Every year my friends and I get all of our spouses and kids together for a big, fat (loud) holiday party. The kids run around like sugared-up wildebeests while the grownups participate in a hilarious (and sometimes inappropriate) white elephant gift exchange. We work really hard to find the most out there, ridiculous products imaginable and end up with sore cheeks from all of the laughter.

Sometimes called a Yankee Swap, white elephant gift exchanges are a lot of fun. In case you’re not familiar with them, here’s how we do it. We set a price limit (usually $20) and we each buy a gag gift. We wrap the gift and bring it to the party. When it’s time to exchange, we put everyone’s name into a hat. Each person chooses a gift and opens it, but the person who comes next can choose to unwrap a new present or steal one of the opened presents.

It’s a lot of fun.

To be honest though, the fun starts while shopping for your gift. Since I can spend hours poring through gag gifts to find the perfect gift, I thought I’d share a few of the funniest ones I found to make your white elephant gift hunt a little easier.

7 White Elephant Gift Ideas That Are Guaranteed to Make You Laugh

I don’t know about you, but my kids have reached the Holy Crap We Have Too Many Toys and I Have No Idea Where We Can Cram Any More stage. The struggle is real and it’s something I keep in mind when I buy things for other people’s kids. Before I shell out cash, I try to ask myself: does it stand out on its own or will it just get lost in a sea of stuff? Lately, I’ve turned to teaching toys because, more often than not, they do stand out on their own.

A really good teaching toy is one that is stealthy. Kids are learning without even realizing that they’re learning (otherwise cries of booooriiiiiiiing! will ruin things), but they still get that confidence-boosting rush when they realize they’ve figured something out on their own. That feeling is kind of addictive and will make kids continue to seek out things that give them that feeling—more learning.

To help you out when hunting for the perfect gift, I put together a list of nine of my favorite learning toys. These toys are for a variety of ages and price ranges and I’m pretty sure there’s something here for everyone!

9 fun, kid-approved teaching toys

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