I love throwing baby showers. I am the go-to girl for all of my friends who find themselves wanting a baby shower their guests will love. I always ask the hosts to set aside a little money for a few decent ‘prizes’ for games but I understand that isn’t always possible, especially with a baby on the way. I have come up with a solution that can be a bit easier on the budget but can still offer guests an incentive to really participate in baby shower games. Choose one prize of a decent value – it can be a gift card for iTunes, a grocery store, coffee … anything – and create a large scoreboard you can place conspicuously in the room. Put all of your party guests’ names in a column down the left side of the board and a number for each game you intend to play in a row along the top. Draw lines under each person’s name going across and then lines going down on either side of the game number to create a grid. Cut a baby picture out of a magazine for each game and have a little tape handy. At the end of every game, tape one of the baby pictures in the winner’s column under the number for the game. At the end, you’ll have an easy way to count up who won the most games. That person gets the prize. So what games should you play? The games on this list are some of the best baby shower games I’ve ever come across. Everyone will have a great time whether you choose to give prizes or not. Bragging rights can be a pretty good prize depending on your friends! Let’s take a look.
10: Baby Socks!
I’m not sure there is anything in this world cuter than baby socks. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration but baby socks are pretty darn cute. This game plays up on that. You’ll need several pairs of baby socks but you can often purchase them rather inexpensively at discount stores or department stores. If you can’t buy enough, ask your friends if they have any clean baby socks you can borrow for the game. Before your guests arrive, divide the socks so each of your guests has ten to fifteen pairs each. Separate each batch of socks so that they’re no longer in pairs, toss them into a grocery bag and mix them up. Do this until each batch of socks is in a bag. If you want to save a bit of money but have a lot of people coming to your party, ask them to separate themselves into groups of two or three. All groups should have the same number of people though. When your guests arrive, give them a bag of socks. Set a timer and challenge the guests to match as many of the socks together as they can. The person or group with the most correct pairs of socks wins.
09: The Price Is Right: Baby Edition
Who doesn’t love The Price is Right? Well, okay – this game isn’t exactly like the televised version but it’s still a whole lot of fun. You will need to buy some basic items for this one but don’t worry – you can pick up less expensive items and you’ll have just as much fun. To play this game, you’ll need:
- 5-10 baby items
- stack of note cards or poster board cut to note card size
- pens for each guest
- a place to display the items
Start by writing down the price of each baby item before the guests arrive on a piece of paper only you will have access to. Write out the price of each item on one card for each guest. In other words, if you have five items, each guest will have five note cards; one with the price of each item. Keep the cards separated. If you want to be extra fancy, you can put the sets of cards in separate envelopes for each guest and write each guests’ name on their envelope. That isn’t necessary though – as long as you keep the cards separated. It saves a lot of confusion. Set the items out where the guests can see them. Leave a little space so the note cards can be left in front of the item. Once your guests arrive, give them their cards and a pen. Have them write their name on the back of each card so it can easily be read. If you have no guests with the same initials, initials will work fine. Now the game begins. Ask your guests to examine the items one by one. They’ll then go through their cards and choose the price they think goes with each item. When they think they have the right price, they’ll lay their card face down in front of the item. When everyone has guessed a price for each product, reveal the correct price. The person that has gotten the prices right the most wins.
08: All About the Baby Stuff
Babies come with a lot of stuff, don’t they? You need blankets, bottles, pacifiers, a crib, a stroller, a car seat, toys, baby food, booties, socks … the list just never seems to end. It can be stressful but it can also be a great opportunity for a few great baby shower games.
What’s That?
One of my favorite questions to ask when I was a baby, according to my mother anyway, was “What’s that?” so maybe that explains why I think this is one of the best baby shower games around. To start, you’ll need:
- a few baby items
- a paper bag for every item
- tape
- a timer that can be set to one minute
- pen and paper
Put one of the baby items in one of the paper bags before your guests arrive and tape them shut so they can’t fall open. Use a little extra tape if you have to. Mark each bag with a number or letter. On your paper, write down the name of each guest you expect to attend in a column down the left side of the page. Put the letter or number on each bag in a row across the top of the page, leaving enough room to put an ‘x’ or a checkmark under each bag beside each guests’ name. When you’re ready to play, have everyone sit in a circle and hand a random bag to one of the guests. Set the timer to one minute and allow each guest to examine each bag for one minute and one minute only. When all the guests have examined the bag, ask each guest to tell you what they think was inside the bag. Open it up and show everyone what baby item it was. Everyone who got it right gets a checkmark. Everyone who got it wrong gets an ‘x’. Continue doing this for all of the bags. The guest that got the most correct answers wins.
Baby Item Madness
This is another great game that plays on how many baby items there are out there. For this one, you’ll need:
- a pen and paper for each guest
- a hard writing surface for each guest
- a timer that can be set to five minutes
Hand out a pen and paper to each guest and ask them to write down as many baby items as they can in five minutes. Set your timer and let them go. Count up each person’s list when time runs out. The person with the most baby items of the list wins.
07: The “Don’t Cross Your Legs” Game
This is one of my all time favorite baby shower games. It’s also one I lose every time I play. To start, you’ll need to but several baby faces out of a magazine and put them on safety pins. Hand one baby face out to everyone at the shower and ask them to stick it to their shirt. The baby face needs to be somewhere conspicuous so that everyone can see it. Once everyone has a baby face, it’s time to start the game. The rules are simple. While you have a baby face, you cannot cross your legs. If you cross your legs, someone can take the baby face from you. At the end of the night, whoever has collected the most baby faces wins a prize.
06: Pacifier Games
Pacifier games are a great idea for any baby shower. They’re fun and memorable but they can also be done cheaply as pacifiers can often be very inexpensive. There are two games that involve pacifiers that come to mind every time I think about hosting a baby shower. The first is the least expensive but is also my personal favorite. I like to call it Pin the Pacifier on the Baby.
Pin the Pacifier on the Baby
To get started with this game, you’ll need:
- a large picture of a baby (the bigger the picture, the better)
- a blindfold
- a picture of a soother for every guest at the party
- a piece of tape for every soother picture.
Hang the baby picture on a wall or door a blindfolded person could get to without obstruction. Hand each guest a picture of a soother with a piece of tape on the back. One by one, tie the blindfold on each guest, turn them around a few times and then point them in the direction of the baby picture. The guest then has to try to stick their pacifier picture to the baby’s mouth. The person that gets their pacifier picture closest wins a prize.
Pass the Pacifier
This is another fun pacifier based game your baby shower guests will love. For this one, you’ll need:
- several pacifiers with a loop handle
- a straw for every guest at your party
Ask your guests to separate into teams and have them line up. Each team should have at least four players. Hand out a straw to every player and ask that every player puts the straw they’ve been given in their mouth so the end of the straw sticks out. Hand out one pacifier to the first person in line for each team. Ask that everyone that’s been given a pacifier puts it on their straw. This person must then transfer the pacifier to the next person in line’s straw without using their hands. That person then transfers the pacifier to the next person’s straw and so on until the pacifier has reached the end of the line. The team to do this the fastest wins.
05: Guess the Flavor
I love this game simply because it proves it can be absolutely impossible to tell the difference between one flavor of baby food and another. For this one, you’ll need:
- five different flavors of baby food (choose bottles that don’t have the flavor marked on the lid)
- five scrapes of paper for each guest
- five small paper bags or five small boxes with a slit cut into the top (kind of like a ballot box)
- a pen for each guest
- a spoon for each guest
- a marker
Start by assigning each flavor of food with a number or letter. Mark this number or letter on the lid or on the jar. Write down which number goes with which flavor and keep the piece of paper you have this information on somewhere only you can see it. Next, remove the labels from each jar of baby food. If you haven’t been able to find food that doesn’t have the flavor marked on the top of the jar, you can obscure the flavor with a black marker. When your guests arrive set the jars of baby food on a table and put the paper bag or box in front of the jar. Hand each guest five scraps of paper, a pen and a spoon. Remove the tops from the jars and have each guest sample each flavor. The catch is they only get one spoonful. From that spoonful, they must decide what flavor of baby food they’ve just tasted. They’ll write their guess down on a scrap of paper with their name, fold it and stick it in the bag or the box that corresponds with the jar. When everyone is done tasting, reveal the real flavors. The person with the most correct guesses wins.
04: Time to Feed the Baby
I’ll warn you in advance, this one can be messy so don’t play this one in a carpeted area or on a floor that can’t be easily cleaned! To play this one, you’ll need:
- one garbage bag for every guest at your party
- paper towels
- one baby spoon for every guest at your party (normal spoons work in a pinch)
- one bowl for every guest at your party
- one blindfold for every guest at your party
- lots of applesauce or pudding
Now, you can use applesauce or pudding but I prefer using pudding, especially for larger parties. You can buy pudding mix relatively inexpensively and make enough for all of your guests without spending a huge amount of money. It’s also messier and, therefore, funnier. When you’re ready to play, give each guest a blindfold, a spoon and a garbage bag. Ask them to pair off into teams of two. Have each pair sit facing each other and ask that they blindfold themselves. Once everyone is blindfolded, hand out the bowls of applesauce or pudding. Make sure you let them know what they’re about to be eating. Now the fun begins! Each guest must feed their applesauce or pudding to their partner while blindfolded. The team that finished off both bowls first, wins.
03: Paper Plate Baby
This is probably one of the most entertaining baby shower games out there. I host a lot of baby showers and this one is always on the games list. It’s just way too much fun to pass up. To play this one, you’ll need:
- a sturdy paper plate for every guest at your party
- a marker for every guest at your party
Hand out one paper plate and one marker to every guest. Tell them they’ll be drawing a baby on the plate and then give them the twist – the guests must have the paper plate on top of their heads as they draw. If you want to kick things up a notch, you can set a time limit. I like to set a time limit of five minutes but you can allow your guests to draw as long as you’d like. When time is up or when your guests have finished drawing, each guest reveals their photo. I assume you, hilarity will ensue. Whoever’s paper plate baby looks the most like a real baby – or a baby at all – wins.
02: Name Tag Game
I do this one at every baby shower I plan because it raises money for the mommy-to-be or her baby while entertaining guests at the same time. This one needs to be planned a bit in advance though because all guests who attend will need to bring a few $1 bills or coins. I’m in Canada and we have the loonie here so that’s what I ask everyone to bring. If your country doesn’t have $1 coins but does have bills, ask everyone to bring a few $1 bills. You can also choose to ask people to simply bring whatever spare change they have if you don’t think everyone will be able to afford to being a few extra dollars. Aside from the coins, you’ll also need:
- name tags
- markers
- a piggy bank
Before your guests arrive, prepare a name tag for every person that will be attending but instead of writing down each guests’ name, you’ll be writing down a baby item into the “name” field. Some items you can use for your guests include:
- onesie
- baby socks
- baby bottle
- pacifier
- formula
- teething ring
- crib
- stroller
- changing table
You get the idea, I’m sure. Make sure you have one ‘name’ tag for every guest you expect to attend. The mommy-to-be and the daddy-to-be (if he’ll be attending) should have “Mommy” or “Daddy” written in the name field. Allow any soon-to-be Grandparents attention to write whatever they would like their new grandchild to call them in the name field. Hand out the name tags as your guests arrive and ask them to place the tag somewhere on their clothing that others will be able to see it. The game begins as soon as the guests arrive. From that moment on, anyone who calls another guest by anything other than the word on their name tag must put $1 in the piggy bank. The game continues until the shower is over.
01: Bad Word Baby
This is, without question, one of the best baby shower games I’ve ever had the joy to participate in and boy, is it a tough one. The game starts the minute your guests arrive. To play, you’ll need a diaper pin for each guest at your party. When your guests arrive, hand a diaper pin to each guest and ask that they pin it to their clothing somewhere that it can easily be seen by other guests. Once everyone has their pin in place, let them know there is a prize for whoever has the most pins by the end of the shower and then explain the word ‘baby’ is officially a blacklisted word. This means, quite simply, that any guest who says the word ‘baby’ while wearing a pin can have that pin taken by another player. If the host is the only one that catches the slip up, the host can remove the pin and it is no longer in play.
Another great baby shower activity that I wanted to mention isn’t really a game but should be mentioned anyway because it can really help the soon-to-be-parents out. Consider holding a diaper raffle. Find a decent prize that people will actually want and raffle it off at the shower. The cost of the raffle ticket? One package of diapers. Bigger packages get more tickets. A guest brought five packages of diapers? They get five raffle tickets. Include an insert in each baby shower invitation you send out explaining the raffle and how the guest can partake. On the day of the shower, set up a little place where guests can trade in the diapers they bring for their raffle tickets. Tear one ticket in half for each package they bring, throwing one half into a bucket and giving the other half to the guest. At the end of the shower, draw a ticket from the bucket. You can also do two smaller giveaways if you’d like but save the best, most coveted prize for last. You might be surprised by just how many diapers you wind up with!
