At many baby showers, baby shower games are standard. These can be a fun way for guests to participate more fully in a shower. They can also be a terrific way to give out a few little gifts to shower attendees, by having prizes for game winners. On this front, those throwing the shower and the mom to be should probably not accept the prizes though they can participate in the games. Not all environments for showers are equally suited to games; quick office parties on a short lunch break may represent too little time for visiting and baby shower games.
Numerous baby shower games exist and there are websites and books that devote significant times to listing them. It would be difficult to compile an exhaustive list, but there are certainly some games that are particularly fun and quite common at baby showers. One of the easiest of these to play, though hardest to win, is the “Don’t Say Baby” game.
Each attendee is given a diaper pin, which they get to keep as long as they don’t say the word baby. Any other guest can “catch” someone saying baby, and claim her pin. The winner at the end of the shower is the person with the longest pin strand. Some guests enjoy this game but others don’t like to be inhibited by not saying the common word because they want to talk freely about children and the expected baby.
Another of the common baby shower games is to guess mommy’s waist size. This may be fun if the mom doesn’t mind having her personal space invaded or facts about her waist size revealed. It isn’t for everyone though, and expectant moms who are more private may not want to play.
More neutral games include a number of guessing games. Many involve estimating amount of a certain thing in a large jar. This can include candy, if the jar itself is the prize, diaper pins, or anything else that seems appropriate. Word scramble games can be fun too. These can be played in two ways, where the words are scrambled, usually common baby words, and guests must unscramble them, or where a word related to baby themes is used to make a lot of small words.
Baby shower games that involve memory also make for good guessing games. Place 10-20 items on a tray that are baby or childcare themed. Let guests take a look for a minute, and then cover the tray. Have contestants list all things they saw on the tray, with those remembering the most rewarded with a prize. Alternately, collect baby pictures from all guests (make copies so as not to damage originals) and have a guessing game of which picture belongs to each guest.
Other baby shower games can be more active. Blind diaper changing can be fun with the right supplies, a few disposable diapers and some baby dolls. Blindfold gamers and see how quickly and accurately they can change a diaper.
Since baby showers often are a couple hours in length there is usually time for two or three games. Conversation is typically part of the shower, so leave in opportunities for lots of chatting and snacks. Don’t forget to leave a good half hour to hour for opening of gifts, and plan games for the early part of the shower, before eating and gift opening commences.
