Pregnancy & Baby Index: Pregnancy - Preparing for Baby: Twelve fun baby shower games
Twelve fun baby shower games
Betsy Bailey
Moan and groan at the thought of baby shower games if you must, but think how much fun we'd miss out on without
them! Baby shower games offer your guests a great chance to break the ice -- especially when they may not
know each other very well. Here are some games for you to consider the next
time you throw a baby shower.
Special considerations
Many of these games are classics in the world of baby shower gaming, but
keep in mind that several of them could, potentially, offend either the expectant mother or your guests. Remember to keep your guests and guest-of-honor in mind as you plan your party games. For example, some moms -- particularly in an advanced state of pregnancy -- may be sensitive to wrapping lengths of toilet paper
around their midsections to get an accurate measurements and other guests
might be embarrassed participating in some of the more risqué activities when her great-grandmother is in attendance!
Toiletpaper classic
Pass around a roll of toilet paper. Each guest counts the number of
squares she thinks would be required for the two ends to meet around the
expectant mother's tummy and then tears off her length. Once everyone has
made a guess, the mom-to-be tests each length. The guest with the number
of squares that is the closest match wins the game. If you need to speed
this activity up, you can have the mom take the roll of toilet paper, wrapping
a new length around her waist. Then, simply count the squares on that length
and poll the guests to see who has the closest match. Also, while most
people use toilet paper for this game, you can also have guests snip lengths
of string, yarn or ribbon to use for measuring.
You must have been a beautiful baby
Have each guest bring a photo of herself from when she was a baby. Tape
the baby pictures onto a piece of poster board and assign a number to each
photo. Have the guests try to guess the baby pictures which go with the
adults present. The guesser with the most correct matches wins a prize.
Guessing game and variations
Place 8-10 small baby items (pacifier, diaper pins, baby spoon, etc.
in a paper bag. Pass the bag around to each guest and let them get a good
look. Then have everyone try to name as many of the items they saw in the
bag as they can. Once everyone is done with their lists the items are dumped
out of the bag and the guesses are tallied. The winner is the guest with
the best recollection of the items.
Another popular variation is
to place all the baby items on a tray. The hostess then carries the tray
displaying the items so that each guest gets a good look and then the tray
is covered while the guessing commences. Once everyone is done with their
lists, the tray is uncovered and guesses are tallied.
There is also the
"Tricked ya" variation, which is nice for a change of pace -- especially
when you have hosted or attended a lot of baby showers and
have played this game one too many times. In this version, the hostess
displays the tray and then leaves the room for a moment. Once she is out
of sight, the guests, expecting to guess the contents of the tray, are
told to recount what the hostess is wearing, including as many accessories
as possible. The most accurate guesser wins the prize. There is even a
combo variation of this game where the hostess actually becomes
the display by pinning small baby items to her clothing and then leaves
the room while the guessing commences.
Rice bowl
A wildly popular baby shower sport is the rice and safety pin game.
Fill a bowl 3/4 of the way full with dry rice. Add a packet of tiny gold
safety pins and mix them in well. One at a time, blindfold each guest and
give them the chance to remove as many safety pins as possible in one minute.
This sounds easier than it is! The pins and rice feel very similar and
many of those participating will likely end up with a small pile of rice.
Needless to say, the guest who finds the most pins wins the game. Make
sure to mix any removed pins back in before the next guest's turn so that
everyone gets an equal chance.
Cottonbowl
Here is another game which sounds easier than it is! For this game you
need two bowls, a serving spoon and a bag of cotton balls. Place all of
the cotton balls in one of the bowls. One at a time, blindfold each guest
and ask them to try to transfer as many cotton balls as they can from one
bowl to the other. Because the cotton balls weigh so little and make no
sound, it is almost impossible to tell whether you have one on the spoon
or not! Again, many of your guests will transfer nothing more than air
to the second bowl, but the one who manages to get the most cotton balls
into the second bowl wins the game.