There are many reasons you might choose neutral baby shower themes. Mom and Dad don’t know the baby’s gender, or the idea of a totally frilly, princess of a girl or a masculine and macho boy is just too much for mom to handle. Or, maybe mom and dad care less about theme and more about stocking up for their baby.
What can the hostess do about baby shower games at a neutral-themed shower? This is no problem at all. Most baby shower games are not all that gender specific and go equally well with pink or blue.
Games at a neutral shower can function to push more of the focus onto mom or pull it back to the impending arrival of baby. Keeping this in mind, here are a few fun and easy games to highlight mom, baby or both!
Games For Neutral Baby Shower Themes
Baby Bingo
Baby bingo is great, because it can be played so many ways, is easy to prepare, and does not take an extraordinary amount of time to enjoy at the shower.
When guests arrive, hand each a piece of paper with a blank grid printed on one side. The grid should have 5 rows and 5 columns so it is a 5×5 block of squares. The center square can be labeled as a ‘free’ space if you wish. To make this paper cuter, you can decorate it with clip art focusing on your theme and print the title ‘baby bingo’ at the top.
Each player is instructed to fill in the blank squares with something they expect mom to receive as one of the gifts at the shower; tell them to be specific.
Play begins as mom opens her gifts and each player marks off the appropriate squares. This game is especially fun when the host has assigned specific gifts, such as basic baby items, onesies, pacifiers, bath time items, or blankets as part of the invitation.
Pamper Mom
To bring the full spotlight to bear on mom, have a complete pampering mom theme right down to no baby gifts at all. Instead shower mom with indulgent treats like bubble bath, lip gloss, chocolates, and other fun trinkets.
This can easily be converted into a game of ‘Name That Item’.
This is an ideal game if you have some attendees who don’t usually enjoy participating actively in “cutsie” games. Capitalize on this reality by asking guests to volunteer for the game. Have them sit in the front of the room where others can watch, like a game show.
Give them a list of items such as lotion, baby wipes, chocolate candies, bubble bath, and lip gloss and so on. To play, have each player smell, handle, or other wise explore these items one at a time while blindfolded. They then need to guess which items are which.
The player with the most correct answers wins. Limiting interaction to smell only generally works best.
The Animals Game
The baby animals game is a great one to bring mothers and their oven bun into the spotlight together. This game works with nearly all shower themes no matter how neutral, and is a snap for the host to prepare.
Simply clip a list of adult (mother) animals' names next to a list of baby animals' names. To play, each player must correctly match mother to baby. For example, the mother is a deer while her baby is a fawn. To make this game even more exciting, bring dad into the mix; then the answers would be a three way match of doe, fawn, and buck, or goose, gosling, and gander.
You can easily find comprehensive lists of adult animals and their baby counterparts online. Pick a mix of easy animals and difficult ones. Most people know that a baby lion is called a cub, but do they know what a baby dolphin is called? Hopefully you don't have any zoologists in the crowd, since they'll certainly have an unfair advantage!
One of the best things about this game is that there is so much you can do to modify it to fit your needs. If you only want mom and baby, change the hand out to reflect that. Want matching instead of fill in the blank? You can do that too; it is all just a matter of formatting.
Conclusion
Neutral baby shower games do not have to mean run of the mill and boring. With these unique crowd-pleasing games at the ready, you are one step closer to hosting the best baby shower ever! Good baby shower games don't need to be complicated or long. In fact, simple is often better!
Schedule one or two games throughout the duration of the baby shower. Serve food in between two games, to give everyone a break so they can chat. Guests are going to want to socialize just as much as they're going to want to partake in other shower festivities.
Regardless of the game you pick, make sure it fits what mom is capable of. Remember that she is very pregnant! She won't be able to do a lot of moving. Keep games as stationary as possible, or have the guests do all the moving instead of the mom-to-be.
Have fun with this baby shower! With the right planning, everyone will have a blast and the mom-to-be will leave happy.