Baby Shower Ideas

Give each guest one or two Question/Advice Cards and have them fill out their answers on a separate card. Mix up the cards and read the new questions and answer combinations. (You may want to be totally random or deliberately put humorous Q & A’s together.) After reading them, you can match the cards correctly and give them to the parents to keep.

Provide onesies for the guests to decorate.

Buy several jars of baby food and take off the labels. Provide multiple spoons. Have guests guess what each food is. (Obviously, nothing too easy like bananas ☺ )

Ask the guests to bring pictures of themselves as babies. Display the pictures, each one labeled with a number. (Hang them on a clothesline with clothes pins or fasten them to a poster board with tacky glue) Give the guests paper & pencils and 10 minutes to match the baby photos to the guests. Person with the most correct matches wins.

Go through your music collection and make a list of songs that have the word “Baby” or “Babe” in the title. Make a playlist or CD. At the party, distribute paper and pens to the guests. Play part of each song (the first five seconds or so) and have guests write down each song title and artist. The guest with the most correct complete answers (title and artist) wins. (Some ideas: “Baby, Baby” – Amy Grant , “Be My Baby” – The Ronettes, “Baby Love” – The Supremes, “I Got You Babe” – Sonny and Cher, “It Ain’t Me, Babe” – Bob Dylan, “Don’t Worry Baby” – The Beach Boys)

INTERVIEW

Suggested Questions:

What are you most looking forward to about parenthood?
What are you most dreading?

Which stages of growth do you think you’ll find the most exciting (and why):
infancy/toddlerhood/preschool/gradeschool/teen/young adult

What characteristic of yours (or your spouse) do you hope that your child will emulate?
What characteristic do you hope they won’t emulate?

Which parent do you think will be better at diaper changing? Potty training? Discipline? Teaching manners? Helping with homework? Dealing with emergencies? Planning birthday parties? Playing sports? (Why for all)

What is one thing you hope you will NEVER say or do as a parent?

What toys do you NOT want your child to ever have?

What book are you most looking forward to reading to your child?

If you were to have access to only one baby advice book and it would have to be written by someone you know, who would you choose to write it for you?

What is the best story your dad & mom tell about when you were a baby? (Or how would your parents describe you as a baby? i.e., easy, quiet, colicky, active, cute, etc.)

Traditional Shower Games

If you like traditional shower games, here are some you might consider:

Never Say Baby
(Materials- baby safety pins or another type of baby object you can place on a string for each woman at the party as well as string or yarn, enough for each woman to wear as a necklace). Have each woman place the necklace with the baby safety pins around her neck when she gets to the party. The rules for this baby shower game are given out at the beginning of the baby shower that whenever someone says the word “baby” during the shower, any woman who calls it out gets a pin from the other woman who stated the word. At the end of the baby shower, the woman with the most pins wins a prize. (All the pins?)

How Many Baby Items Can You Name
(Materials- pad of paper and pen for each woman). Have each woman write down as many baby products as they can name (bottle, blanket, pacifier, etc) within 5 minutes. Sure it is easy at the beginning, but towards the last few minutes, the women will start racking their brains for more 🙂 Give a prize to the woman who gets the most baby products named!

Guess Mommy’s Tummy Size
(Materials- String or yarn and scissors) Have each woman pull the yarn to the size they believe would fit perfectly around the Mother-To-Be’s center of her pregnant tummy. After everyone cuts their string, compare the results to the Mommy-To-Be’s actual tummy.

Baby Name Game
One at a time, guests must find a name for every letter of the alphabet. Arrange guests in a circle. The first guest to start has to yell out a baby name starting with the letter ‘A’, the second with the letter ‘B’, and so on. Each guest gets 3 seconds to think of a name. If she goes over 3 seconds, she’s eliminated. The last guest standing is the winner. The hostess will judge whether a baby name is acceptable given the three seconds allotted to each player. Variation: Play this name game in reverse! Guests must find a baby name that ends with a letter of the alphabet. For example, the guest with the letter ‘A’ can choose the name Greta, Samantha, etc.

Baby Bottle Bowling
Playing the game: Ten baby bottles are set up as bowling pins. Guests proceed to try to knock down all 10 bottles. The guest with the highest score wins. Using a long hallway, set up in rows starting with one in the front and working up to four rows. You can use a soft kid’s ball or make your own using a diaper and wrapping it in transparent packaging tape. Or have guests create their own balls from diapers and tape.

Host an online shower. Why would you want to have a shower over the Internet instead of in-person? Perhaps an expectant mom is on bed rest. Your virtual shower can include a guest book, photos, blogs and/or real time chats, games, and links to gift registries. The event can last for a day, several days, or even a few weeks. If you can’t or don’t want to set it up yourself, sites like http://webbabyshower.com/ will do it for a fee. Even “real” parties often use online RSVP sites like Evite for invitations and responses. It’s fun to be able to see who is coming to an event and to be able to leave a greeting if you can’t make it.

Some great traditions for welcoming new babies:
http://www.cafetraditions.com/New-Baby-Traditions-C7.aspx