A few years ago, one of our employees organized an Accessories “Swap” party and it was a great success-everyone who participated got rid of jewelry, scarves and shoes they didn’t wear any longer and everyone who participated went home with great accessories they were excited to wear! It’s now that time of year when the toys and games and movies they received for Christmas aren’t as exciting . . .aren’t as special. Or maybe they have something in their toy boxes or game counsels that they just never play! Instead of letting it go to waste, host a Toy & Media SWAP Party! You know your kids always think the neighbors toys are better anyway . . .

Instructions:
1. Pick a date, place and time for this party.
2. Select 5-10 families to invite
3. Send out invitation:

The (Johnson) Family is invited to attend our TOY & MEDIA SWAP Party! Bring the toys, games and movies you don’t use any more and come home with toys, games or movies you’re excited to have!

Date: Saturday
Time: 2:00pm
Location: Our House!
What to bring: 5-10 (or more!) gently used games, toys or movies that your kids don’t play with or use any longer
What else to bring: a snack to share

We’ll have soda, juiceboxes and a few snacks here. The kids can play in the family room while the parents SWAP upstairs.

4. The “Rules”

Select an area of the house where items can be displayed. Give people 30+ minutes to view the items, ask the owner questions, make small talk, etc. Guests usually make notes of which items they’d like to take home so they can be ready when it’s their turn to select.
In a hat or container, place slips of paper numbered 1 through ___(the number of people participating). So,if you have 10 people participating, you’ll have numbers 1 through 10 in a container.
Each round, you’ll have each participant draw a number. That is the order of selection for that round! The person who drew #1 is the first to go-once they have selected one item, then #2 goes and so on. At the end of the round, the numbers go back into the container and you redraw for the next round. This keeps the selection process fair. Plus it adds an element of intrigue and excitement!
Once someone decides there is nothing left they want to select, they can stop participating in the selection rounds.
Ask someone to volunteer to take any leftover items to Good Will or the Salvation Army at the end of the party!

As mentioned above, this concept can be used with a number of theme (depending on the audience). A Media swap would work well for adults as well! An Accessories swap is super fun for women! The one we know of, everyone brought a dish to share and it turned into a Potluck party after the swap!