Filipino godparents, the ninongs and ninangs, traditionally give money to their godchildren, or inaanak, placed inside a red envelope called “angpao” as part of their gift-giving or pamasko tradition.

Some of them rarely see their godchildren, particularly during the family Christmas party, so pamasko should be memorable and exciting if they want to be remembered.

Here are some angpao gimmicks you can do this Christmas to make it more lively and enjoyable.

1. Lucky Raffle Draw

Give luck on Christmas Day! The raffle draw is a good way to teach your inaanak patience with anticipation and have them pick their own lucky numbers.

Simply place your money on envelopes with raffle numbers on them, as many as your inaanaks, and write the raffle numbers on smaller pieces of paper before folding and placing them in a box.

Have all your inaanaks choose a random paper from the box, then start the raffle by calling out the numbers until everyone gets an envelope.

2. Small mystery boxes

Envelopes are so yesterday; try making small Christmas gift boxes and let them choose their Pamasko mystery box. You can wrap it with different colors so they can choose their favorite one.

You can also add a small toy inside so they can enjoy the money and the gift they will receive, especially if you still have very young inaanaks, but if they are of adolescent age, you can give them accessories like keychains, rings, and more.

Mystery boxes began in gaming culture, giving gamer fans the excitement of the unknown. This could also be a good way to teach inaanaks to take risks.

3. Pull the red tag

The ancient Celtics revered the colors red and green because they beautified the earth during winter, which is why, in the present day, these colors have become the Christmas colors that malls often use to attract Christmas shoppers.

The Pull the Red Tag game is inspired by the’mystery string challenge’ wherein you randomly pull a string to get a prize. In this game, you can write the money value on one side, add a long string, and flip all tags.

Let your inaanak pull one long string and surprise them with the pamasko they will get; it’s easy and a fair game for everyone.

4. TikTok toilet paper challenge

This game is a test of strength and agility. The toilet paper roll challenge is a viral game on TikTok where one has to pull the toilet paper but not spill the water placed on the toilet paper’s end.

You can create levels in this game by placing different amounts of money on the side; once they reach their end, they can get the highest pamasko.

It’s a fun game for children and young adolescents. It may not be that easy to win, but at least they will enjoy it together.

5. ‘Pabitin’ game

Pabitin is a traditional Pinoy birthday game that translates to ‘rack of goodies’, but you can adapt it into a Christmas game by simply writing different money values on tags or in small pieces of hard paper before tying it up on the pabitin.

Once that is done, you let all your inaanak under the pabitin, and you can raise or lower the pabitin and let them jump to their hearts’ content. Hearing their laughter and seeing their smiles makes it a good Christmas game.

Just make sure that everyone gets their pamasko; you don’t want anyone to leave the Christmas party without one.

These are simple tricks for making pamasko fun, but what’s more important than giving is seeing your inanaanak’s enjoyment throughout your little gimmick.