Oh No, Not those Baby Shower Games!
Baby showers originated at the turn of the last century as a way to help soon-to-be parents gain all the essentials for their first baby. Today, that tradition has exploded into elaborate parties, complete with the infamous baby shower games.
Baby shower games (and shower games in general) have come to be enjoyed by some and dreaded by others. Traditional baby showers invite female friends and relatives and this often sets the tone for the type of games to be played. Baby shower games vary widely from clever, to embarrassing, to disgusting.
In the disgusting category are such games as ‘identify the baby food’. Eight to ten jars of baby food have their labels concealed and through tasting, the guests see who can identify the most flavors. Imagine trying to tell the difference between strained peas and green bean gruel. Maybe this shower game would be more palatable if it were baby fruits and desserts only.
For an embarrassing game, there are lots of choices. To embarrass the young mother-to-be, a game is played with different lengths of ribbon. Each guest takes a length of ribbon that they believe is equivalent to the girth of the pregnant Mom. One by one, they measure their guess around her and see who is the closest. What a great way to make a pregnant Mom, with hormones raging, more sensitive about how she looks!
For something more classic in baby shower games, play the baby photo game. Each guest brings a baby photo of themselves and the guest who identifies the most individual’s wins. This game is especially fun when you have a wide range of ages amongst your guests. This means some old black and white photos, maybe Polaroid’, and of course digital photos.
If you’re more sentimental, try a game where each guest brings a recipe-either for a baby treat or an easy-to-fix meal for Mom and Dad. The expectant Mom can pick her favorite as the winner, but still ends up with lots of great recipes.
If you’re not into creating your own baby shower games, look online for some conveniently packaged versions of current board games. You’ll find Baby Outburst, Baby Scattegories, Baby Trivia, and more.
Perhaps you want to get creative. Talk with the expectant Mom and use her interest to take off from. If Mom is an avid skier, for example, have each guest draw or design the perfect baby accessory for skiing. You may want to ask them ahead of time so they can be very creative. Or, maybe Mommy and Daddy love to travel. Have guest suggest the perfect destination and compare it from ‘before baby’ to ‘after baby’. Tell, in humorous fashion, ‘how it was’ and ‘how it will be’. Try to find out the guest of honor’s favorite destination to make it really fun.
Whatever you do, pre-packaged or homemade, always keep in mind your guest of honor and her likes, and keep the games short and fast paced. This will guarantee that both “Mommy” and guests will have a great time and make some great memories.
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