I'm in charge of food and games. Food isn't too bad, I've got the basic menu planned (piglets in a blanket, anyone?). But games? I've only been to a handful of showers and only one in the last 10 or so years so my experience is limited. The game we played at the one I attended a month ago was a lot of fun, we had to guess the baby items through a paper bag, but it's the same church so I have a feeling it will be most of the same women and I don't want to repeat.
The only other game I can find that looks at all fun is the baby food taste test game - I'll pass around 8-10 jars of baby food with the labels covered. Everyone scoops a bit onto their plate then we all try to guess the flavor. Whoever guesses the most wins. Does that sound fun or lame? Or does anyone have any other fun games that they have played? It is really hard to judge from the descriptions if something would be fun or not so I need ideas from women with first hand experience. (Oh, and the theme is winnie the pooh, if that helps)
On a related note, I have decided to make the mom some burp clothes. From what I have heard, you always need a lot of those than you think you will and if you have to have them, they might as well be cute, right? I've found a couple different tutorials but I am not sure which would be best.
This one is fairly simply but it's cute and I could probably find some winnie the pooh flannel fabric so they would match the nursery.
This one is a smaller fancy shaped one that "contours of the shoulder." I'm not sure if that is ingenious or a bit like trying to put a band-aid on a gun shot wound - it's just not going to cut it.
This one just embellishes a standard cloth diaper to add cuteness and distinguish it from anything being use on the other end of the baby. These boring cloth diapers have quite the reputation for being excellent spit up collectors so even though it isn't the most difficult tutorial, the final product might be the most useful...but I just don't know.
I've set up a poll for the burp cloth questions but if you want to leave a comment telling me why you decided on that one, or if you have any game or shower advice, please let me know.
Yay, something I'm useful for!
ReplyDeleteGames: At my shower, they did a word scramble of popular baby terms, with a prize for speed and accuracy. Guests also had to take a piece of cardstock and sharpie and try to draw my baby. Holding the paper on their heads. I got to pick the winner, and some were hilarious.
They also did a game where you had to try and guess my girth using ribbon. I dont recommend this one if the mom-to-be is easily offended.
I think what made all my games successful was the prize aspect. Winners got awesome candied apples.
Burp cloths: as I was reading, I was going to suggest embellishing cloth diapers. Then I got to the end, and there it was. My grandma added some blue ribbon to some simple prefolds, and those are the only burp cloths we use. Our daycare provider raves about them. That is absolutely the best choice, hands down.
Now I'm tired.
In an episode of Gilmore Girls, they played a game where you couldn't say "baby" or you had to give up a diaper pin given to you when you came in the door. whoever catches you saying "baby" gets that pin and whoever has the most pins wins...something. That's my extensive knowledge of baby showers. Gilmore Girls.
ReplyDeleteI don't have the mom experience, but I do have some guest experience.
ReplyDeleteLike aggieonboard, I've played the baby word scramble game and the "guess the girth" game. I agree with her comments - but if the mommy-to-be won't be too easily offended, it seems kind of fun because it gives the guests an excuse to give her a hug =)
I've also played the chubby baby game, where you get the giant marshmallows, give them to the guests one at a time, and they have to say "chubby baby." The guest who can say it the clearest with the most marshmallows wins the game. If you play this one, provide plastic bags for them to spit the marshmallows out into. It's pretty disgusting, but can be really funny.
We also played bingo with baby-themed pictures on the cards (instead of letters and numbers). And there's always the "guess the number of objects in this container" game (the last time I played, they put a bunch of cotton balls into a large baby bottle).
Prizes always make games more fun. The last shower I went to, the prize was to open a gift that went back to the mother (for the baby). While that seems practical, I had more fun at the shower where the guests received something for winning. It wasn't about getting something as much as it was about feeling included. And it doesn't have to be big or expensive. Candied apples sound pretty awesome =)
It sounds like you're going to have fun =) And if one game went over really well in your last shower, don't feel bad about using it again - games are never exactly the same twice, and it doesn't hurt to throw in a game that you know people are comfortable with - maybe even as an ice breaker to get people in the game-playing mood.
Hope that helps =)
I love your idea of the burp cloths; especially the Winnie-the-Pooh fabric as long as it is soft, soft, soft! You usually are wiping the wee bairn's face as well as protecting your clothing. I guess that's why diapers work so well.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the guess the item game also, but honestly, I think that's the only baby shower game I've ever heartily enjoyed. I'm not really sure why we even have to have games if you know the people in the group. It seems to me that games are icebreakers for when you have a strange amalgamation of the honoree's friends from random places. So my vote is no games! But I don't think that is an option.
ReplyDeleteOn the burp clothes, Jason and I use cloth diapers over the shoulder and the little, itty, bitty commercial burp clothes to dab her mouth when she spits up.
I'm like Amanda--I only know from baby showers via TV. On Scrubs, they tried to play the baby food game, but nobody wanted to, so the hostess's boyfriend had to try all of them and he thought it was totally gross. But it's Scrubs, so I don't know how trustworthy that is.
ReplyDeleteHere's my idea. MacKenzie didn't appreciate it, but others might. Ladies team up in pairs, and each one gets a doll. One woman lays on the ground, with her feet pointed towards her partner, who is 5 feet away. Woman #1 (on the ground) puts her feet flat on the floor and throws the doll with a chest-pass motion to her partner, who must catch it. If successful, woman #2 takes two steps back. Whichever team completes the longest pass wins.
ReplyDeleteI don't see why having one person on the ground makes sense. Couldn't they both stand? Why not just have a no-frills baby toss?
ReplyDeleteGame: Craft stores sell tiny little baby dolls, like the size of a quarter. You take those and freeze them in an ice cube. When guests arrive, they get their ice cube in a paper cup. They also give their prediction for the time their baby will be "delivered". As the shower continues, the ice melts, and babies are delivered. The person that predicts their baby's delivery to the closest time wins a prize.
ReplyDeleteEveryone - I just saw they although I said I was going to put a poll up, I forgot to do so - but you all gave me great comments anyway. Thanks. I will be taking a trip to the craft store to see what I can find...tiny baby clothes, pins, etc.
ReplyDeleteRachel - I'm not sure if Craig's explanation gives the right visual picture. He wants one women to be on the ground in a birthing position. She then tosses the baby upwards to the lady in the doctor position, weho has to catch the baby. And now you see what I was having a hard time coming up with "respectable" game options.