1) Pot luck Christmas party, a staple for any lab of more that a couple of people, each person brings one dish and together they hopefully make a full meal for everyone. Depending on the organization of the PI/lab group often the meal ends up a mish-mash of things dominated by appetizers and deserts since they are the easiest.
2) Secret Santa V1: each member buys a single gift which goes into a pile which is randomly assigned to receivers and games are played for the chance to steal someone else's gift.
3) Secret Santa V2: each member is randomly assigned another person and buys a single gift with the goal of ridiculing the person when they open it. Often includes letters and multi-part gifts to explain the significance and make the jokes clear.
4) Proper gift giving: the PI and/or lab members buy nice gifts for all the lab members.
There is also the required "Department Christmas Party" which usually involves plentiful alcohol, candy and junk food which most people go to as an excuse to leave work early ;)
What ever your tradition enjoy the celebrations and well earned time off!
