Games or No Games?

Plenty of baby showers still have some variety of games. The best way to decide is to ask the mother-to-be what SHE wants, regardless of how other people feel. It's HER shower.

If she wants some activity, but not a traditional game, something interesting that happened at my sister's baby shower was that the hostesses had wrapped boxes of tea (the guest gifts) in crepe paper, and with a ribbon, they bunched it and tied it at the top. Attached to the ribbon were a set of questions (they had been mixed up between the guests so not everyone had the same options) and they included questions such as: Share a bit of advice you may have discovered to help the expecting mommy, Share a memory about you and the mother-to-be, etc.

It's a great ice-breaker and something to do aside from simply opening gifts and eating, and it helps to make all of the guests feel involved. Good luck!

When we do showers, we usually only plan one game, if we plan games at all.. But I just went to a really fun shower. Instead of games, they had bought white onsies, and had bought blank bibs from a craft store. Then they gave us bubble paint and we decorated the bibs and onsies for the new baby. It was a blast.

We had 4 games at my baby shower. We gave gifts to the winners (actual gifts they could use, not mommy or baby). We did a theme of bees and babies. I thought it was fun and I think the guests liked it as well. Whatever you plan to do... have fun!

Shower games make me weirdly competitive--I suppose they are my "sport," ha, ha.
That said, I don't particularly like them, especially not ones that are meant to get a laugh by grossing people out (sniff the melted chocolate candy smushed into diapers and guess what kind of candy it is) or undignified (drinking from bottles--ugh!)
I had a blessingway gathering for my third pregnancy and I have hosted several. I think they are *wonderful*. A blessingway is not religious, it's just a get-together meant to honor the mother as much as prepare to welcome a baby. Some of the typical activities I've seen done are: having guests introduce themselves with respect to motherhood in their lives ("I am the granddughter of Joan, the daugter of Jane, and the mother of Annie and Jordan. I'm Diane."); offering good wishes for the mom and the baby--both for the birth and for the future and stringing a bead on a bracelet or necklace with each wish offered (this means each guest places two beads on the bracelet as they say their wishes)--this is often very cool and personal; usually the wishes are written down on a small piece of paper and put into a little photo album for the mom to keep--writing the wishes is a nice welcome activity while guests are trickling in. The finished bracelet is a lovely keepsake for the mom--it's traditionally something to wear or look at while in labor, as a tangible reminder of friends' good wishes. I've also seen the hostess end the blessingway activities by running a string or ribbon around each guest's wrist, and then cutting them apart. Then everyone leaves the string on their wrist until they've heard the baby has arrived safely; as they wait, the ribbon/string reminds them to think good wishes for the mom as she prepares to give birth. The traditional idea is that all the women who were at the event are connected through the new mom and their good wishes for her, even if they didn't previously know each other. Finally, at my blessingway, the hostess send everyone home with a little votive candle to light when they heard the baby had arrives, as sort of a "Birth Day" candle. Some people also have guests bring their own beads for the bracelet, or bring a square of fabric and someone puts the squares into a quilt for the baby after s/he is born. And there is often an element of pampering the mom-to-be, like giving her a pedicure while she listens to the wishes or even just a hand massage or back rub.
I hope this doesn't soudn too hippy-dippy to you--it can be as crunchy as you want, but I think these activities are great ways to connect your guests and bolster up the spirits of a tired pregnant woman. Oh--that's another rule of a blessingway: only positive comments and stories of motherhood are allowed. Because, let's face it, it's important to be realistic but 9 months pregnant is just not the time to be hearing about birth and breastfeeding horror stories!
If you Google "blessingway," I'm sure you'd find many more ideas.
Good luck--let us know how it goes!

I think games are necessary, otherwise what are you going to do? Two or Three are best, and if you can find gift bingo it keeps everyone engaged while opening a mountain of gifts. There is also some cool things you can do with advice cards, or buying a package of diapers and sharpes and having the guests write cute messages to the mom and dad to be (ex: I love you mommy, Thanks for taking care of me, this one stinks give it to daddy :)). Things like that were fun at my shower and I have since played them at other showers. They are fun to read when the baby comes and you are changing diapers every three hours in the middle of the night a cute message from a friend is nice to see.

I've been to 2 showers that played the match game Missy N suggested and it was amusing and fun as each person gets a candybar when they make a match. It made it challenging, competitive and honestly... fun. The other games I've done are more boring. Open houses are good so people feel they can come and visit or just drop in without causing a scene. Good luck.

Have one or two and keep them simple. I am not a fan of the games but I threw a shower this past winter and everyone seemed okay with what we did. We did the belly ribbon as people arrived. It was an ice breaker and people hardly knew they were playing a game, plus the winner got a prize. Then we played baby Jeopardy (old wives tales, babies in history, babies of famous people, etc). That was fun and only took about 20-30 minutes. Luckly, most of the crew knew each other so they were jibberjabbering away the whole time.

I would suggest one or two games that can be played while people socialize. We had 6 showers in three months for my family, so we were pretty hard pressed to come up with something original. Here are some of the unusal games that I have done.

1. At my MIL's shower the host printed out the whole alphabet with one letter each on an 11 X 8 piece of paper. They were passed out among the guests and everyone got the decorate it however they wanted. The pages were then put in a scrapbook and she used it later on to teach her daughter the alphabet.

2. We also did the trivia games at my shower and that was a big hit. I researched old wives tales, celebrity names and name meanings online. The name meanings was the funniest because most people have no idea what their names mean or where they came from.

3. The last fun one we did was to print out several pictures of mom, dad and grandparents. Then we cut out the eyes, nose, ears and mouths and let the guests reassemble the pictures using whatever pieces they wanted. i.e. Mommmy's eyes and daddy's nose. My hubby comes from a Mexican background and I have a lot of French/German heritage, which made for a lot of skin tone varience throughout the pictures, so the pictures turned out hilarious and I kept the best ones to add to my son's scrapbook.

I think games are fun because you can interact with all the guests. I went to a baby shower for a cousin and they played a game to see how many clothes, diapers, etc you could put on a clothes line (with the clothes pins attached). The trick was you were holding a baby doll, feeding it a bottle, while talking on a pretend phone to your mother. It was so fun and everyone just had a blast. So whoever had the most clothes on the line with the clothes pins won a prize. You also had 1 minute to do this. You can also look online about baby shower ideas. They are a ton out there. Good Luck!!

Games of some kind! You could do one that everyone writes advice about being a Mom. That way these people who don't want games can be involved and help!

I think people are tired of the same old games. I think that playing a couple of games is fun but not the same memorize the baby things on the tray variety. Ask the mom to be what she would like to do.

Just don't have too many games because people mostly like to visit. Too much structure makes it an unenjoyable time. I have a couple that I've used that were fun and were not the same ones played at every shower.

One was a game that had little nursery rhyme riddles that you figure out. There are many versions of this game I don't think this was exactly the one I've used before but it was similar.

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/mother-goose-nursery-rhy...

Another one is with safety pins. Every guest attaches one to their top where it visible and you try and not say the word baby. If they are caught the person that catches them gets it and who ever at the end of the party has the most wins.

Neither one is all of the party consuming and if they choose not to play it not a big deal. Anyway good luck with your party preparations.

Good question. This is a tough one. I wondered the same thing when I threw a shower for a friend a couple of weeks ago. I asked her sister what she would like, and she suggested no games (ok, so we are an older 30s crowd with even older friends. The shower was co-ed). We had a great time just socializing and eating! I, too, wanted NO games at my shower a year ago, just because the crowd wasn't the games-y crowd (it was a v. large co-ed BBQ shower) and I think most of the games are somewhat tacky.

That being said, I do know that if I had had the right mix of women at a small shower, some tacky games might have been fun. Good luck and if all else fails, serve lots of food and something yummy for dessert, and everyone will be happy!

What does the expecting mom want?

I just hosted a baby shower for my friend on Sunday. She and I both wanted a shower with no games. In fact, it was simply an open invitation for people to drop in when they wanted. She and her family stayed at my house the entire time while people came and went as they pleased. Hers was a diaper shower though. There weren't really any other gifts to open. The best thing I did was have a bunch of plain white onesies and some fabric markers to let the ladies decorate the onesies. They all turned out really cute!! And the ladies had fun decorating them!

I just threw a shower last weekend and I asked the Mom-to-Be what SHE wanted (after all, it is HER shower) and she said "a few" would be fine. So we did a few and here are the two that were a hit:

Guess the baby food - I bought 10 jars of stage 1 food, took off the wrappers and people had to guess what the food was and no one got 100% right. They didn't get to open it because I just gave the food to the Mom-to-Be since it's good for 2 years if unopened.

Cotton Ball game - Fill a bowl with cotton balls, give the player a medium sized kitchen spoon and another, smaller, empty bowl (preferably plastic). Blindfold or have them close their eyes and have them put the bowl with the cotton balls on their lap and the smaller bowl on top of their head (or have some one else hold it for them). Give them 15 seconds to see how many cotton balls they can scoop with the spoon and put into the bowl on their head. It was so much fun and every one was laughing because it's really hard.

We played four games total, but I think I did it again, I would just play these two games and call it good.

If you don't have games what are you going to do? You have to entertain guests somehow. Why just have them drop of a present, eat a piece of cake, and go home. That doesn't sound very fun or entertaining. Most of the games are kinda lame but it is still fun to interact with guests. Games are an ice breaker for the guests that don't know one another. At my sisters shower we invited the spouses because they were feeling kind of left out. They had such a good time because they didn't know exactly what to expect. They didn't admit it but I know they liked some of the games. But instead of games maybe you could do a craft (like make a halloween decoration) since that is coming up. Or paint pottery??

I like the games. Maybe just have one or two games. Don't overdo it. Ask the mommy-to-be if she wants games. It really is her shower and not anyone elses,so she should decide.

I would ask the person whose shower it is...if she wants games then go for it.

My personal opinion: games are boring for most guests. Do something more helpful for the soon to be mother. Have each guest write down an affirmation, or wish, or something positive, for the mother to take with her to the hospital, so while she's in labor she can read all the positive thoughts and wishes her loved ones gave her.

It takes up some time, it's more personal than games, and it's something the mom can keep with her forever if she'd like.

it depends on the company. with my husband's side, they don't do games, and it feels good. with my side, we do and we have fun!

my mom had some riddles and trivia that she read aloud for us to guess the answers to while we were eating and tying a quilt at my last baby shower. i liked that. anyone who wanted to participate could, but no one was made to feel silly.

I vote for no games, that is just me. I am person who always dredded showers because of them. I did have a freind who bought some of those white onsies and gave everyone a few sharpie markers and the guests had a onesie decortating contest, that sounds kind of fun.

My shower was a couple shower and we just all socialized, I was worried people would be bored. I didn't even want to open my gifts in front of everyone, but peer pressure made me do it. I think it was fun!

S.

I've always thought a few games are fun. But I agree with everyone to avoid the same old stuff.

Here's one they did at my baby shower - I've never seen it since! (It was 10 years ago, but...) Buy a selection of baby food. Get the small jars, for example Gerber #1. Write a number on each lid and record which number is which food. Take the labels off. At the shower, have the guests pass the jars around and write down what food they think is in each jar. At the end, after you've laughed at the responses (I was totally clueless!!) and shared what they really are, use a permanant marker to write the contents on each jar and give to the mom-to-be for future use.

If this is not a surprise shower, I suggest you talk with the mommy to be. I am one of those who really doesn't like showers and being the center of attention. So, when my husband's family really wanted to throw me a shower (my folks are in another state) I cringed, but let them do it because it made them happy to share in my joy. However, I hated the games! Yes, hate is a strong word, but it was pretty boring, and it seemed like it took forever. So, see what the guest of honor is comfortable with. I really like what one mom wrote, about getting white onesies and letting the gals decorate them. How fun does that sound!? The best part of the shower for me was just gabbing with the girls and then I got to open a special gift my mom sent. It was a tiny yellow sweater, booties and hat set that my great grandmother knitted for me when I was born. I made sure my daughter was wearing it when my Mom and Dad flew up just after she was born. Sorry, I got side tracked. If you do play games, I would get some new, fresh ideas so they aren't the old boring ones and everyone will have fun.

No games. I told my sister I didn't want games at my baby shower. What we did was have everyone bring a package of diapers (any size) and if they did they entered there name in a drawing and we gave a way two prizes.

I think it depends on how well the guests know eachother. If they don't know eachother well then conversations can become strained, which will make for an uncomfortable atmosphere. Or you could end up with divided pockets of people who do know each other with some people being left out.

In that case some sort of activity is good for getting everyone connected and involved. I think most people's problem with shower games is that they are old and corny.

If people don't know eachother, icebreakers are a good in any situation and they can be tailored to fit the 'guest of honor'. So you could go around and have everyone tell how long they've known the New Mom, how they met and a character trait she has that they think will make her a good mom. (You could probably find a better icebreaker... but you get the idea).

If you decide to use games the trick is finding new, unusual games and/or activities. Some of the activities I've seen at baby showers that were fun were these:

* a belly dancer (yes! it was a backyard party and she was more of background entertainment as people ate)

* a blessing jar... everyone wrote down a blessing for the baby on small scraps of paper which were put into a decorated vase and given to the mom at the end of the shower.

* decorating onesies. There were onesies of all sizes and lots of different fabric paint and fabric pens - everyone stood around the table and decorated them. People got really creative. This takes up a lot of time.

* at the same shower the only 'game' they had was played throughout the shower: everyone got a necklace made from ribbon with a tiny plastic pacifier tied to it. During the shower if someone caught someone else using the word 'baby' they could take their necklace, at the end of the party whoever had the most necklaces won some sort of prize.

Sheesh, if you did each of these (belly dancer optional), with food and opening gifts you wouldn't have time for games.

I vote games. I love to play the games and get very bored when a baby shower becomes only an event to hoard a bunch of gifts. Doing silly stuff is most of the fun. When I threw my friend a party we did some very fun things. We had a guessing jar filled with diaper pins, I made her a quilt and had Micron pens so the guest could write in the blank squares, we did a couple simple paper games and had great prizes like body wash and gift cards. The funnest game was the 'what's the poop" game but some people think that goes too far. Even the people that didn't want to play had a really good time. I think sometimes people do get tired of the same old games or don't like when they have to look foolish in front of others.

Just ask the person you are giving the shower for. If she wants games, have games. Most importantly after all, this is HER shower, regardless of who is attending.

Good luck!

I would agree with those who say no games. If you do decide to do some, make it minimal and original. People usually dislike games because of two reasons. 1 - the games are usual the same and they are tired of them, or 2 - people are busy and would rather not sit for an hour of games. Most people like to just socialize, eat, give gifts, and leave. :-)

J.,

I married into a HUGE family and when I was pregnant with my first this loving clan threw me no less than 4 showers. (not to mention the 5 bridal showers i had) Anyway, I always hated going to showers so having this many in my honor was sometimes overwhelming. dont get me wrong i love my family and was very appreciative of there generocity.

All this to say is know your group. If they are close friends proximity in age, i say no games. We had more fun catching up and socializing. The showers in which all the "cousins" came we played games which helped break the ice and helped take the focus off of me for a bit. So how is that for no answer!?Get a feel for your guests and momma.

Good luck
M.

At my baby shower I requested NO games at all and while many woman were thrilled to hear it many were bummed. So I compromised by not doing anything traditional...
We had a celebrity baby naming game, we did a purse scavenger hunt, ect.
It was fun and all the comments I got were so positive. Many women were so thrilled to not have to taste baby food or worry about saying the word baby in fear of loosing their homemade necklace :)
We had a truly fun time and thew in a few twists on games that were more in line with the times.
I found them all online...

I had a friend with the same request for no games. The key was to find games that were not so interactive so guests can do them at their own pace and choose not to do them if they don't want to. I had 3 stations set up where at one you had to guess how many cotton balls were in the jar, the next had common baby items and you had to guess on how much it all costs, and the third was just a basket of diapers with sharpies to write messages on the diapers so the new parents have something to look at when they're changing a diaper in the middle of the night. The winners of the first 2 got prizes. Guests appreciated having something to do, and were able to mingle with the guest of honor, and my friend didn't feel uncomfortable about having silly games to play.

Hi J..
I know when I had my baby shower there were tons of games. Even ones where the father was involved. If there are no games, how is it a party? Besides the party isn't for them, it's for the mother to be. I would say oh yeah to the games. Plus if you dont have any really good ideas for games there are wonderful websites out there to help you.
Here is just one website, ifn you wanted a little help.

http://www.babyshower101.com/baby_shower_games.html

Good luck and happy planning!!!
J.

I, personally don't like games at showers. However, I think it is up to the person you are throwing the shower for! It is HER shower. If she wants games, then let there be games! You can do just one or two simple ones.

I have seen a few "games" at baby showers that are not really games.
1. write the parents name on a piece of paper, have them come up with as many names as they can from the letters to give ideas for babies names. this doesn't really work if everyone knows what they will be naming the baby.
2. ask the mom and dad to be about themselves. Then have the questions on paper and see what the guests know. If you want to award a prize, tell them not to discuss the answers. It is fun to find out about the parents and get to know them better. Questions could be: How much did mom/dad weigh at birth? Was M/D late/early? How many siblings does m/d have. those types of things.
Here is a fun game, that involves everyone. You basically play memory. I used 2 pieces of poster board and they had to match a number on one with a number on the other. Under were terms pregnant women were very familiar with. when they made a match they got a candy bar that fit the term. Here are the terms and candy.
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

OK here are a few games that we had at my shower and at my friends shower and they are pretty painless. Because I was not one for the games either but these were OK.
1. We put a sticker under one of the chairs or a plate that people were eating off of and whoever had that plate or chair got a gift.
2. Ask the mom to be some questions (before hand so you have the answers) give the list to the guest they need to answer the questions and then when everybody is done you give the answers and who ever has the most correct then they get a prize. It is kind of like how well do you know so and so. And keep the questions to just about her.
3. Of course the whole toilet paper thing. Take a role of toilet paper and pass it around the room, let everybody figure out how many squares it takes to determine the size of the mommy to be tummy, and then at the end measure the mommy to be and who ever is the closest or ride on then they get a prize.

I think these were pretty harmless and fun. Enjoy and have a good time!

Hi J.-
Isn't it hard when you are the party planner, you want everyone to have a great time..so yes I think you should have a game or too. I can tell you one briefly that is an absolute hoot, I laughed so hard the first time I played this..take about 6 different type of chocolate bars...miniture size... melt them in baby diapers in the micro for several seconds...your guests have to guess what type of chocolate bar it is...the funny part is watching everyone stick their noses in the "messy" diapers...so I don't know if you'll play this, but good luck! K.

To game or not to game...that is the question. You'll probably never please everyone, so my suggestion is to go with what you feel comfortable with, and what you think the mom-to-be will enjoy.

You could always have an activity or two instead of games. For example, guests can: guess the number of Cheerios in a clear jar; sign a photo mat that can be used to frame a picture of baby; write 'tips and timesavers' on little notes for the new mom. My experience has been that the activities can help entertain without putting pressure on the guests.

If you'd like additional information regarding activities, games or baby shower ideas, just let me know and I'll send you a couple of links. (The links are from my own website, so I don't want to spam you!)

Have a great shower!