10 Ideas for Games You Can Do at a Baby Shower

Baby showers are a time for loved ones to pour gifts on the couple for the new bundle of joy to come. The people that plan the baby shower usually have food, a time for present display, and some interesting games for the mom-to-be and dad-to-be to play in preparation for the new baby. There are also some things that other guests get to enjoy as well...

1) Who can finish the bottle first?

The objective of this game is to fill three baby bottles with juice, or water. Get three people to be the volunteers to drink the juice out of the bottle. See who finishes the drink first. At first glance it seems pretty simple, but you'll find out that the hole of the nipple isn't very big at all! It takes forever to suck out about 4 ounces of liquid. I've seen people who've tried to expand the nipple with their teeth just to get the liquid to come out faster. It's a game that will work your jaws and your cheeks, so be ready for it. It looks like a kiddie game, but it is for real adults.

2) Dress the baby blind.

In this game, the organizer dresses the parent blind (it can be mom or dad for this game). You're handed a baby doll, or stuffed doll, whatever you can find. Then you're handed some clothes. The objective is to figure out how to dress the child without seeing where everything goes. If you're not used to dressing a child, it can be a daunting task. For the purposes of this game the doll is very still, but as parents will tell you, in real life that baby may not be very still. It also helps that in real life you're not blindfolded. The point is, how fast can you get a baby ready without looking. It's a game that's fun for onlookers as they can heckle you and egg you on throughout the entire game.

3) Baby says... (similar to "Simon says")

The organizer will throw out phrases at the contestants, but they have to imitate what they would do if the baby made a certain sound. For example: if the baby cries a certain way (perhaps for hunger), the contestant must go to the kitchen to act like they're preparing a bottle. The trick to this game is that the baby can do successive cries. You're not limited to one thing at a time. Babies in real life sometimes have a lot of demands that need attention in a little bit of time. How will you handle the pressure?

4) Make up a lullaby.

Let the true singers come forth! In this game there are judges that determine which lullaby was the most effective in making them sleepy. It's not so much about good singing, but effectiveness in making you sleepy. Sometimes the slowest, driest song may be the one that puts the baby to sleep the quickest. Sometimes it's the quietest, fastest song. It just depends on the baby, and sometimes what day it is.

5) Who will wake up first?

Simulate baby crying at night. Have both parents pretending to be laid out. At random times have an alarm clock, or whatever crying sounds you want to use, and see who pops up first and what they do. The goal is to beat the other parent for fastest (and most accurate) response.

6) Baby item scavenger hunt.

Create a list of baby items. Place them around the party venue. Have your guests to search for the items and collect them. Whoever collects the most items will win a prize. If you really want to make it interesting, add the incentive that whoever collects the least amount of items must offer babysitting services for three days within the first year of the child's life.

7) Which of these is actually baby food?

This one is fun for those who are food critics or who just like to sample things. Introduce three or four baby bottles of food. Select one of them to be baby food, the rest real food. The way to really make this work is that the real food you cook must look and somewhat tastes like baby food. As you may know, baby food is mostly pureed... so it may be somewhat difficult to tell which one is really baby food and which ones aren't. The one thing about baby food that is usually unmistakable is that it's not heavily seasoned. So if you have something with a lot of sugar, a lot of salt, or a lot of spice... it's not baby food. On the flipside, baby food isn't terribly bland either.

8) Who is the biggest baby?

Judge the best baby sounds from your contestants. Adults only please, no children under 18 allowed as they're still too close to that baby age and might be able to imitate it too well.

9) Who has the best baby costume?

Rules for this are as follows: contestants must dress in baby attire from head to toe... as close as possible to your age. All is fair for this game, so if you see someone in an overdressed diaper they could possibly win the game.

10) Baby charades.

Charades is a fun way to guess what things you may need for baby that you don't already have. Use words and phrases geared towards parenting to make the game pertinent to the happy couple.