Baby shower games serve two purposes. One is to get your guests mingling, participating, and laughing with each other. Many of the baby shower guests may not know each other, especially the mom-to-be’s friends and her relatives. It also gives the guest of honor some fun time with her friends and family before she goes into sleep deprivation mode.
When choosing games, keep it simple. You don’t want to have to explain the directions ten times, or have the game interrupted because the guests don’t understand. Also, you’re going to have your hands full with the shower preparation, decorating, and food planning.
There are a variety of games to choose from, anything from co-ed games, to pencil and paper games, to full out relay race type games. Determine what will fit your shower best. If you have an indoor shower in a fairly small area, stay away from relays or games that require a lot of movement. If you are having an outdoor shower, mix it up! Try to keep the mother-to-be in mind. If she can't participate in the games because they are too strenuous, she’ll feel left out. Below are some ideas for games that will let everyone (including the mom-to-be and the hostess) have fun.
Key Points
- If you have a fun party game in mind, try to think of a way to put a fun baby spin on it.
- Some games, like the backwards spelling bee, might take a while to get through. Others, like needle in a haystack, are shorter.
- Don't plan too many games in one shower. A surplus of games will leave your guests overwhelmed, which means they likely won't enjoy themselves as much. Try to keep it to one to three games.
Great Ideas for Baby Shower Games
Backwards Spelling Bee
This is a spelling bee, except you spell the words backwards. The first round calls for four-letter baby related words, like “baby”. One at a time, give a word to each guest. If they spell it wrong, they're out and the next person gets to spell their word. They have to spell it backwards!
Second round is five-letter baby related words for anyone who made it past the first round. The third round is six-letter words, and so on. Keep going until you have a winner.
Pin Drop
Guests compete to drop diaper pins into a baby bottle – but they have to hold the diaper pin near their chin when they drop it. For multiple rounds, start at the height of their knee, then waist, then chin until there is only one winner.
Multi-tasking Mom
Hang a clothesline across the room with baby outfits hanging from it. Have guests compete to see who can get the most clothes off the clothesline in 30 seconds. The catch is, they have to get the clothes off the clothesline while holding a baby doll and talking on a cordless phone.
Pass the Box
Wrap a gift in layers and layers of gift wrap- the more layers the better. Like Hot Potato, guests will pass the box until the music stops. The person holding it when the music stops unwraps only one layer.
When the music starts again, the gift gets passed around again and again until the last layer of wrapping is taken off. Whoever removes the last layer of wrap gets to keep the gift.
Pin the Baby in the Mommy
This is exactly like pin the tail on the donkey, but you'll make a mommy and babies for guests to put into the right place. Another variation is to pin the pacifier on the baby. The one who gets the pacifier closest to the baby's mouth wins.
Needle in a Haystack
This game involves diaper pins in a bowl of uncooked rice. Guests compete to find the most diaper pins in one minute, while blindfolded.
Diaper the Baby
Set up as a relay race, teams compete to have each team member rush to a table, take off the baby's diaper, then wipe, powder and put the diaper back on. The first team to have all members diaper the baby wins. The diaper must stay on the baby when holding it above the table.
Baby Charades
One word baby items or complete phrases can be used. The words or phrases have to be baby related. Split everyone into teams and see who can get the most correct guesses!
Guess the Baby Food
Take the labels off of the baby food jars and have the guests guess the food. Use eight to ten jars of different kinds of foods. If there is a tie, blindfold the remaining two and have them taste one of the jars and guess the right flavor to win their prize.
Name the Stuff
Fill ten Ziploc bags with powdered goods like baby detergent, formula, flour, powdered sugar, and baking soda. Number the bags one to ten, each containing one of ten white powders. All of the baby shower guests pass the bags around writing down on a piece of paper what they think the “white stuff” is. Whoever gets the most correct wins.
How Many Baby Shower Games Should I Have?
Trying to plan a good itinerary for your baby shower can be tough. If you're wondering how many games you should schedule for your shower, there's a few things you'll want to keep in mind.
First, you'll want to consider how long you plan on your baby shower being. Most baby showers average around two hours, although yours might be shorter or longer depending on how you arrange it. You'll want to ensure that any games you plan can fit into the timeframe you've set for the party, while leaving time for gifts and for guests to chat and eat.
Keep in mind that guests will get tired as the party goes on, especially the mother-to-be. Guests are less likely to have fun playing games when they're tired or when they're starting to think about departing. Try to schedule games for earlier in the party, or more towards the middle. It might be a good idea to wait until after your guests have eaten, to ensure everyone is full and in a good mood!
Don't overwhelm your guests. Even if you have time, scheduling four or five games in one baby shower is too much. Your guests might not like having to hop from game to game. Plus, it'll be a lot more work for you to plan that many games. Try to keep the number of games you have between one and three. If you decide to have multiple games, keep each game shorter.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©karen roach/Shutterstock.com.