Are you doing 'Secret Santa' this year?

Find out more about this secret gift-giving tradition

Are you taking part in the mysterious gift-giving tradition of 'Secret Santa' this Christmas?

'Secret Santa' is a festive tradition which lots of people around the world who celebrate Christmas take part in.

It's when people get together with their friends or family to exchange gifts at Christmas.

Sounds pretty normal right? Well, the 'secret' part is that people don't say who the gift is from, to keep it a mysterious, fun surprise.

Find out more about it below, and let us know if you are taking part in the comments.

Where did Secret Santa come from?

Did Larry Stewart inspire the tradition of Secret Santa?

The tradition of giving gifts at Christmas goes back many hundreds of years, but the idea of Secret Santa is a little bit more recent.

Although it's not known who officially started the tradition of Secret Santa, many people say its creation is inspired by American philanthropist Larry Dean Stewart.

In 1979 in Kansas city in the US, Larry began sending gifts of money to poorer families and people in need anonymously (that means keeping your identity a secret) around Christmas time.

He soon became known as 'Kansas City's Secret Santa'.

He kept doing this for many years afterwards; in 2001 after the 9/11 attack in New York, Mr Stewart donated thousands of dollars to people in the city, and in 2005 he donated money to people in Mississippi, after it was hit by Hurricane Katrina.

Eventually he revealed his identity in 2006, before he passed away from cancer in 2007, but his kindness inspired many people to take up the tradition of giving surprise gifts to people around Christmas.

Are you taking part in Secret Santa with your friends or family?

Nowadays people celebrate the tradition by getting together with friends or family and drawing a name out of a hat.

The person whose name you pick, is who you make, or buy, a gift for.

The gift is then wrapped and left together with the other gifts in a pile, before being opened with no idea who it is from (although some people find it hard to keep the secret).

Have you ever done a Secret Santa? Are you doing a surprise gift for a friend this year? Let us know in the comments.