3 Unique and Personalized Baby Shower Game Ideas that Won't Break Your Party Budget

When hosting a Baby Shower, putting some thought and creativity into the Baby shower games is important. So is not spending all of the budget on just the games. Common baby shower games such as the "memorize what baby items are on the tray" and "guess the melted candy bar flavor in diaper" are fun and enjoyable by guests, but many of us have already played these games and the price tag just to put them together can run any where from $8 to $40 if not more. Guests anticipate the common games and brainstorm before going what the answers will be. Presenting unique and personalized baby shower games for your guests will be unexpected and the challenge will be much more enjoyable.

Lowering the budget on the baby shower games can allow the host to pay more for the game prizes or for the food and decorations for the party. The following ideas may take a little more research and time for the host, but they will save money and still be a hit with the guests. For the following games the only expense will be your time to put them together, paper, and ink.

1. Name Matching

Ask the mother-to-be for a list of the young children in her and the father's family. Their children, nieces and nephews, young cousins, young friends of family etc. If you do not already know the middle names of the parents, ask for these as well. Create a alphabetical list of these names. A program such as Excel or Google Spreadsheets will make this easier. Using a website such as www.babynames.com or www.thinkbabynames.com find the name meanings for each name you have on your list. Cut and paste the name meanings next to the names. Save this page as your answer key. Create another page or spreadsheet and in two columns add the names to one column, and the meanings to a column next to it. Number each of the names and add a letter before each of the name meanings. Cut and past the name meanings so that they will be scrambled withen the column.

Print out one copy of the answer key and as many copies of the game as needed for the guests planning attendance to the party. A few extra are recommended in case there are additional guests that show up. When it is time to play, ask your guests to match the family names with the corresponding name meanings. Allow 5 to 7 minutes to complete this. After the guests have finished, go through the answer key so that the guests can count how many name meanings they got correct. Then award the guest with the most correct with their prize.

2. Nursury Rhyme Guessing Game

This game can be as hard or as easy as your imagination allows. If you do not have a list of nursery rhymes do a search online. http://www.zelo.com/family/nursery/ has a large list that can be used. Make a list of 15 to 20 nursery rhymes. Then go through the list and try to make a sentence that describes the Nursery Rhyme.

For example:

A trio of rodents who can not see = Three Blind Mice

Extremely tiny arachnid = Itsy Bitsy Spider

Clumsy young duo with a bucket for water = Jack and Jill

Make a page with a answer key and another page with just the describing sentences. Leave space on the page for your guests to fill in their answers. Answers that may seem obvious to you may stump your guests. Try not to use obscure nursery rhymes. Go for the common ones and make your describing sentences accurate but vague. Just like with the name matching game, print a few extra for any unexpected attendees. Allow 5 to 7 minutes to complete this. Award a prize to the guest with the most correct.

3. Who Is My Mother?

Using common TV shows from the past and present, create a list of 20 TV moms and their children. Examples of these would be

The Simpsons

Bart, Lisa, and Maggie = Marge

Roseanne

Becky, Darleen, and DJ = Roseanne

Brady Bunch

Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy = Carol

Create an answer key for yourself, and the game page listing just the TV kids names with space for your guests to answer with the correct TV mom. You can use http://imdb.com/ for help with the characters and finding TV shows. Vary the TV shows so that older and younger guests will be able to recognize the children but not all. Use common TV shows such as those on Nick at Nite and TV shows that are on today. The challenge for your guests will be not just recognizing the show, but trying to remember the TV Mom's name. Guest with the most correct after 5 to 7 minutes wins the prize.

Finishing Touches

If you are computer savvy, adding baby shower related graphics to the page can be a fun addition. Look up free Baby or Baby Shower themed clip art and save to your computer. Add these to your pages or spreadsheets.

These games take time to prepare and make presentable, but they are fun and fresh and because you are the game creator, they will never have played the same game before. Your guests will love the originality and enjoy the challenge. Don't be surprised if at the next baby shower you go to, given by someone who came to the baby shower you hosted, a version of your game is being played.

If you do not have access to a printer or to a program such as Excel or Word, nicely hand written games will do. Always be sure to have an answer key for all of your games because you may forget the answers. Setting a time limit is not neccesary, but it increases the difficulty of answering all of the questions. Encourage your guests to skip any questions they do not know and come back to them after they have answered the ones they knew.

If time allows, Instead of just giving the answers after the game, encourage the guests to provide what they they the answers are. Pay attention that your questions do not have more then one correct answer.