Baby Shower Games I Just Made Up

I borrowed this image of a not-lame baby shower from Martha Stewart, natch.

My sister-in-law, Annette, just sent out invites for her upcoming baby shower and myself and our good family friend, Kate, have been pinning away on a board I created to house ideas for the shower. When last talking to Annette, we had a discussion about how she doesn’t want to play any lame baby shower games. I sort of knew what she meant, having heard tell of the awful games that are played at these events – but since I’ve never been to one (all my baby-having friends thus far are either acquaintances or out of towners), I didn’t fully understand until I tried to search for baby shower game ideas online (especially on Pinterest).

These games are all awful. From guessing mom’s measurements (rude!) to bobbing for nipples (mildly amusing, but messy) to chocolate-filled diaper activities (ew!), it seems like every other game is made to embarrass the couple or guests (or just everyone all at once). There were only a few games that seem normal – and guarantee most everyone has played those (name the baby animal, baby mad libs, decorate-a-bib, celeb baby name match). So I decided this really can’t be that hard. I will just come up with some baby shower games and activities of my own. I make no guarantees that no one has thought of these things before, rather that no one has successfully compiled them in a not-lame-games list such as this. Let me know if you have any other clever ideas or additions (that do not involve diapers and chocolate, please) – I will be adding more as they come to me. So here goes:

Gift-a-book: Ask guests to bring a favorite children’s book – can be a picture book or for older readers – and to inscribe the inside cover with a message to the child/parents about why they chose the book, or just a sweet message in general. Similarly, you could use a page in a large children’s book or the baby book as a guest book.

Exquisite-Corpse Monster/Creature: Once you determine how many guests will be attending fold one or more large pieces of paper into the appropriate amount of sections and leave out coloring/drawing supplies so that guests can each illustrate their own section of a beastie’s body. Give the artists some direction, but keep it loose (draw a monster, draw a woodland creature, etc.) then just explain how exquisite corpse drawings work, in case there’s anyone who doesn’t know. (Ahem: Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed.) Once the drawing is done, you can frame it to hang in the kid’s bedroom if you like it. Another option is to have a matte board precut and use that as the guest book – then frame both the drawing and the matte board for an awesome visual reminder of all the love and creativity that surrounded you at your shower. If your friends are more wordy than visual – have them create an exquisite corpse poem around a loose theme, instead.

Charades: ok, so I didn’t make this up, but I am adapting it for play at a baby shower. Give each guest 1 or a few (depending on how many guests you have) small sheets of paper or index cards to write down clues. Instruct your guests on what they should write down (“things that’ll happen once the baby is here” is a great prompt) – once everyone has written all their clues down, split the group into two teams and have each team play off the other team’s contributed clues so no one playing will know what is coming. Play a certain amount of rounds or up to a certain number of points – whichever team wins gets bragging rights or you can offer some sort of prize either to the team as a whole or to individuals on the winning team.

Craftacular: Ask guests for help with one particular nursery decoration. For example, if you want a million origami cranes in the room, or crafty clouds that will hang on the wall, or pieces for a mobile you’re planning, or drawings of airplanes (or whatever!), you can gather the supplies and set your guests to crafting. I love this idea because then there is room for variation from person to person and your nursery will be truly unique – plus I’ve found guests with busy hands tend to get into a nice chatty rhythm, too. Depending on how close to the birth your shower is, Dad and/or other interested parties could even be IN the nursery painting – a painting and beer party also sounds pretty fun to me!

Quilt Squares: If you have even one friend or family member who can quilt or sew, decorating quilt squares can also be an awesome activity with a great finished product – a baby blanket or floor quilt. Just make sure you’ve got someone on hand willing to make the finished product.

Cards Against Humanity (custom): This one takes some prep. Download the free blank templates for Cards Against Humanity Black and White cards and create your own custom set for game play during the shower. The cards can be baby or parenting -themed, or you can personalize them to the couple and/or group playing. For example black cards might say “I forgot what _____ was like since I had my baby”, “The two things I miss the most from pre-baby are sleep and _______”, “Baby throw-up smells like _______”. White cards might say things like “Sleep deprivation”, “The Wiggles”, “Lamaze”, “Back Labor”. You get the picture. (On second thought, I might make this set in the coming days – I’ll repost and share if I do).

That’s all I can come up with for now, but now that this is on my mind I’ll hopefully have more to add soon. Good luck planning your Not-Lame Baby Showers! Hopefully I’ve helped.