Disagreement over shower games

By Meowkers Oct 28, 2014

So my mom is throwing my baby shower and we're having a major disagreement about games. I really dislike shower games. The only ones I "like" are the more passive ones like parent trivial or price is right. Most people I know feel the same way as me regarding shower games. People usually groan when games are announced at a shower.

My mom on the other hand loves games. (She works at a senior citizen center so she's constantly entrenched in cheesy games.) She's insisting that we do games that are more involved and insists that the older guests will be into them.

I've gotten her to agree to a maximum of three games. One will be parent trivia. The other two are open to determination.

Are there any games you ladies can suggest that would be a good middle ground that I can suggest to my mom? Also, the shower is co-ed and we have about 50 people coming who are a mix of our friends and my parents' friends

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25 comments

MaryM
pomelo / 5129 posts

Oct 28, 2014

How about gift bingo? That way the game happens while you're opening presents (no added time) and if people aren't really into it, they they just chose not to do it.
Adira
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts

Oct 28, 2014

I always like games that people can choose not to partake in if they don't want to.

What about gift bingo? That one is easy and anyone who doesn't want to play doesn't have to.

Another one I recently played was the host had a big basket filled with baby items. You had 30 seconds to look through the basket and then go back to your seat and write down as many items as you could remember. Then later on, the host listed off all the items and whoever got the most right won a prize.
MaryM
pomelo / 5129 posts

Oct 28, 2014

Also, prize wise, the most competitive I've ever seen shower games get was when the prizes were something that were super useful for anyone (like gift cards to chipotle, starbucks, etc.)
raspberries
pear / 1955 posts

Oct 28, 2014

Oh, what about the one with the clothes pins? Everyone starts with three clothes pins, and any time they say "baby" or "pregnant" or whatever has to sacrifice one of their clothes pins to the person who calls them out on it. Then the person with the most clothes pins at the end wins.

(I like this one because people can choose to play or not - also, it's just casually taking place during the entire shower, and doesn't require actively taking time to play a game.)
snowjewelz
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts

Oct 28, 2014

We did price is right at my shower and it was actually pretty funny! Even mom's didn't get a lot of the stuff right!

The other game we played was that people submitted their baby pictures and we all had to guess who's who. It's pretty passive but a lot of fun to look at people's baby pics!
looch
wonderful pear / 26210 posts

Oct 28, 2014

You can do the one where you put items in a bag, and then the guests have to guess what's in the bag.
HabesBabe
grapefruit / 4400 posts

Oct 28, 2014

Baby word jumble/scramble--- a bunch of mixed up baby words like "bottle," "nursery," "pacifier," "diaper," etc. and give people a few minutes to unscramble them. There are tons of templates online.

Baby items Price is Right-- a big basket of baby toiletries, like lotion, nail clippers, etc. and the guests guess the price of each item (or the overall basket if you want to make it quick). The winner gets a prize and mommy-to-be gets the stuff!

Gift bingo like PPs have mentioned.

We did Play-Doh baby at my shower. Each guest was given a piece of play doh and a paper plate, and they "sculpted" what the baby would look like. Mommy-to-be chose the winner.
mrs. tictactoe
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts

Oct 28, 2014

We did one where I printed out pictures of Mike and I at different ages and guests had to guess how old we were in each one. I had the pictures hung up, so it was also part of the decor. People could fill out their answers at any time during the shower. I also did a nursery rhyme fill in the blank one and a match the baby name to the meaning one, using names of kid or pets of the guests. Then we did the timer one during gifts, so when the timer went off, whoever's gift I was opening got a prize.

I am also not a fan of cheesy games, but I felt like these were fun and people could choose not to participate if they didn't want to without feeling like a party pooper.
Meowkers
persimmon / 1364 posts

Oct 28, 2014

These are excellent suggestions ladies. Keep them coming. The more options I can present to my mom the better.

How does present bingo work? I've never seen that one.
MaryM
pomelo / 5129 posts

Oct 28, 2014

@Meowkers: Guests are given bingo cards that have gifts in each space. If you open that gift, they mark it off.

http://thebingomaker.com/index.php/bingo-cards/parties-and-events-bingo-cards/baby-shower-gifts-bingo-cards.html

you can personalize it based on your registry too.
Mrs. Lemon-Lime
wonderful pea / 17279 posts

Oct 28, 2014

Gift Bingo if you plan on opening gifts

Parent to Be Games:
1) Guess the girth of both parents hugging
2) Mama Said/ Did vs Papa Said/ Did. Each guest gets a list of short kiddie story about the parents to be and has to determine if the mom or dad said it/ Did it.
3) Parent to be (newly wed) game.

Activities:

1) paint/ decorate baby blocks
2) sign a balloon- I got this idea from a bridal shower. The guests blew up a balloon and wrote messages on it and deflated the balloons again. The balloons were blown up in the bride to be's suite while she was getting ready. The balloons could be used for the baby's first birthday party or photo shoot.
Vegmama
pear / 1799 posts

Oct 28, 2014

@Meowkers: We had a co-ed shower, and had to guys chug beer out of a little bottle.

We also did trivia (I'm like you, that's what I prefer). Winners got a gift card to Chipotle ... Mmmm!

I LOVE the Price is Right idea.
youboots
honeydew / 7622 posts

Oct 28, 2014

I'm with you. I can't stand games. What about the one where you guess the date baby is born and other stats and the prize is mailed to the one closest. Or where you set a timer while the gifts are being opened and whoevers gift you are opening when the timer goes off gets a prize.
78h2o
grapefruit / 4441 posts

Oct 28, 2014

At my sister's baby shower, we played Baby Scattegories and it was fun. I have the template somewhere and could send it to you...just like regular scattegories, but baby-themed.

I also prepared baby Pictionary, but didn't end up using it. I think it could be really fun though, esp. with a big coed group.

For my shower, my mom had me do some kind of relay game that was pretty funny. I had to compete against my MIL and diaper a baby, fold laundry, answer the phone, etc. - basically do 20 things at once!
NeekieRose
persimmon / 1386 posts

Oct 28, 2014

Not a fan of games either. Neither was the host of my shower so we didn't have any games. We had an activity instead and guests decorated onesies. This was fun for guests and so very useful for me. I liked it so much that I did the same thing for my sister's shower.

I liked that it gave guests something to do but was not cheesy at all.
Boheme
papaya / 10473 posts

Oct 28, 2014

I'm not a fan of games, but we had two games at one of my showers that were really fun.
For one game, everyone divided up into teams and had to perform a song with the word "baby" in it. People had been drinking, and it was hilarious. I think they got 3 minutes to rehearse?
For the other game, everyone set a paper plate on top of their head, and had to draw a baby on the plate without looking. When time was called, they took the plate down and DH and I had to judge the best baby drawing. SO funny!
Tanjowen
nectarine / 2521 posts

Oct 28, 2014

At my shower, my mom and sister planned the games. The first was they passed around a few rolls of toilet paper, and asked the guests to tear off the length around they thought my belly was. At the end, the closest length won.

They also put a bunch of clothespins in a big jar on the table and people had to guess how many they thought were in the jar. Easy game with no effort involved.
mrs.shinerbock
pomegranate / 3779 posts

Oct 28, 2014

I am not a big fan of games either, I tend to prefer activities. At my shower, they had a station to decorate baby blocks with a bunch of precut paper squares to glue on with modge podge. We also had a team contest to build a structure out of diapers - each team was assigned a famous structure (Eiffel tower, London Bridge, etc.) and a box of diapers and other small baby items.

Other activities I have done at showers I've thrown - onesie decorating, coloring pages for Baby's 1st ABC book, making hairbows/headbands.
jedeve
pomegranate / 3643 posts

Oct 28, 2014

I think I saw a beer chugging out of a baby bottle contest on Pinterest once...

Gift bingo and baby scattegories sound fun!
78h2o
grapefruit / 4441 posts

Oct 28, 2014

I also heard of a game where you freeze miniature cake topper babies into cubes of ice and then give each person a bag. The first person to break the free the baby (maybe the called it break the water or something for creative) won.
blackbird
wonderful grape / 20453 posts

Oct 28, 2014

I'm not a big game fan, but I don't mind the clothespin one. My mom made us do that one and it was relatively non-committal. Once you lost your pin, you could keep having the conversation you were in the process of.
Beehive
nectarine / 2054 posts

Oct 28, 2014

I don't like games either, but I loved onesie-decorating at the first shower I attended (and used the idea for my sister's shower). It's nice because you can choose whether to participate, and if you hang all the onesies on clothespins you can see everyone's designs.
mrs scrapbook
apricot / 375 posts

Oct 28, 2014

Gift bingo is my favorite. We actually give out blank bingo cards and have people fill out what they think will be opened. Then we give small prizes each time someone gets a bingo, so the game continues throughout the gift opening. I've never been to a shower without it, but some guests at both my shower and BFF's shower who have never seen it said it was awesome because it kept the gift opening interesting! Plus, you don't have to play if you don't want to, no one would ever know that you aren't playing.

We also did diaper decorating at a recent shower. Everyone wrote funny or encouraging notes on diapers. Mom and dad plan to use them for middle of the night changings! Again, participation was optional!
Mrs. Lemon-Lime
wonderful pea / 17279 posts

Oct 28, 2014

@Meowkers: Have you found any games or activities you like so far?
Meowkers
persimmon / 1364 posts

Oct 28, 2014

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: yes! so many of these suggestions are awesome. I think the deal I'll propose to my mom is that I get to pick a game, she get's to pick a game, and my DH gets to pick a game. I know he'll want to do the beer drinking from a sippy cup. I'll want to do the parent trivia so that leaves one wild card for my mom to decide. I'll definitely suggest these to her.

I think the price is right and the gift bingo are great passive activities to have that let people participate or not at their own discretion.

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Disagreement over shower games

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