Creative Party Gifts for Hosts and Guests

Are you hosting a carnival party, a house-warming party or a different party at home? Or maybe you’re going to a party, and you are looking for a perfect gift for its hosts? Read about my ideas for creative party gifts that may become the party’s highlight.

ICEBREAKER PARTY GAMES

When the party guests hardly know each other, it’s a good idea to prepare some icebreakers to begin the party. This should be the task of the hosts, but if you know a lot of such games, the hosts will surely welcome a party gift in the form of some game suggestions (and their moderation). Here are some ideas for tested icebreaker games:

What’s the name of this party? Compose words from letters torn out of a magazine

Distribute pages from a newspaper or a magazine with big headlines and ask participants to compose a short text related to the theme of the party (e.g. NEW YEAR, HOUSE WARMING PARTY, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY). Each letter has to be torn out separately! The people who finish first, win.

Do you know your guests? Recognise their body parts

Ask the guests to bring printouts of a specific body part(s), e.g. the nose or ear. The hosts have to match the body parts to their owners.

Do you know your hosts? Answer questions falling out from balloons

Prepare questions concerning the hosts, their house, the party or its customs, and insert each of them in balloons before they are inflated. Guests have to find balloons with questions, prick them and guess the answer. This game, which may also be organised at a birthday party, can be played by two competing groups.

What’s in the picture? Piece the puzzle

Photo jigsaw puzzles may be a great surprise party gift for hosts or guests. Regardless of who has prepared this gift, all people present may fit the jigsaw together. The photo which is the puzzle’s solution should be somehow modified and show e.g. the hosts in a luxurious palace if it is a gift for a house-warming party, or all participants if you manage to collect their photos before the party.

I spy with my little eye… Find objects

Pick a random letter, and find an object whose name begins with it. The person who identifies such an object first or who finds most objects before the time runs out wins.

EASY GROUP DANCES AT A PARTY

Another way to integrate party participants involves group dances. It’s a perfect icebreaker for those who can’t dance or don’t like dancing in pairs and would only be wallflowers at a typical dance party. I am sure that each host will appreciate a short dance class organised by one of the guests as a party gift. Some ideas for group dances, depending on the nature of the party, include: Polonaise, Belgian dance, circle dance, line dance, Tunak Tunak, and many others.

PARTY GAMES

Party games may also be exciting party gifts, provided that they are chosen carefully. I definitely advise you against board games whose explanation and arrangement takes little less time than playing and which may dominate the entire party. Good party games should encourage movement and excite emotions. Moreover, they shouldn’t require much mental effort. Some of the games I highly recommend are: Taboo, Time’s Up, Alias, Jungle Speed, Fly-swatter and Jenga.

I also encourage you to invent, create or modify games on your own. For example, I knew the game ‘Time’s Up’ long before we received it, as ’13 Seconds’. All it required were strips of paper, pens, a bowl to draw the papers from and a stopwatch. You may also be inspired by a marriage game created by the friends of one of my readers. As regards Jenga as a party gift, I advise you to sign it during the party: one block by each guest. During the game, you may pull out the blocks until you find a signed block (or an unsigned one, depending on the proportions). This will make the game more interesting, and will leave the hosts an original keepsake.

PARTY CAKE

A successful party is good both for the soul and for the body. Therefore, you shouldn’t forget about a theme-related cake. If you organise or go to a house-warming party, you may prepare a simple cheesecake or a different cake and decorate it with powder chocolate and biscuits forming the shape of a house. You will find a recipe for such a cheesecake, as well as door and window templates in my post: ‘Simple Cheesecake for all Occasions’.

PARTY BOTTLE

If you think a bottle of wine is the best and only acceptable party gift, try to personalise it. One option is to design your own label and paste it on the original one. Try Photofunia to create a personalised labale with your uploaded photo for free. The text on your label may read: ‘Tony’s Carnival Wine’, ‘Dry House-Warming Wine, year [indicate the year of the move or the year when the house was built]’. You may also invent your own wine brand, e.g. ‘Charlie Rossi’ or ‘Peter Noir’. Alternatively, you may write your dedication and best wishes directly on the bottle with a marker pen. Here is a photo of a bottle that we received from a friend for our wedding anniversary:

If you have other tested ideas for icebreaker games or creative party gifts, let me know in the comments below! Have a great party!

My advice:

– If there are not many people at your party, or if you organise a series of parties for different groups of guests, ask each group to sign Jenga blocks in a different colour. You may then apply the rules I have outlined in the post: ‘Jenga tower – Creative Gift Ideas for 5 Occasions and 3 Game Variations’

– Every time you organise icebreaker contests and games in pairs or groups, choose group participants by means of a draw, so that they don’t spend the entire party only with the people they knew before.

– The size and difficulty of the jigsaw puzzle should depend on the number of guests – the more participants, the more complex it can be. However, solving the puzzle shouldn’t take more than 15-20 minutes.

– If you are planning a more static party with board games as the main highlight, I recommend cooperative games, where all players have to join forces to win, instead of competing with one another. My favourite cooperative board games include: Forbidden Island (with beautiful pictures and box), Pandemic (for slightly older, keen players) and Code Names (great fun both in the cooperative and competitive mode). These games will make a perfect party gift for the hosts.

– You may find more ideas for gifts for couples in the tab RECOMMENDED – ANNIVERSARY.

– If you are looking for ideas for hen party gifts and games, read my other posts: ‘My Hen Party: Perfect Wife’s Qualifying Exam‘, ‘Hen Party Tasks and Ideas: What a Bride Needs‘ and ‘Hen Night Tasks: Recruitment For the Post of Wife‘ and check out the Hen Party tag.