What's Your Favorite Baby Shower Game?

The last shower I gave I bought about 15 pairs of socks differnt patterns in all different baby sizes. I put them in a cute decorated basket and the goal was to see how many pairs of socks each guest could match in 10 seconds. Then the mom-to-be got to keep the socks as part of my gift to her.

Another one is matching baby food. Buy about 10 jars of baby food, tear off the labels, number the lids 1 thru 10, and have the guests guess what each food is. They are allowed to smell and tip-of-finger taste if they want to. The best thing is that there are so many different things out, like beef and gravy, the popular hawaiian delight, blueberry cobbler. If you mix it up with those, then it is a lot more fun then just peas and carrotts.

Hi Racheal,
We just did the What is in the Diaper game and it was a hit. You need 10 diapers ( bout the cheap ones at Big Lots). Then you put different things in each diaper. Number the diapers and write down the answers! HAve the party goers pass the diapers and write their guesses down. Person w/ the most right wins- in case of a tie draw names!
I used pay doh, avacado, jello, pears, peanut butter, lipstick (in a brownish red), oatmeal, brown mustard, horsradish and mud.

HAve fun!

Hi R.!
If you hate the boring games you will love this one!!
I went to a baby shower once and we played this game and no one even knew we were playing. As the guest of honor opens each present, you secretly write down the first word or thing that she says, such as "oh how tiny"! Then later on you announce that you are going to tell every one things the guest of honor said the night the baby was conceived!! Things like "oh how tiny", "it's so cute". All of these things got a laugh out of everyone! The whole room was laughing hysterically!
Have fun!

I've hosted a few babyshowers and have been to several myself and one game that seems to be everyone's favorite is sculpting baby items out of playdoh. Everyone gets a partner, one of the partners is the sculptor and the other is the guesser (they can take turns of course.) The host of the game draws out a baby item and secretly shows it to the sculptor. Once the host says "go" the sculptor starts to sculpt with the playdoh while the guesser guesses. Whatever team guesses first gets a point. It's amazing how fast they can guess! You do this several times and the team with the most points wins the game. Some examples you can write down are binky, diaper, carseat, crib, bottle, etc.

Another cute and easy one is: give everyone a piece of pink bubble yum and a paper plate with a number written on it. Each person creates a baby out of the gum and then places the finished baby onto the plate. The expectant mom judges and picks her favorite baby by calling out the number on the plate, that person is the winner of the game.
Another version of this game is to give everyone a paper plate and a pen. They must draw a baby onto the paper plate, the trick is, they have to place the plate on top of their head and draw the baby! The expectant mom gets to judge and pick her favorite baby.

A must have that will help the mom sending out thank you cards! Buy a pack of thank you cards and give each guest an envelope as they arrive. Have them put their name and address on the envelope. This saves the new mommy time from having to look up addresses and addressing envelopes! You can then always draw an envelope and have a door prize.

I also wanted to let you know that I make diaper cakes! I've made one for every baby shower I have gone to and they are the hit of the party! I've even had hostesses of the shower call and ask me "you're making a diaper cake right, b/c we want to use it as our centerpiece!" It does make an excellent center piece and a great gift for mom. I also incorporate it as one of the games as well. The diaper cakes I make are filled with all kinds of goodies: diapers (of course), baby thermometer, socks, nail clippers, brush, comb, etc. For the game you can bring out the diaper cake, let the guests look at it for about 15 seconds then take it away. They then have about 30 seconds to write down as many items they can remember being on the cake, the person with the most right wins. Anyway, check out my website to see what a diaper cake is if you've never heard of em and to see what diaper cakes I've done in the past. I can custom make any kind of diaper cake you want. Go to www.freewebs.com/bumblebeebabyboutique
Good Luck with your baby shower!

I like the "You've Got the Cutest Little Baby Face" game... I sent out an email like a week in advance (or if you have time - mark it on the baby shower invitation that you need a baby picture of every guest - and you'll give it back at the shower).

If they can only bring the picture the day of the shower and not mail it to you in advance....I set a bag outside the front door for them to drop their baby pictures into so no one could notice who gave me the big picture and who gave me the wallet size one - so no one is cheating. hee hee. So I taped each baby picture on a poster board and numbered each one. And the guests had to write down who they thought each picture was.
It was hilarious!! Everyone was looking at each other's faces closely and then looking back at the photo.

Another is Celebrity Baby Names. I made a list of those silly Celebrity baby names (Apple, Coco Riley, Scout), photocopied them on paper with blanks out to the side, and the guests had to write in the celebrity parents or parent of that child. It was great!! If you want my list, I can email you the Word document that I created that on - with the answers.

Also, I've heard of that smelling the diaper game, but we played it this way... someone melted BabyRuth candy bars (minis) in one, in another diaper melted snickers, another melted butterfinger, melted Heath bar, etc etc. So they looked disgusting! and everyone was passing around the diapers smelling them, trying to figure out what candy bar it was. -- Remember to take note, number the diapers, so you can remember which one is which candy bar.

We played one at my shower--don't remember all the rules, but there was clothes line with a basket of baby clothes. Each guest took a turn to be talking on the phone (the fake phone conversations were quite humorous), holding the baby and putting clothes on the clothes line all at one time (kind of like a mom has to multi-task). Everybody got a certain amount of time and the one with the most clothes on the line in 1 minute (or however long) got the prize. It was fun and quite funny. If you dropped the phone or the baby you were disqualified.

Another game that was fun for a large shower was everybody got a clothespin when they came in with the instructions that they were not allowed to say the word baby. The goal was to collect as many clothespins during the shower as possible. Whenever you heard somebody say baby you could take their clothespins. If you had 5 clothespins collected and you said baby, the other person took ALL your clothespins. The one with the most clothespins during gift opening received a prize.

Good luck and have fun...

It's a poopy inspired game. You take bite sized candy bars/chocolate candies and put them inside newborn diapers. 5 to 10 seconds in the microwave - instant baby poop for all of your guests to stick their noses in and GUESS what candy is which. done at my shower and I did it at another. Always gets BIG laughs - more from the non-parent crowd. Regardless, makes good pictures too. All your guests with their noses in "poopy" diapers. Hope this doesn't fall in the "lame" category. Have fun.

Hey. I have some baby shower planning on a budget on my website. Good Luck!

http://www.mymommycentral.com/Babyshower.html

N. B.
Mom Advice Central
http://www.mymommycentral.com

To be honest, I think all of the shower "games" are kind of stupid and unnecessary. In my opinion (and I've thrown showers and have been to plenty, including those thrown for me), a recipe for a good shower is plenty of food & drink and good company. If you don't want to splurge on lunch for everyone, throw the shower at say 2 or 3 p.m. and offer appetizers and cake, so that no one expects a big meal.

If you feel you must coordinate a game, do something that doesn't require a lot of time, effort or money. You can give everyone a pad of paper and a pen and ask them to write down their 5 favorite boy or girl names (whether or not you know the gender of the baby-to-be). Then, you can either ask everyone to share their names, or put the names in a hat and ask the mother-to-be to read the names and guess who wrote the names.

Another favorite game is to give everyone some string and scissors and ask them to cut the string long enough to fit around the mom-to-be's tummy. The person who can guess the right "circumference" wins.

Recently, my mom went to a "marathon baby shower" that lasted 5 hours. And, they asked everyone to write a poem about the mom and baby. My mom said that it was a lot of work and no fun.

I'm sure your guest-of-honor will be pleased with whatever you decide to do. Good luck!

A fun one that was done at my shower was everyone wrote down the number of times I would have to pee through out the 1.5 hour shower. Someone was appointed to count each time, everyone laughed every single time I went, I was 39 weeks.. The winner gets a door prize, we went to different places bath and body works, yankee candle and bought little gifts that were like 2 - 5 dollars.. tiny lotions, candle tarts, bubble bath fizzies.. It was really fun.

The rice game. You but rice in a sm/med size bowl with tiny safety pins and the guest has to have their eyes closed or blind folded and guess how pins they can find with their hands.
One person usually the host walks around with the bowl for the guest to guess how many pins.

It was a hoot at my baby shower

Also the name game! Get everyone to name as many baby names boy or girl with the letters of the Guest of Honors name.

You can also get a few diapers and pour different kinds of baby food in the diaper and the guests have to smell what is in the diapers and try to figure out what is in the diapers.

The winners get a treat to give to the Guest of Honor like candles, baby booties, baby bath, etc...

Good Luck and I hope this helps and you all have a ball!

A fun game is to give each guest a necklace or we've used little ribbons pinned on to our shirts. The object of the game is to catch anyone that crosses their legs or feet at the ankles. If you see someone do it, you get to take their necklace. The person that has the most at the end of the shower gets a prize. We also did the game where you smell different jars of baby food and write down what you think it is. It's funny to see what the non-mommy's think they are. they usually have no clue. Another great thing is to get everyone in a circle. You start with the mommy to be and tie a piece of yarn around her arm. Don't cut it off. Then you wrapp it around the next person's rist and they have to give some advice or say a blessing for the new family. Keep this going all around the circle. Have each person say something. Then when it gets back to the mommy to be tie the other end of the string to her other rist. Then tell every to keep their string on for the party so the good thoughts and blessings will continue to be sent to the mommy to be. Go around and cut between each person and have them tie their string on to their arm.

The baby food taste off between mom and dad-to-be. Blindfold dad, then act like you are blindfolding mom, but don't. Two guests feed the parents from a jar of baby food. Mom always gets the easy fruit; dad gets the meat and gravy. You get the idea. The winner of each food gets a coupon good for babysitting, diaper changes, bathing duties, etc. to be done by the loser. MOM ALWAYS WINS!!! :)

Also, diaper sayings, not really a game...just get some newborn diapers and some fabric pens or Sharpies and have everyone write something funny on them for those 2AM changes. ie: If you think this is bad, wait 'til she starts eating solids. or No Fido, this is NOT a dog treat!!

And, onsie decorating, buy onsies and all sorts of easy things to decorate with...fabric pens, paints, iron-ons, glitter, glue, sequins, etc.

Ask everyone to participate. There is no need for prizes, because there are no real games, just some fun.

I like to buy thank you notes, have each person address there own envelope and drop it in a basket for a doorprize. (A pot of flowers or houseplant.) Then draw one winner, and give all the envelopes to mom-to-be. A real time-saver for the already busy woman!

Good luck!

With all the recient hollywood births get pictures of mom and babies and see how many your guest can match together. Give a hollywood style gift.

My favorite one that we did at my shower was not really a game, but more of a request. I made little "New Mommy" Advice cards and had my friends and relatives write a little something on what they had learned as a mom and wanted me to know. Some of the responses made me cry with love and happiness and others were hilarious. I saved them for my son so that he can read them and pass them to his wife when they have their first child. It is a great keepsake and cheap to make!

Yes, my favorite game was done actually at my baby shower 3 yrs ago. The host passes out a piece of paper to each guest and asks them to write down one question on one side of the paper...such as What do you do if the baby is crying? Then that person flips the paper over so no one can read what they wrote and passes it to the person next to them. Everyone will need to pass their paper in the same direction. Now, the next person does NOT turn over the paper and read what was written...but, proceeds to answer the question that they had written on the first sheet of paper. You get some hilarious answers. Then have someone collect all the papers and read the mixed up question and answers.

Ugh! I hate them all. My one request at my showers was PLEASE NO GAMES. Instead, guests were given a card to write words of encouragement for us, or a prayer for the baby. Those cards made a lovely, personal addition to the children's scrapbooks. However, that multi-tasking clothes-hanging idea sounds like a hoot! Especially if husbands come!

I hate all the shower games myself, but at one shower I went to a long time ago, we each went off to an out of the way room and recorded our favorite lullaby. The hostess then compiled them all into a tape (or CD) that was given to the honoree to use with her little one. I thought that was a really nice touch - so personal and special!

I love the one where you ask each of your guest to bring a baby picture of themself and you post them on a board with numbers and the idea of the game is for your guest to try and guess who each of the baby pictures are and whomever guesses the most correctly wins. Doesn't really cost anything to do and you can usually just enclose your request with the shower invites. There is also a game where each person is given two clothes pins and during the course of the shower you are forbidden to say the word baby (which is impossible during a baby shower :) whoever catches someone else saying baby takes one of their clothes pins and at the end of the shower whomever has the most clothes pins wins.

We played the game where you put tongue depressors in baby food and make people guess what they are by tasting them!! Take the labels off of course! We did a couples shower and it was hilarious watching the guys taste the different foods.

We attended a couples shower where the men were invited. Each male contestant received a baby bottle with nipple filled with a soft drink. They had a "nursing" contest. Whomever finished the bottle first was the winner. If you don't want a lot of silly games something else that's fun to do is purchase stick-on name tags and on each one, write the name of a famous child star and as guests arrive place the name tag on their back. They have to guess whose name is on their back by asking other guests "yes" and "no" questions about the child star. This is a good way to get people to mingle and converse. Of course, it doesn't have to be a child star, but that would be a good theme considering it's a baby shower.

At a recent shower I gave I had the mom to be give me a list of names they were considering for the baby. I looked up the meanings and printed them on pretty colored paper. Everyone had to try to match the meanings to the correct name. I had her give me one name they were not gonna use and guessing this was the tie breaker option.
Another fun one is guess what's in baby's diaper bag. Use a bag filled with baby items (bottle, nipple, teething ring, diaper, blankie, etc) and then give people a certain amount of time to feel around the bag without looking then write down what they think they felt. I did about 20 items in the bag and gave them 30 secs to feel around. Everyone always has a "oh that's what that was" moment when you pull stuff out to compare. This can be incorporated as a gift as well, just give mom the bag and all the items.

decorating onesies. buy fabric markers at holly lobby and get some stencils that are gender appropriate. buy onesies of different sizes and have everyone decorate one. The stencils help the artistically challenged. the mom-to-be picks out the cutest one and that person gets a prize and the mom-to-be gets cherished memories from all of her friends.

don't forget to have everyone initial their work!!! I still have all the onesies made for me and all my friends love theirs too.