT it, under the sugar.

Meanwhile, the twins had LEFT the back door open, and the dog trotted in with a mitten in his mouth. He ran LEFT past the tree, RIGHT under the table and out the door again.

By the time the first tray came out, there was barely any flour LEFT. Grandpa took a cookie from the LEFT side of the tray. "Just checking they're RIGHT," he said, and took two more.

Then the doorbell rang. It was the neighbors, carrying a pie they had LEFT in the oven a little too long. "It's not burned," said Mrs. Lopez. "It's extra golden." Everyone agreed she was RIGHT.

Aunt June stood up and clapped her hands. "All RIGHT, everyone. Gifts." Cousin Max looked LEFT and RIGHT. "Wait, where's the dog?" From the yard came a happy bark, and there he was, sitting RIGHT in the snow with the other mitten.

So the family gathered by the fire, Grandpa on the LEFT and the twins on the RIGHT. Nobody was LEFT out, and every chair was full. And now, whatever gift is in your hands RIGHT now is yours to keep. Merry Christmas!

Tips for writing or picking a good left right story

If you write your own story about your family or team, a few rules make the game work.

• Aim for 20 to 30 total passes. Fewer and it feels short; many more and people start dropping gifts.
• Spread the words out. One or two LEFTs or RIGHTs per sentence is plenty.
• Hide the words in normal phrases: "LEFT the oven on," "RIGHT on time," "you're RIGHT," "nothing LEFT." That's where most of the laughs come from.
• Put a few back-to-back cues near the end ("looked LEFT and RIGHT") for a bit of chaos.
• End on a clear last line, like "whatever gift you're holding is yours to keep," so everyone knows the game is over.
• Add names from your own group (the boss, Grandma, the dog). People pay closer attention when they might be in the story.

Variations for adults, kids, the office and big groups

• Funny version for adults: use a story full of awkward holiday moments, read it fast, and add a house rule that the word "Christmas" means everyone passes two spots left.
• Kids and classrooms: use small, matching gifts (a pencil, a candy cane, a small toy) so no one is upset by what they end up with. Read slowly. More kid-friendly ideas are in our kids Christmas printables.
• Office party: keep gifts under one price limit and use the game as the closer, after the other games. Our guide to office Christmas party games for large groups has more ideas for crowds.
• One prize only: pass a single wrapped prize around the circle instead of one gift each. Whoever holds it at the end wins.
• Big groups (25 or more): split into two circles with two readers, or read the story twice so the gifts travel further.
• Virtual party: everyone mails a gift to the host ahead of time, the host reads the story on the call and tracks one name per gift on a list, then ships them out.
• Mix it with other games: play left right first so everyone has a gift, then run a short dice round to swap. See our white elephant dice game rules for the roll chart and timer.

Common mistakes that slow the game down

• Gifts of very different sizes. A big box and a gift card are hard to pass at the same speed. Ask for gifts that fit in two hands.
• No price limit. One person gets a $5 gift and the next gets a $50 one. Set a limit on the invitation.
• Reading from a tiny screen in a dim room. Print the story in large type.

Printable left right Christmas stories and party games

If you want ready-to-read stories instead of writing one, our White Elephant Game Printable is a 9-page US Letter PDF with three ways to run a gift exchange. Page 1 explains the classic draw-and-steal rules, the Left Right story game and a dice swap game. Pages 3 and 4 are two Left Right stories: "The Gift Mix-Up" (10 LEFTs and 11 RIGHTs) and "Pip's North Pole Party" (10 LEFTs and 12 RIGHTs). The rest of the file is a house rules sign, the dice swap chart, a gift log, number cards 1 to 30 and 12 freeze tags for the classic game. You can get the white elephant game printable on Etsy.

For a work party, the Office Christmas Party Games Printable is a 14-page PDF with 8 office-friendly games. Page 6 is a Left Right Gift Exchange story set at an office holiday party, and the host guide on page 1 includes a 1-hour party plan that ends with the left right game at 0:55. It also has two coworker bingo cards, Guess the Coworker forms, Would You Rather cards, a word scramble, a word search, charades cards, Desk Olympics and answer keys. It's available on Etsy.

Both are digital downloads, so nothing is mailed. More holiday printables are in our Christmas and New Year shop.

More Christmas party ideas

Need more games for the same party? The holiday party games guide helps you pick games by group size and time.