No baby shower is complete without a few games that lighten the mood and inevitably – make us look ridiculous. From the Baby Gift Basket Toss, in which guests scramble to toss stuffed animals into a baby gift basket, to The Mommy Dash, a baby shower relay race where mom’s rush to get “baby” ready for bed – we’ve got all you need to make your baby shower a memorable one.
1. The Mommy Dash
The Mommy Dash is a shower relay race. Guests will compete to determine who can get baby ready for bed the fastest. There will be three stations – One for preparing bottles, one for changing the baby doll’s diaper and one for naptime. Sounds easy, huh? There is just one catch. You have to do it all with one hand tied behind your back! (That’s how most of us mom’s do it, right? Baby in one arm and only one left to work with!) Each guest will take turns preparing a bottle at the first station. You can use flour for “baby powder” and a jug of water to prepare the bottles. Next, the guest will dash to the baby changing station where she will give baby a fresh diaper and slip on his jammies. Lastly, she will have to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star as fast as she can. The guest with the quickest time gets a prize.
2. Oh, No! Where’s My Keys?!
We moms know the phrase all too well. One minute our car keys are in our purse the next, they are swimming in the goldfish tank. For this game, you will need a set of baby keys for each guest and several old purses. Simply hide the keys along with classic scavenger hunt items for the ladies to find and place in their purses. Whoever can find all the contents of her purse first gets a prize. This will be the first and probably the last time any mother has every lost her keys and actually had a good time trying to find them!
3. The Baby Gift Basket Toss
Ask each guest to bring in a used stuffed animal she is willing to part with. Scatter them on the floor and let each guest take turns “speed cleaning” and tossing those teddies into the basket. It’s the perfect refresher course on how to tidy up in a hurry when the in-laws are making a surprise visit! When the shower is over, have each guest write their name on a tag and place it on the animal that they brought in. Fill the basket with the animals and give it to the mom to be for a perfectly unique “guestbook”.
*Tip – A fancier way to mark each teddy with its previous owner? Pre-punch a hole in the tops of several pieces of sturdy cardstock. Write out at the bottom in small letters, “__________ loves you.” Loop with ribbon and you have instant teddy bear necklaces with an oh, so sweet message for the new wee one.
Baby showers do not have to be a bore. With imagination mixed with family and dear friends, you can turn any shower into a unique experience that everyone will cherish. The only down side to throwing such a fabulously fun shower – you will probably be nominated to throw everyone else’s from here on out!
