| Baby Shower Games |
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| Are games necessary at a baby shower? Of course not, but they are fun and can break the ice among people who may not know each other. Besides, it’s always fun to win a prize! |
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| Diaper Raffle: This game will need to be planned ahead so that guests know to bring a package of diapers if they choose to participate: On the invitation or along with the invitation write something like: |
To add a little extra glee
And help the parents-to-be
Please bring a little extra from the heart
An unwrapped pack of diapers
To give them a good start |
| Guests need only participate if they choose to. But when guests arrive, if they have brought a package of diapers, give them half of a ‘ticket’ with a number on both halves.
At the end of the shower (or whenever you choose) have the mother-to-be draw a number from a hat or bowl. Whoever has that number on their half of the ticket is the winner. This prize should be a bit nicer than other prizes as diapers are quite pricey. |
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| Frozen Meal Raffle: When you have a new baby in the house, it is SOOO hard to think about anything else, including feeding yourself and the rest of your family. One great preparation for the arrival of a new baby is a well-stocked freezer with plenty of meals prepared in advance! What a nice way to help out the mother-to-be by asking guests to arrive with a frozen meal with heating instructions to help out with those first few very difficult weeks after the baby arrives. This is also completely optional for a guest, but a fun way to have a raffle and help out the new family. Again, as above, you will need to plan ahead to write your request on the invitation or invitation insert. It can be something like: |
To add a little extra glee
And help the parents-to-be
Please bring a little extra from the heart
A frozen meal with heating instructions
To give them a good start |
| See above for raffle ticket instructions. Again, the prize should be something nicer as the person is putting extra effort into preparing a meal. |
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| Don’t Say “BABY”: How can you not say “baby” at a baby shower? It’s not easy! At some point during the party, hand each guest a necklace that looks like a pacifier. (see directions on how to make these quickly and easily below) Tell them that from this point on, no one can say the word ‘baby’. Anyone who catches another person saying baby takes the other person’s necklace. Whoever has the most necklaces at the end of the game wins. A good time to play this game is while the mother-to-be is opening gifts.
Another variation of the game would be to give each guest 3 clothespins and people take away their clothespins as they are ‘caught’ saying ‘baby’. Whoever has the most clothespins at the end of the game wins.
Directions on making a ‘pacifier necklace’: Take two lifesavers candies. Place one flat on a table. Put a dab of frosting in the center and place the second lifesaver on top of it VERTICALLY. Now turn it over (so the first lifesaver is horizontal) and put another dab of frosting there. Place some kind of small candy here (to resemble the nipple of a pacifier). Gumdrops, jawbreakers, round lemon drops, etc. work well. Now put a length of ribbon through the vertical lifesaver so it forms a necklace. Tie it off so guests can wear them around their necks. Be sure to make the ribbon extra long so guests don’t have a hard time pulling the necklace on and off. Since only candy and frosting is used to make the necklaces, they are edible!!! |
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| Guessing Game: Place small candies (such as jelly beans or M&Ms) in a baby bottle. Tie balloons to the bottle for an added touch. Ask each guest to guess how many candies are in the bottle. You will need to make some kind of ballot for the guesses, but just a small piece of paper works just fine. Have guest put their name and their guess on their ballot. Whoever comes closest to guessing correctly wins. –Don’t forget to count the candies before you place them in the bottle and write down the answer somewhere! The prize can be the bottle with the candies or the mother-to-be can take the bottle and you can give the winner a different prize. These bottles make EXCELLENT centerpieces or decorations for around the room if you color coordinate them. Most dollar stores have nice solid color bottles. |
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| Door Prize: This is a nice way of giving a prize, and helping out the mother-to-be at the same time. First purchase (or make) “Thank You” cards (baby shower appropriate). Get enough to cover each guest attending the shower. Take the envelopes and ask each guest to fill out their name and address on the envelope to sign up for a ‘door prize’. At the end of the shower, pick one of the envelopes randomly. The person on the envelope wins a prize. Now take the envelopes and the Thank You cards and tie them with a ribbon to present to the mother-to-be. Now she has Thank You cards to write out for all of her guests AND the names and addresses are already on the envelopes!!!!
A word of caution: Some people are offended by this ‘game’. They feel that when they came to an event and bought someone a gift, the least the recipient of the gift could do is fill out an envelope. There are differing opinions on this, but the solution is simple: As the hostess of the event--fill out the names and addresses on the envelopes yourself and still pick one as a winner of a prize. People love to ‘win’ things and it is a nice touch. |
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| BINGO: There are more expensive versions of this in which you purchase ready made Bingo cards, but the generic (and just as fun) version goes like this: On your computer, make a grid with 5 boxes going down and 5 across for a total of 25 boxes on a sheet of paper. You can make it smaller by doing 4 by 4. Before the mother-to-be begins opening gifts, pass out these ‘bingo cards’ and ask guests to fill out each box with specific gifts they think the mother-to-be is about to open. (ex: bibs, stroller, bottles, blankets, etc). As the mother-to-be opens each gift, guests can put an X on any square in which they have written a gift that was guessed correctly. (In other words, the mother-to-be opens up a gift and it is a stroller, the guest has ‘stroller’ in one of her boxes. She puts an X on that box.) Whoever gets ‘BINGO’ first wins.
Another way to do this would be to make up ready-made cards beforehand (all different) so you don’t have to wait for guests to fill out their cards before the mother-to-be opens gifts. |
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| Paper Plate Baby: Give each guest a paper plate and a pen and have them place the plate on top of their head and try to draw a picture of a baby while the plate is on their head. The mother-to-be judges the pictures to determine the winner. |
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| Drink From a Baby Bottle: This game is probably more appropriate for a ‘couples’ baby shower in which men are also in attendance. Fill baby bottles with milk and see who can finish the bottle the fastest. Whoever does, wins! |
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| Guess the Baby Food: Take labels off of baby food jars and have people look, smell, taste, etc. Label each jar with a number. Have guests write down their guesses and whoever gets the most correct, wins. Make sure you have written down the answers somewhere! |
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| Guess the Baby Items: Place common baby items in a bag (diaper, diaper pin, pacifier, blanket, booties, bib, etc) Have guests reach into the bag without looking to feel the items. Have them write down as many as they can remember. Whoever guesses the most correctly wins. |
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| How Big is Mom’s belly?: Have each guest take a length of string or toilet paper however long they think the circumference of the mother-to-be’s belly is. Whoever comes closest wins.
A word of caution: This may offend the mother-to-be, especially if she seems to be carrying especially large or small. |
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| Prizes |
Some good ideas for Prizes are:
Candles
Frames
A basket filled with bath goodies
Bottle of nice hand lotion or hand soap
Tins of Cookies or Candy
Hand stamped note cards (generic) and envelopes tied with a ribbon
Clay pot with some flower seed packets, gardening gloves and a spade |