Need Babyshower Ideas

Rebecca - posted on 08/02/2009

At a baby shower I attended resently one game we played was that everyone was given a baby object for a name such as the daughter of the new mom's name was pacifier, and whenever anyone said Brook instead of Pacifier they had to put a quarter in a jar which was to be earmarked for the new baby's college fund (or something for the new baby).

Lori - posted on 08/02/2009

A game we played at my daughters baby shower was to get some tissue paper, it was a dollar for a package of 40 pieces, and then we made up teams. They had to pick a captain and they had to make a maternity outfit for the captain out of tissue paper. The mother to be them selects the winner. It is a inexpensive but very fun game.

Tanya - posted on 08/02/2009

Thank you all !!! All these suggestions are very helpful. I am starting to think I can do this on my buget !! :)

Stacey - posted on 07/30/2009

Guess the flavour of the baby food is a fun game.

Elizabeth - posted on 07/30/2009

I just had my baby shower a couple of weeks ago and my sister and I spent a lot of time on this website which was very interesting. www.babyshower101.com Got most of the decorations at Dollar General and they were actually pretty cute--just use creativity when decorating. I put a lot of input in on the games as I am not a huge game person. There was one that seemed to get everyone intersted and was pretty fun.



Its a candy memory game--new spin on the classic memory game

We took a giant poster board and some index cards. On the back of the index cards write pairs of words relating to babies/birth etc... We arranged them on the poster board and taped them to it so that you could just flip the card without removing it and still read the word. All the terms on the cards had a candy theme to it. You can make up whatever you want but here are some ideas:

Epidural--Life Savers

Big Baby--Whoppers

Breast Feeding--Milky Way

Baby--Sugar Babies

Teething--Charleston Chews

Bottle--the candy in bottle shape

Daddy--Mr. Goodbar

Crying Baby--Sour Patch Kids

You get the point--anyway we spent about $1 on each of the prizes/candy and it seemed to go over the best. And the prizes are the candy--so it cuts out a lot of time for the shower



Mid afternoon is a good time since you only need snack foods as you are in between lunch and dinner.



The other games we played were The tray memory game:

Place a bunch of baby related items on a tray and cover them up--such as bib, rattle, bottle, clippers, etc.. and cover with a receiving blanket. Give guests an allotted amount of time to look at the items and then cover them back up. The person who can write down the most items from memory wins the game. And the nice part it the items used can be given to mommy for her little bundle of joy.



We also did a guess the amount game--had pastel colored mints in a bottle and whoever guessed the closest amount of mints won a prize.



There were a few extra prized in case there was a tie for an of the games and we just used old raffle tickets and passed them out and drew tickets for the remaining prizes.



For inexpensive gift ideas again we headed to the dollar store. Got decent gifts for $2-$3 a piece. A multi photo frame, a photo brag book, scented candles and we bought a couple of wine glasses that we filled with poupori and tied ribbons around everything for that pretty effect. You can get creative on a budget when you put your mind to it.



Hope this has helped and you have a great shower for you friend--she truly, truly deserves something special after what she has been through. The best part about my shower was just being surounded by people that cared about me and spending time with friends and family I don't tend to get to spend a lot of time with. Best wishes to both of you and I am sure everything will be amazing :)

Kim - posted on 07/30/2009

make a scrapbook station. get supplies from the dollar store. each guest make up their own page that you can stick a regular sized photo into. so she doesnt have to cut/ crop later. if any of your friend scrapbook, see if they have punches or scissors you can borrow for the party.

Erin - posted on 07/30/2009

I'm sorry we weren't blindfolded for the diaper game... it was melted & all looked the same :)

Erin - posted on 07/30/2009

For my shower we played the toilet paper game Katrina described. We also played the dirty diaper game, but they put the small candy bars, which really looked like poopy diapers! And you had to guess the candy by smell (so you were blindfolded for this...) We also did the rice & safety pins game, which is REALLY hard, that Karen described. I think we also had a crossword, and otherwise just hung out. We didn't have any food, but I've gone to others that were just cake, fruit salad, side dishes mainly. To minimize the amount of food one would need to prepare you can pick a time after lunch & specify on your invites that cake & drink avail. so then people wouldn't expect food to be there. The Dollar Tree does have a wide variety of stuff! The people that set up my shower had gifts for the games, but we didn't have any favors or nothing. The other shower thrown for my 1st born, we had a picnic @ the park, no games or fufu, It was an older crowd of women & we just socialized and they told me stories about being a mom. You are not required to give everyone something for showing up!



As far as prizes for the games, you could get some cheap stuff $1 this or that...Dollar stores have cheap gift bags... You can make a coupon for someone to get a free night of child care? If they are all mothers... maybe a free house/car cleaning...?

Gina - posted on 07/30/2009

If you do this all yourself it will be wonderful. Presentation is everything too. Pull ivy from outside to decorate your table. Get large twigs and put them in a vase. You can tie baby items from it. Magnolia leaves are nice ... pull fresh flowers from anywhere ! For the food - chicken salad is always a hit. Depending on how many people get a chicken and debone - add grapes and pecans - little mayo - put in pretty bowl. Strawberries---- make an x on the sm end and stuff cream cheese that you mixed with mashed strawberries. top with a pecan bit. Cake or squares are nice - publix yummy ! People are not coming to eat a meal just a snack. Small plates ! I like to use real plate and cups. Everything does not have to match. Place their napkins and silverware in a glass.... that is their glass :) Have fun

Sharon - posted on 07/30/2009

Maybe this page from that same site will help too... http://www.babyshower101.com/baby_shower...

Sharon - posted on 07/30/2009

You are an AWESOME friend!



I say make the party pot luck. Everyone brings something to eat. And maybe they can chip in for decorations and what not?



Our dollar store will let you bring in a package of helium quality ballons and will blow them up for 25cents each.



For that matter the dollar store is a fantastic place to get decorations. We have 3 nearby 2 of them have BLAH decorations but one has just the coolest stuff. Be sure to check out walmart - sometimes they beat the dollar store prices!



Here are some fun games - its been years so I had to look them up...



1) Guess Mom's Tummy Size: (Materials- String or yarn and scissors) Have each woman pull the yarn to the size they believe would fit perfectly around the Mother-To-Be's center of her pregnant tummy. After everyone cuts their string, compare the results to the Mommy-To-Be's actual tummy. Give a prize to the woman who is the most close! This is a baby shower favorite.



2) Never say "Baby": (Materials- baby safety pins or another type of baby object you can place on a string for each woman at the party as well as string or yarn, enough for each woman to wear as a necklace). Have each woman place the necklace with the baby safety pins around her neck when she gets to the party. The rules for this baby shower game are given out at the beginning of the baby shower that whenever someone says the word "baby" during the shower, any woman who calls it out gets a pin from the other woman who stated the word. At the end of the baby shower, the woman with the most pins wins a prize.



3) How Many Baby Items Can You Name: (Materials- pad of paper and pen for each woman). Have each woman write down as many baby products as they can name (bottle, blanket, pacifier, etc) within 5 minutes. Sure it is easy at the beginning, but towards the last few minutes, the women will start racking their brains for more :) Give a prize to the woman who gets the most baby products named!



4) Who Can Make The Mother-To-Be's Baby: (Materials - Baby magazines, Scissors, Glue, Paper). Have the women group up into teams of 3 and give each 3 baby magazines. Have them cut out pieces of different baby qualities and put together a picture of what they think the Mother-To-Be's baby will look like. Have the Mother-To-Be pick which baby would possibly look like hers the best! Give prizes to the winning team! One of the top baby shower games!



5) Guess The Gerber's: (Materials - Gerber's infant food, pads of paper and pens). Take the labels off of the baby food jars and have the women at the baby shower guess the food (carrots, peas, sweet potato). Most fun to play up to 10 jars of different kinds of foods. If there is a tie, blindfold the women and have them taste one of the jars and guess the right flavor to win their prize.



6) Guess How Many Safety Pins: (Materials- Safety Pins and Jar). Pass around a jar full of baby safety pins. The one who guesses the closest wins a baby shower prize. A baby shower game favorite!



One of our visitors, Lynn, stated that she filled a clear plastic container (about 50 qt size with disposable diapers) all the same size (size 1) and had people guess how many diapers were in the container. Of course, container and contents go to mom since, as we all know, you can never have enough diapers. This baby shower game is very functional for the mommy-to-be!



You can also add cute clothes pins by getting a few packs and using them for the baby shower game, then spreading them around the tables as decorations!



http://www.babyshower101.com/baby_shower...



a scrap book. have someone with a digital camera snap & shoot away. snapfish has 9cent 4 x 6 pictures. If you use the slightly more expensive "pick up at store" option someone could put this together before the party is over even, and have each guest write something under a related picture.



another mom above suggested an advice thing - that would go well in a photo book too. LOL like to cover a baby boys unit at all times to avoid the urine shower.



good luck!

Cindy - posted on 07/30/2009

If everyone there is a true friend who all know what has happened then...POT LUCK snacks. Everyone who comes has to bring a game to do as well. Look on Google for babyshower ideas.

We didn't play games for my shower we just showered my son with attention and visited. That's all we needed.

Barbie - posted on 07/30/2009

You are sweet for wanting to help your friend. I just gave a babyshower for my daughter and I can tell you that the cost can get crazy before you even know it. If I were you I would recruit several people to help you with this. One person for games, 2 for decorations, 2 or 3 people to provide door prizes and have a pot luck shower for food. There are several things you can do that are meaningful and sweet, Print out a paper for everyone at the shower to give a few lines of suggestion on how to raise a successful daughter, you can also do word searches you find on line for the cost of paper, the dollar tree also carries a lot of babyshower items and Oriental Trading is also a great way to go. If you look on my facebook there is pictures of my daughters shower. I wish you well!

Karen - posted on 07/30/2009

At my baby shower, we played a game where you put safety pins (medium size) into bowl of uncooked rice. Blindfolded you try and get as many safety pins as you can. Harder than it sounds, our record was 15 pins in 30 seconds.

Darlene - posted on 07/30/2009

Tanya, Just as an "extra" something for the mommy you might give slips of paper to the guests and have them write their best mommy advice. Either decorate a shoe box to put them in or perhaps a piggy bank. Anything cute just to hold those slips of paper. Your friend will enjoy going through them later and reading all the encouraging words from friends and family.

Katarina - posted on 07/30/2009

For my baby shower, we played a game using toilet paper. Everyone takes a length that they feel comfortable with. After everyone has had a chance to take some TP then you tell them to check the length around the mother's stomache. You ever is closer wins a prize. Another Game we played was the "Dirty Diaper" game. There were 10 different diapers and each one had a different juice in it or baby food. Through smell and looking we had to guess what the 10 different diapers had in them.



As for favors, they aren't really needed. For food, i'm not sure what to suggest. Chips and dip, vegetables. things like that. Keep it all healthy for Mommy and Baby!



But I think anything you do will be special for her. It's the thought that counts!

Traci - posted on 07/30/2009

Idea for a game: You go to the craft store and get those little tiny plastic babies. You make ice cubes, but put the baby in before putting into the freezer. At the shower you give each guest an ice cube and who ever "delivers" their baby first wins! They can bite the ice, or suck on the ice, or whatever. Also, if you want to make it even cuter, use those pans that are used for egg-shaped cupcakes. The baby looks like it's in the pregnant mommies belly...really cute.



I got a million of 'em :)

Marcy - posted on 07/30/2009

Tanya that is so nice of you. Can you do a potluck and ask the guests to bring something? If not, a Sat or SUnday brunch is really inexpensive and can be pulled off nicely? I would pick a theme if you can that makes things easier. You can pull games off the internet and great prizes are lotto tickets with a little ribbon wrapped around them.



One of the best things that my girlfriends did for me was ask all the guests to bring a new book for my son and write something on the inside. When I got home from my shower I had about 30 books already and he still reads some of them. Plus, the writing on the inside is something she will treasure always.



Just a thought (I love getting creative on a budget) but you could do a theme like "Looking forward to meeting your new treasure" and you could give away gold coins in a little baggie as your favor and do a "treasure chest" cake. You could get some under the water theme type things and decorate the tables with ocena blue tablecothes and you coudl even throw the coins on the tables...



Okay, I am going crazy....good luck and have fun. I am sure no matter what you do she will love all of it.