Baby Shower Games? - Provo,UT

I just threw a baby shower last weekend. We played the baby food game Julia talked about and everyone was laughing and talking to each other trying to guess what they were. The baby food were all similar colors so it made it a bit more difficult. For another game I passed around ribbon and scissors and everyone had to guess how big the Mommy to be's tummy was by cutting a ribbon that length. The third game I filled a baby bottle with skittles (Mommy's favorite candy) and they had to guess how many. Everyone seemed to enjoy the games. It's kind of expected to play silly games at showers. Another shower I went to the host had melted different candy bars in diapers and they were passed around and you had to guess what it was (like Snickers, Kit Kats, chocolate candy). It certainly got people talking to each other.
I don't know if you are having a sit down meal but if you are you can try to sit people with people from other 'groups'. Depending on how many people you can divide them up into groups for the games and just mix up the groups.
Good luck!

People always say they don't want games, but the truth is that the games make the party come together. Without games, people don't socialize as much.
Simple games are to take the labels off baby food and guess what they are (number the tops). Or to have a tray of small baby items (QTips, Diaper Pins, other small items) and people get to look at it while you carry it around, or they get timed and they write down as much as they remember. You can probably google games for showers - it doesn't matter- the poin tis just to play the games!!

Yes, baby shower games can be pretty lame. I just hosted a baby shower recently and I just had the group do two different activities. The first one was for each guest to take some toilet paper squares. I didn't tell them what it was for, so everyone just assumed it was to measure the mom-to-be's stomach. When everyone had their squares I passed out the corresponding number of 3x5 cards. They were to write a piece of advice, story, nice message, etc. on the card for the mom, or the baby, or even the dad-to-be or older brother. It was fun and got some laughs because of the people that tore off 20+ squares! The other activity we did was something that could be done throughout the shower. I bought a box of diapers and brought some sharpies. Everyone wrote messages on the diapers. It was a lot of fun for everyone as we all tried to come up with creative things to write on the diapers. Also, this was a group of people who all knew each other but not because we were all from work, church, etc. So at the beginning we just went around the room and said our name and how we met or knew the mom-to-be. It was a lot of fun and no boring games!
Good luck and have fun! :)

I hosted once and we did a memory style game. You put terms on a piece of poster board, or 2, depending on how many terms you are going with. Then the ladies just take turns playing and trying to get matches. When they make a match they get a candy bar that goes with that. Here are terms I found and the candy. There may be duplicates, but each list has different candies, some are hard to find. Good luck.
Terms and coordinating prizes

Conception (Score Candy Bar)

Breast Feeding (Milky Way Candy Bar)

New Baby (Almond Joy Candy Bar)

Delivery (Rocky Road Candy Bar)

Dirty Diaper (Raisinets)

Umbilical Cord (Licorice Rope)

Binky (Ring Pop)

Doctor Bill (100 Grand Candy Bar)

Daddy (Big Hunk Candy Bar)

Mommy (Bonkers Candy)

Grandma (Lifesavers Candy)

Love (Now and Later Candy)

Engorgement (Mounds Candy Bar)

Nap Time (Pay Day Candy Bar)

Triplets (Three Musketeers Candy Bar)

Bottle (Bottlecaps Candy or Suckers)

1-drooling--goobers
2-bundle--almond joy
3-baby girl--Baby Ruth
4-baby boy--Big Hunk
5-epidural--lifesaver
6-diapers--raisinettes
7-baby names--whatchamacallit
8-hospital bill--$1000 bar
9-contractions--whoppers
10-premature--runts
11-nine months--Rocky Road
12-nursing--milky way
13-conception--skor
14-OBGyn--butterfinger
15-stomach--mounds
16-grandparents--kisses
17-umbilical cord--pull apart twizzlers
18-twins-twix
Labor-Whoopers
Birth-Amazing Fruit
Nursing-Milk duds
Water Retention-bottled water
Bust Size-Good and Plenty
Crib Shopping-Spree
Daddy-Big Hunk
Mommy-Sweet Tart
Baby-Baby Ruth
Laundry-Now and Later
Coos and Giggles-Snickers
Pediatrition-Mr. Goodbar
Here they are:
Woppers- contractions
Lifesavers- epidural
baby ruth- girls name
skor- conception
butterfinger- doctor
mike n ike- boys name
twix- twins
snickers- first baby laugh
twizzlers- umpilical cord
gushers- water break
milky way- breast feeding
milk duds- clogged duct
3 muskeeters- birthing team (dad, nurse, doctor)
symphany bar- baby crying

I'm pretty anti-traditional baby shower games, but at one of my showers two of my friends planned games that weren't bad. The first was match the celebrity with the celebrity baby name (mostly unique names like Apple, Suri, Shiloh, etc). The second was match the baby animal name with the adult animal name (calf and cow, kitten and cat, etc. but there were also more difficult ones like kit and fox). The person who got the most correct won a prize.

There are 2 games that I have generally always used at the baby showers I host. 1 is the clothespin game. When people arrive give them a clothes pin. When everyone is there and seated tell them the rules. They can't say "baby" and if you catch someone saying that word you take their clothespin. At the end of the game the person with the most clothespins wins. Another game I play is I get a box and put a corsage of flowers in it. Then I wrap it up several times, I use the right left story or sometimes I just play a mix of "baby" songs and stop the player and the person holding the box has to unwrap it until it gets to the end. I preface my box by saying that inside I have a pair of grannies bloomers and the person who gets to open the final box has to wear the bloomers. They are thinking it is a pair of underwear and so it turns out to be a lot of fun. Good luck and Enjoy!

I've hosted a few showers, and the games really do get lame. One thing I do that seems to appeal to everyone is having everyone write down what they feel is their best child care tip to the mom-to-be and she picks out the one that she likes best (she doesn't know who wrote it) and that person gets a prize. The guest of honor gets lots of advice and people get to talking. Guessing how many jelly beans are in the baby bottle is another easy one, too.

I wouldn't worry that people don't know each other, that's the purpose of mingling if they choose to. Besides, the ones who do know each other will more than likely break off into their own groups anyway ; )

One that I only played once is Purse scavenger hunt. Put items on it like keys, baby pictures, hand sanitizer, snacks etc. Then see who has it in their purse. I have played all the others too but this one was fun and not overdone.

I like the poop in the diaper game which is really just different kinds of chocolate bars melted. I also did one where I found tiny babies that I froze into ice cube trays. We put them in drinks and whoever's melted first won a prize for being "born" first. The funniest one is where I got a bunch of baby bottles and filled with drink of choice and had a contest on who could finish first. I did a co-ed one and filled the baby bottles with beer for the guys. It was hilarious watching grown men drink out of baby bottles!

I agree that baby shower games are totally lame. However, a lot of people really like them. I think that most importantly, you should keep in mind who the guest of honor is, and whether she likes or doesn't like them. I requested that we not play any games at my shower, and it was spectacular! I too, had a lot of friends from various circles, and it worked out fine. People go to parties all the time where they have to mingle without games, so they should be able to do it at a shower, too, right? Since this is a beautiful time of year, consider throwing your party outdoors, have some fresh flowers, good food and good drinks (my hosts made virgin and non-virgin mojitos - yum!). Your mother-to-be will love being celebrated by friends, no matter how you do it. Have fun!

One of the games I enjoyed at my shower was the hostess took my name and my husband (first only) and had the guests come up with a name for the baby using the letters only in our names. It was hilarious! Best wishes!

We once played the price is right - my present to the mom was lots of little things (wipes, small pack of diapers, Tylenol, socks, bottle cleaner etc) and the guests had to guess the "actual retail price" of each item. It was really fun! We also passed around a toy/object each time someone said "Ah" or "cute" or "precious" with each gift opened - whoever ended up with the thing got a prize.

This one was fun at my shower (granted, almost 13 years ago): Buy a selection of baby food, just the smallest jars. Write a number on each lid with permanent marker and make note of what is in each jar, by number. Remove labels. Guests guess what is in each jar by looking at them (leave them sealed). Mom gets the jars (and list to go with), she'll be using them in a few months when baby starts solids!

Another one I remember from way long ago. Give everyone a paper, clipboard, and pencil. Either put out the lights or have them hold paper (on clipboard) on their head, and then they draw the baby. Lots of laughs! (Although a few people might get super self-conscious/embarrassed, but they'll get that way with anything)

Also, keep the food light. Meat tray, veggies, maybe a few fruits is sufficient. Maybe a cake, but don't go overboard, just get enough for the expected amount of people.

cutest thing i've seen was briefly putting up a clothesline w misc baby items. let guests look for a inute, take down. guests write down from memory. most correct wins.

I like the one where you put baby items into small paper lunch sacks, pass them around and everyone has to write down what they think is in the bags (they are numbered). after the "person of honor" gets to open one bag at a time and they get to keep all the items and whoever got the most right wins. the items were not expensive and small...ie bottle, baby spoons, baby cup, bottle cleaner, one diaper, burp clothe, etc. you can purchase many of these at a dollar store.

I don't like most baby shower games. I think you should eat, open presents and get on with it. But at my sister-in-laws shower, they did a cute game that wasn't bad. They put numbers on all the gifts and then you choose five numbers. Whoever guesses which five gifts are opened first, get a prize. Kind of like a bingo game. It kept the game mostly about the presents, so you didn't have to talk to people you didn't know. At one of my baby showers, people painted plain onsies with fabric paint. That was cute and I think people had fun too, but it took a while. Otherwise I say, just have good food and get right to present opening.

Sounds like you have a few of the suggestions I was going to give you. My favorite game, that hasn't been mentioned, is the safety pin/rice game. You put a package of small safet pins in a container of rice. Then you blindfold the guests one at a time (or have them close their eyes, if they promise not to peek) and time them for 30 seconds and see how many safety pins they can pick out. It sounds easy, but it's actually really hard. Women get very competetive in this game. It's fun!
Another game you can do is to give everyone a safety pin at the beginning of the shower and make the baby's name or the word "baby" off limits during the shower. If anyone hears someone else use one of the words, they get to collect that person's pin. The one with the most pins at the end of the shower wins.
Good luck!

You could do speed diapering on dolls. Two people at a time and the winner is the last one standing. Works really well with a younger crowd. I never liked the baby food one. The "guess the belly size with string/ribbon" usually gets people laughing. I recommend finding ribbon that looks like a ruler. Helps speed the comparison and cutting.