Jennifer McCullough-American Forces Europe

"Don't Get Stuck:"

You need:

        - a deep bowl

        - raw white rice

        - baby safety pins (about 20)

        - a blind-fold

Put the rice and safety pins in the bowl and mix up. 

Blind fold the person and ask then in 1 minute timing to

collect all the safety pins they can.  Take turns.  The one

who gets the most pins wins.  This seems easier than it really is! 

You cannot tell a pin from a grain of rice.

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Toshamarie USA

. "Diaper Race"

You will need dolls (depends on number of couple's) diapers,

 2 people per group and a flat place to lay the dolls in a row.

Pair up with a partner and each group get a doll and diaper.

Then each group of people lays the doll in front of them.

Then they lay the diaper down. (do not unfold the diaper yet)

 then each person keeping the outer arms free put the inner

arms behind there backs. Then they see who can get the

diaper on first only using the outer arms.

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Dana, Florida

Name of game: Memories

Supplies needed: None

On the invitations ask each guest to bring one baby item from

their past, either something they or their children wore or played with. 

Have each person tell the story behind the item.  Have the guest

vote on the best story to pick the winner.  As a gift for the

mother-to-be, give her a "Baby's First Year" memory book that

she can use to record memories of her baby

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Mary P. Kansas city, MO

 Name that baby item.

 You need 10 baby items.

 1.baby nipple

 2. baby bottle

 3. baby pacifier

 4. rattle

 5. diaper

 6. diaper cream

 7. feeding spoon

 8. feeding fork

 9. bib

 10. baby aspirator

 Place all 10 items into a large brown bag and mix them up. 

 Everyone who's playing should have a piece of paper and pen/pencil. 

 They have 10 seconds to feel around in the bag without looking to find

 out what the items are and then write it down on their paper. Who's ever

 list has all ten items or close too it will win a prize bag.____________________________________________________ 

Melissa, CT

Pregnant Daddy?

This is a game when the Dad-to-be will be present at the shower.

Blow up a balloon and write the Dad's birth weight on it.

The Dad-to-be stuffs it under his shirt and walks into the

 room looking like he's pregnant. Each guest has to guess

what the Dads birth weight was. Then the Dad "gives birth"

 to the balloon, revealing the answer! It's hilarious! The one

closest to the actual weight written on the balloon, wins.

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Susie in Arizona

Laundry Day

supplies:  basket with handle, baby clothes and linen, clothespins,

life-size baby doll, portable phone, rope/ribbon/string

Each guest takes turns being the "mom" hanging the clothes on the

clothesline.  Two other guests hold the line at shoulder height while

another guest calls time.  The object is for the mom to hang as many

clotheson the line in the 1 minute timeframe.  The trick is that she

is holding the straw basket of clothes in one hand (clip pins to

basket handle), a life size baby in the other hand and the portable

 phone on her shoulder/ear.  This is

always good for a laugh.

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Cathie from Ontario, Canada.

My game is called a Penny for your Sins

All you need is 10 pennies per each guest and a prize for the winner.

Everyone gets their 10 pennies and then you each take a turn

saying something you haven't done yet that you think others in the group

may of and anyone that has done it has to pay a penny.  The person

with the most pennies left at the end wins.  For example the first person

may be still single so may say "I've never been married", so everyone that

has been married pays a penny.  The next lady may have kids but no

grandkids so she says "I've never been a grandmother", all the grandmas

have to pay a penny.  The mom to be may say "I've never been in labor",

so all the moms have to pay a penny.  They can get as creative as they

want.  I like to play it as one of the first games because I find that not only

 is it an ice breaker, you can learn a lot about each other! It also isn't an

expensive game to play since there aren't a lot of supplies needed!

It also works at Bridal showers.

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JANICE, LOUISIANA

1. NAME OF THE GAME: COTTON BABY  

2. SUPPLIES NEEDED: COTTON BALLS, MINI PLASTIC BABY(LIKE THE KIND USED IN MARDI GRAS KING CAKES), QUARTER INCH RIBBON, SAFETY PINS, AND 1YARD OF WHITE MESH.

3. THE GAME: TAKE THE WHITE MESH AND CUT INTO SQUARES THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ATTEND THE BABY SHOWER, THEN PUT A COTTON BALL INTO EACH SQUARE, PUT THE PLASTIC BABY INTO ONLY ONE OF THE COTTON BALLS, WRAP EACH COTTON BALL INCLUDING THE ONE WITH THE BABY IN IT INDIVIDUALLY IN THE MESH SQUARES AND TIE EACH ONE WITH A PIECE OF RIBBON, PUT THE MESH WRAPPED COTTON BALLS INCLUDING THE ONE WITH THE PLASTIC BABY IN IT, IN A BOWL AND SHAKE IT UP. LET EACH PERSON ATTENDING PICK ONE MESH WRAPPED COTTON BALL OUT OF THE BOWL, GIVE THEM EACH A SAFETY PIN AND TELL THEM TO PIN IT TO THEIR SHIRT. TOWARDS THE END OF THE SHOWER HAVE EVERYONE REMOVE THE COTTON BALL FROM THEIR SHIRT AND OPEN THE MESH AND THE COTTON BALL, WHOMEVER HAS THE COTTON BALL WITH THE PLASTIC BABY INSIDE WINS A PRIZE. AND IT WOULD BE A NICE THOUGHT TO GIVE THE PLASTIC BABY TO THE MOTHER-TO-BE TO PUT IN A SCRAPBOOK.

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Elesha

 Name: How big is the mommy-to-be??

 Supplies Needed: rolls of toilet paper (ones that won't tear too easily work best)

 You pass around the rolls of toilet paper.  Everyone tears off

 as many squares as they think it will take to go around the mommy's tummy.

 Then you take turns going up and wrapping them around to see who is closest!

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Wendi

Az.

Name: Spoons

Supplies Needed: one teaspoon for each attendee,including hostess and mom to be

You must wait for everyone to arrive before starting the game.

Hand out a spoon to each person. "Baby" becomes a taboo word.  When a person

says "baby" whoever hears them, gets to take their spoon.  The one with the

most spoons at the end of the shower, wins.

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Holly

Ca.

Name: Which Is My Baby?

Supplies Needed: Pens/pencils and a multiple choice questionnaire for each guest

Before the shower, prepare a multiple choice questionnaire of 15 to 20

animal moms & babies.  Some tricky ones to include are:

Kangaroo=joey; Swan = cygnet; Elephant=calf; Shark = cub; Goat = kid;

Zebra = foal; Frog = Tadpole; Fish = Fry; Turkey = pullet;

Antelope = calf;  Goose = gosling; Seal = pup; Doe = fawn

Be creative when making up the multiple choice answers -- eg. Shark: a)

pup b) cub c) guppy d) tadpole -- so that the participants really have to

think. You can also throw in a couple of easy ones (cat = kitten; dog = puppy)

so that no one feels too badly if they don't know a lot of them.  And

remember to keep an answer sheet somewhere for yourself.  The winner is the person

who answers the most correctly.

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Amanda

Name:What's in the middle

Supplies:  writing utensil,slips of paper,some one to tally the votes

I am hosting a shower for a very dear friend who has chosen the first name of her child, however, she and her

husband are still undecided on the middle name.  The parents agreed to let us make it a game at the shower. 

We will pass around a slip of paper that has "First name"   ____________  "Last name".   The parents have

chosen about 5 names that they are debating between and they have graciously allowed us to vote which one

will become the expected child's middle name.  Although the way we have set this up does not allow for a

prize, everyone that is aware of the game is very excited that they will have a part in naming the baby.

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Nancy

MI.

Name:Love to play "word unscramble"

Supplies:Pencil and paper with a list of scrambled words closely

associated with babies  is all that is needed.

Guests have a limited time period to unscramble words associated with

babies. Guest with the most correct unscrambled words wins. Sounds easy

enough but with a good list of 25 words and 5 minute time period it's

really quite challenging!

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Andrea

Name:Who has it?

Supplies:  None needed (the best part)

Object:  to have the most items matching those announced.

Play:  The host has the guests look in their purses for announced objects.  The person with the most matches, wins. 

Objects can include:  address book, coupons, wallet, tissue, lipstick, baby bottle.  Be creative!

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Rebecca

Ca.

Name:DIAPER THE BABY

Supplies: Several dolls about the size of a small baby and a    package

of preemie diapers.

     This game is especially fun to play if there are men at the

baby shower.  Have the men (or women, if there are no men) kneel on the

floor in a line facing the "audience".  Place a doll and an unopened

disposable diaper in front of each person.  Someone says "go", and they race

to see who can correctly put the diaper on the fastest.  Some parameters

must be set up ahead of time, such as what constitutes "correctly".  This

may be that the diaper has to be facing the correct direction and both tabs

must be fastened so that the diaper will not fall off the doll!

This game can be played in one of two ways.  Two people can compete at a

time, and someone can keep track of the winner's time with a stopwatch.  The

winners of each group can then compete until a final winner emerges to

receive a prize.  Or, everyone who wants to play can compete at one time and

the winner can receive a prize.  Though this method does save time, it is

not as much fun because it is too difficult for the "audience" to watch

every contestant.

This is a very fun game and results in lots of laughs.

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Brandie

Ca.

Name: What's in the Bag?

Supplies Needed: A large gift bag & lots of various baby items

Place all of the baby items in the bag...some ideas are: a

diaper, a bottle, baby pain reliever, tether, baby booties, an outfit, a

nasal aspirator, outlet covers, pacifier, rattle, etc. These items can then

be given to the mom-to-be as one of her gifts. You want to have at least 10

items in your bag!  A person goes around the room taking the baby to each

person, who must look away while they put one hand in the bag...each person

gets about 10-20 seconds to feel the items in the bag.  The goal is for each

person to remember what they felt..and after each person has had a chance to

"feel", the guests are given 2 minutes to write down everything that they

remember feeling in the bag.  The winner is the guest who has the most

correct.

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Angie

Co.

Name: Name That Baby

Supplies Needed: Baby picture of each shower guest,pencils and paper

My favorite baby shower game is "Name That Baby".  Everyone invited to the

shower brings a baby picture of themselves.  You put all the pictures on a

board along with the names of everyone at the party.  Everyone has to try to

match the picture with the correct name.  It is fun and doesn't cost anything

to do.

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Terri

La.

Name: A Blossom of Love

Needed: 4 inch flower pots, baby's breath seeds (or other "baby" seeds), pastel toile or netting,

a nice pretty ribbon, small baby related item ( pacifiers, etc) from a craft store

In the pots place the seeds ( you can use potting soil too, if you put it in the snack sized baggies)

wrap with the toile and tie with the ribbon and the ornament. You can print instructions for

planting and attach it to the ribbon.

If you have the baby shower 6 weeks ahead of time sprouting time will be just in time for the birth..

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Laura

Texas

Name:How many squares of toilet paper will take to go around the Mom-to-be's stomach

Needed: Toilet paper

All the guests are to make a guess on how many squares of toilet paper it will take to go around the

Mom-to-be's stomach! Best guess gets prize-worst guess gets the roll of TP!

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Kieran

AUSTRALIA

Name: Put the pacifier in the baby's

Needed: One picture of cartoon baby,paper pacifier cut out(one per guest),blind fold

One picture of cartoon baby with mouth open screaming & paper pacifiers cut out.Blind fold

guests one at a time and get them to put the pacifier in the baby's mouth.

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Melanie

Pennsylvania

Name: Ring around the Neck

Needed: Ribbon, plastic pacifiers

This game is lots of fun and can last the whole time of the baby shower. 

Before the shower, make up pink and/or blue ribbon necklaces with pink and/or

blue plastic pacifiers.  Give each guest a necklace when they arrive.  They

get to keep their necklace as long as they don't say the word "Baby".  If

someone catches them say the word, they must give up their necklace to the

person who caught them.  The winner is the person who has the most necklaces

by the end of the shower.  Everyone will have a great time trying to get

someone else to say the word!

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Shari

Name: The Careful Cottonball

Needed: You will need one aluminum pie tray, a wooden spoon,

a bowl and a bag of cottonballs.

This is a hilarious game to share with all of your guests!  First, you

blind-fold the guest and place the pie tray on top of their head.  Next, you

place the bowl full of cottonballs in front of them and give the blind-folded

guest the wooden spoon.  Timing the guest, she/he has 1 minute to see how

many cottonballs they can get into the pie tray on the top of their head. 

This game creates many laughs watching the guest "think" she is carefully

putting cottonballs in the pie tray, when really the spoon may be empty!

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Julie

Name: Baby Bingo

Needed: Paper and pencil

This is an old sure fire Tupperware party game I used to play when I sold

Tupperware

Every one writes down 5 numbers between 1-30. The hostess writes down all the

numbers between 1-30, Then everyone goes around the room and gives their very

best loudest baby sound..from cries to whines to goo goo gaa gaas. Then

hostess calls out the numbers in any order from her  list (1-30) as she calls

one of the numbers the players have written down, they have to yell out their

sound...when they get all 5 they yell Baby Bingo! This works great with a

rowdy bunch who will really get into it....IT's a blast especially when a few

people have written down the same numbers and yell them together.

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Penny

Name: Bubble Gum Baby

Needed: Small plastic plates for everyone, which you will have anyway a piece of bubble gum for each guest (super bubble works great and can be purchased individually wrapped)

  

Here is a great baby shower game that will bring a lot of laughs!!!               

Give everyone a piece of gum and a plate.  Everyone should chew the

gum until soft.Then take the gum and mold it into the shape of a baby.  Put the

"baby" on the plate when through and let everyone look at each "baby".   The one who has

the best "baby" wins.  Everyone will get sticky fingers with this game, but the

results are hilarious.It's a lot of fun to see the bubble gum babies and some people can

really be creative. Everyone, young and old likes this game.  Loads of fun!!!

Thanks so much for offering the contests.

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Melanie

Name:  Pin-the-Bellybutton-on-the-Belly

Needed: Large piece of paper, pen, tape, scissors

I have planned several baby showers and enjoy all kinds of games from guessing the

circumference of the woman's pregnant belly (not for the ultra weight-conscious!) to

memorizing baby items in a box then listing as many as you can remember.  My very

favorite, though, is Pin-the-Bellybutton-on-the-Belly.  I think I made it up, but who knows!

You just draw a simple outline of a naked pregnant body turned to one side (profile). 

We used a picture from What to Expect When You're Expecting as a guide.  We didn't

add many details, but that depends on your audience!  Then you make little circles with

tape on the back, blindfolded the partygoers, and one by one they spin around three times

and pin on those bellybuttons!  It is a hoot!

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AMANDA

Name: Find The Pins

Needed: Safety pins (small size), two bags of rice, mixing bowl, blind fold

My favorite game was putting a couple bags of rice in a mixing bowl and add small safety

pins in it. Blind fold the guest and let them try to find the safety pins. It's not as easy as

it sound. It's hilarious to watch them drop over a dozen safety pins because they couldn't

feel them. You got to play it to understand what I mean.

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Toni

This isn't so much a game as it is a "handy Thank You Card helper".

Needed: Envelopes (from Thank You notes) and pens.

As guests arrive, have each one write their name and mailing address on the front of

one envelope. After everyone has filled out an envelope, the Shower Hostess

gathers them and fans them in her hands like a hand of cards. The Mother-to-be

selects on envelope from the "hand". The individual who's envelope is drawn

receives a prize. The envelopes are then used to send the Thank You notes...less work for Mom!

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Melanie

Oregon

Name: Name That Tune

Needed: paper, pencil, musical version of popular baby songs

The game is to make up a new version or a verse to the song. The mom-to-be gets to choose the winner.

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Kristina

Florida

Name: Your Right! My Left

Needed: Balloons, Cloth Diapers, Safety Pins, a Timer

At my sister-in-laws shower I am using this as a coed game but it doesn't have to one.

Two people are selected (in my case a man and a women) Then they stand

facing a table side by side. They place their middle arms (one persons left,

one persons right) behind their backs. On the table is an inflated balloon,

No Helium, this will be hard enough!!! Also on the table is a cloth diaper and

safety pins. Someone counts down for the couple 3, 2, 1... GO     then the

race is on to diaper the wiggle worm balloon baby. You guessed it... Faster

than the next few couples. Harder than it sounds so I hear. Also funny.

This game forces people to interact.

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Dawn 

Ohio

Name: Advice for the New Mom

Needed: Blank Book, Pen

             I'm not much for games at baby showers and I told the woman planning my

shower this so that she wouldn't make us play any. What she 'did' do, and it was

lovely, was get  a nice blank book (actually, she made it because she's creative

that way, but a pretty store-bought one would be fine, too) and a fancy pen. She

told every guest to write some baby/parenting advice for us. As much or as little

as the guest wanted. She left the book out so if anyone thought of anything later,

they could go back and add it. Some of my guest wrote novels, some just wrote a

little note but it made for great reading and a wonderful keepsake. Some advice was

practical, some inspirational, some we laughed at, some we tried. I love this little

book. It's a snapshot of my friends and family as well as the time in which we're living.

____________________________________________________

hristina

California

        Name: Who Am I?

        Needed: Pencil, Paper, Tape

        Prepare small slips of paper with words relating to babies (i.e.: stroller, diaper, teddy

bear, onesie, etc.) As guest arrive tape one on each person's back. Then they have to try

to guess what's on their by back by asking other guests yes or no questions. This is a

great game to break the ice and get people in the party spirit!

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Randi

Delaware

        Name: Guess How Big The Baby Is?

        Needed: Yarn, Scissors

        Measure mother's-to-be belly with a piece of yarn. Put this aside. Give each person 

a long piece of yarn. Have them cut the yarn to the length that they think the mother's

belly is. The closest cut length to that of the exact first piece is

        the winner.

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Joanne

Delaware

        Name: Clothes Pin Game

        Needed: Clothes Pins

        Each person in the room is given a clothes pin to attach to their clothing

        (wherever - it's not important) Whenever anyone uses the word 'baby' in any 

sentence and someone else catches them they have to give the person who caught

them their clothes pin. The person who ends up with all (or the most) clothes pins wins.

They can either get some kind of little prize themselves or can win a prize to be given to

the expectant mother. It's a fun game because it is almost impossible to not say 'baby'

at a baby shower!