The time has come where you have volunteered to host a baby shower and you immediately think, “How am I going to pull this off so everyone has a good time?”
Since the business of party games is, well…our business, we LOVE baby shower games. Sometimes, though, your guests won’t feel as excited about the shower games as we do and depending what games you play, they can make your guests feel down right uncomfortable.
Guests might not be into smelling diapers filled with candy and the mom-to-be might not love the idea of having every party-goer measure how big & round her belly is getting.
But since baby showers are generally filled with people who don’t know each other and need to occupy a few hours of time, how do you keep everyone entertained, while still celebrating the mom-to-be? Easy. Play baby shower games that don’t suck.
First, Pick a Good Icebreaker.
The goal of an icebreaker is to get people to feel comfortable around each other. If you can achieve this, the rest of the party will run more smoothly because your guests won’t feel as awkward participating in activities together.
Example: Right Left Baby Game
This gift-passing game will this game get your guests mingling and holding up their left hand to remember which one makes the letter “L”, but many of them will also get gifts for themselves right off the bat! You would be amazed at how quickly people forget their right from left when they are fighting for gifts.
Second, Take Into Account The Ages of Your Shower Guests
If you’re crowd is going to be filled with mostly 20-30 somethings, there are no laws that say you have to sit down for every game you play and just stare at each other from across the room. On the other hand, if you have 4 grandmas coming to the party, you might want to consider staying with more low key activities.
Example: Younger group of party-goers – Baby Outburst.
You can pair people up in teams and then have them compete against each other. The team with the most points would win.
Example: For an older crowd, traditional games – Nursery Rhyme Quiz
You might want to consider a sit-down game that everyone can still have fun with.
Third, Don’t be afraid to Mix Games in With Activities
The key word here is: active. Sometimes activities to do with your party goers can be a great idea and can also break up the game playing and create additional mingling.
For instance, you can set up a onesie painting station and have your guests create a personalized gift for the mom-to-be. Or, you could have party guests write down baby advice and have a scrapbook there for them to add it into, so the mom has a nice keepsake.
Example: New Baby Advice
Fourth, Consider The Amount of Games & Activities and Create An Agenda
This gives you an idea of how the activities should space out for the party so you can keep the party flowing. We’d recommend planning 3-5 games or activities throughout the course of the shower. This way, guests will be kept entertained, but won’t be overwhelmed.
Print out your FREE baby shower agenda here: Baby Shower Agenda
Fifth, Play a Game While Mom-to-Be Is Opening Gifts
This will give your guests something to do on top of “ooing” and “ahhing” about the baby gifts the new mom is receiving.
Example: Baby Gift Bingo
You can personalize it so it’s unique to the mom-to-be and can include items from her registry, plus her name or her babies name at the top of the game.
Lastly, Break Up The Game Playing With Food Grazing & Mingling
There may come a point in the shower where guests want to get up out of their seats and grab more food and just stand around and talk for a bit. So let them!
Most importantly, a baby shower is about celebrating the mom-to-be and the new life she is bringing into the world. It should be a fun occasion that creates memories the mom-to-be will remember for a lifetime. So go ahead and play those baby shower games!
Follow these tips and you’ll be confident going into the shower that your baby shower games won’t suck.
For more tips and ideas for hosting a great baby shower, click here.
Share Your Party Planning Comments!
We’d love to know what do you think about playing games at baby showers. Do you love them or hate them? And why?