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Baby Shower Games

March 16, 2010 By

Baby shower games are an excellent way to break the ice and help people interact with one another. This is especially important if many of the people at the shower don’t already know one another. Using games as ice breakers can really liven up the baby shower. There are a number of simple, easy to set up games that work well to get people talking and laughing with each other. Listed below are some examples of baby shower games that don’t take a lot of time to organize or play, but work very well to get people talking together.

Singing To My Baby: To play the basic game just pass out pens and paper to all the guests. Give everyone five minutes to write down all of the songs that have the word “baby” in the title. The person with the most songs is the winner. You can also give the prize to whoever has the most unique song titles. Each person reads off their song titles and anyone else who has the same songs on their lists scratches them off. This version of the game is longer and gets people talking, so it works well as an ice breaker when you have a lot of guests who don’t know each other.

Pin the Baby on Mommy’s Tummy: This works like Pin the Tale on the Donkey. You will need a large, poster sized picture or drawing of a woman. Make small cutouts of baby shapes and give one to each of the guests. Have them write their names on the cutouts. Each person will attempt to place their baby on the mommy’s tummy while blindfolded. The person who gets closest to the tummy wins. This game can also be played as Pin the Diaper on Daddy. Use a picture of a man and cutouts of diapers. Whoever get the diaper closest to daddy’s hand wins the game.

Your Timing is Perfect: If you need a game of pure chance, this works well. All you need is a timer and some inexpensive prizes. As the mother-to-be is opening her gifts, set the timer for a random time – five to seven minutes works well. The winner is the person whose gift is being opened when the timer goes off.

Baby Charades: This is just like classic charades but all of the songs, books or movies being guessed have the word baby in the title.

Baby Word Scramble: Think of some words that have to do with baby. Use some shorter words and some longer words. Scramble the letters in each word. Give each guest a copy of the list and ask them to unscramble the letters. The first person to unscramble all the words correctly wins the prize.

Baby Alphabet: Write the alphabet vertically on a piece of paper. Give a copy to each of the participants. Set a time for two to five minutes and have everyone write down one baby related word for each letter of the alphabet. At the end of the game, whoever has the most words is the winner.


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Baby Shower Invitations

March 16, 2010 By

For those planning a baby shower for a friend, one of the more difficult aspects of planning is in choosing and sending the baby shower invitations. Some find that there are too many options in terms of styles and colors and become overwhelmed. Others wonder how to navigate the etiquette concerns that come with drafting and sending formal invitations. When planning your first shower, there are a few things that one should remember that will make the creating and sending the baby shower invitations far easier.

Choose the shower theme first, and find invitations that highlight this theme. There is no need to get too involved in complicated shower themes. Some showers are patterned after high tea services, while others are more informal get togethers. Make sure that the invitations reflect the mood of the party. If it will be an informal occasion, do not send out ornate engraved invitations. For more formal afternoon parties that will require a certain mode of dress, choose invitations in a more formal style to convey that to the guests. Planners should also include any notes on dress code at the bottom of the invitation. This will make it easier for attendees to plan for their appearance.

Showers are not thrown by the mother to be, nor are they generally thrown by a member of her family. Traditionally, baby showers are meant to be thrown by friends of the expectant mother and not someone to whom she is related. If upholding this tradition is important to you, find a friend who is willing to take on the responsibility of sending and addressing the invitations, as well as updating the guest list. Some people do find this tradition a bit antiquated, but sticking to it does not mean that the soon to be mother cannot be a part of the planning process.

Give guests plenty of time to respond. There is no need to send invitations out a few months early, but many guest appreciate being given at least a month to clear their calendars and make arrangements for their attendance. When addressing the invitations, make sure that you are including the name of everyone within the household who will be invited. This can avoid the confusion that comes with not knowing if it is an adults only occasion or one that will include children. It can also be the best way to get a true idea of the number of people who will be in attendance.

Do not email the invitations. While more and more people are using email as their primary means of communication, mailed baby shower invitations should still be sent if at all possible. There is no need to go to great expense to have invitations printed. There are now software programs that enable the printing of professional looking invitations from home, as well as many low cost template invitations that can be personalized by hand. Mailing invitations is a lovely touch that is always appreciated, and makes any occasion feel that much more special.


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Baby Shower Favors

March 16, 2010 By

Baby showers are some of the most important life milestones. They are something an expectant couple or a mommy-to-be will always remember. The host of the shower has a big responsibility to make it not only festive and enjoyable for the guests, but also to make it memorable for the new parents. Though usually a theme is decided on between the host and the parents to be, the host is the one to decide on the baby shower favors. And that is certainly one of the fun parts!

Favors can be looked at in a couple of different ways. Some hosts decide to have every guest leave with a party favor, just like a child’s party goodie bag. Others save the favors for the winners of the baby shower games. It is up to the host how this will be done. Some will depend on budget, of course, two or three gifts will be much less expensive than twenty five or thirty. It will also depend on the amount of guests coming. If a favor will be given to each guest, a more expensive gift can be given to ten or twelve guests, but the favor price will have to much more limited if the party will consist of thirty or even fifty guests, as some showers do.

Once the amount of baby shower favors has been determined, the next step is deciding what they will be. Depending on the theme, baby shower favors can go in all different directions. Of course, there are traditional favors for traditional parties. For instance, if the theme is a simple but classic color theme of pink or blue, the baby shower favor can be something of these colors, usually something classic as well. A nice idea for a pink shower is a small bouquet of baby pink roses, perhaps in a baby shoe or baby buggy container. For blue, a nice baby shower favor could be a small blue candle or keepsake box, even a blue hand towel would be nice.

With more nontraditional themes, a host can be more imaginative with her favors. For instance, if the baby shower is a mother child shower where the big sibling-to-be is invited, and other children will be there, too, the favor can be a small teddy bear, book, blocks or other toy for the children. Some other fun shower themes are “around the clock” or “baby’s meals” and with these themes, the host can use favors like jars of baby food (which make cute centerpieces, too) or clock shaped personalized cookies. Some other ideas for baby shower favors to go with party games could be things like a pretty kitchen item for a baby food tasting game, or for the name suggestion game, a label maker would be a fun baby shower favor.

Some other pretty and affordable baby shower favors for everyone at the party could be a delicately wrapped custom cookie, small bags of pink and white or blue and white (or yellow, pink, blue for the unknown) M&M’s or other colored candies wrapped nicely or else the candies could be put in baby theme shaped containers, like bottles, pacifiers or shoes.


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