19 baby shower and gender reveal games

Baby shower bingo

Players

6 to 40

Minutes

15 to 20

Ages

All ages

You need

A different bingo card for each guest, the call list and markers

1. Print a different card for every guest and one call list for the host.
2. Read the baby words in a shuffled order, pausing so guests can find each one.
3. Guests cover each word they have. The first full line calls bingo.
4. Check the line against the words already called, then play on for a full card.

Without a printer: Read the call list aloud once so guests can copy words into a grid drawn on any paper, then call them in a new order.

For this game: Baby shower bingo

Baby gift bingo

Players

8 to 40

Minutes

During gift opening

Ages

All ages

You need

A blank bingo card and a pen for each guest

1. At the start, guests fill a blank card with gifts they think the parent-to-be will open: bodysuit, bath towel, board book, rattle.
2. Mark a square each time a matching gift is unwrapped.
3. The first guest to complete a line calls out and reads back the gifts.
4. It keeps a large shower watching through a long gift opening.

Without a printer: Guests rule a 4 by 4 grid on the back of any paper.

For this game: Printable blank bingo cards

Baby word scramble

Players

Any number

Minutes

10

Ages

8 and up

You need

A scramble sheet and a pen for each guest

1. Make a sheet of 15 to 20 baby words with mixed-up letters, such as stroller, pacifier, lullaby and bassinet.
2. Give out the sheets during a quiet moment and set a five-minute timer.
3. The first guest to unscramble every word raises a hand. If nobody finishes, the most words solved wins.
4. Check the sheet against the answer key. If a word is wrong, play continues.

Without a printer: Write the scrambled words on a whiteboard or a large sheet of paper and let each table solve them as a team.

For this game: Word scramble generator with answer key

Baby animal match

Players

Any number

Minutes

10

Ages

8 and up

You need

A sheet with two columns, animals and the names of their young, and pens

1. List 12 to 15 animals in one column and the names of their young, mixed up, in the other: kangaroo and joey, goat and kid, swan and cygnet, deer and fawn, frog and tadpole.
2. Check that each young name fits only one animal on your list, since a calf could be a cow, a whale or an elephant.
3. Guests draw a line from each animal to its young.
4. Read the answers aloud. The most correct pairs wins.

Without a printer: Read an animal aloud and let guests call out the name of its young. The first right answer scores.

Nursery rhyme quiz

Players

Any number

Minutes

10

Ages

10 and up

You need

10 to 15 nursery rhymes described in plain words, paper and pens

1. Describe each nursery rhyme in plain words without its title, such as 'A girl eating on a stool runs off when a spider sits down beside her.'
2. Read the descriptions aloud, or hand them out on a sheet.
3. Guests write the rhyme each one describes.
4. Reveal the titles. The example above is Little Miss Muffet.

Without a printer: Read the descriptions aloud and let guests write their answers on any paper.

Baby predictions

Players

Any number

Minutes

5 to 10

Ages

All ages

You need

A prediction card and a pen for each guest, and a box to keep them in

1. Each guest predicts the birth date, weight, length and hair color, and can add a name suggestion.
2. Collect the cards in a box that the parents seal and take home.
3. After the birth, the parents open the box and find the closest card.
4. The winner gets a small prize or a thank-you note.

Without a printer: Guests write their guesses on the back of a place card or a plain index card.

Baby name race

Players

Any number

Minutes

5

Ages

10 and up

You need

Paper, pens and a timer

1. Write the letters of the parents' surname down the side of a sheet, or A to Z for a big group.
2. Give guests two minutes to write a baby name for every letter.
3. Score a point for each name nobody else wrote.
4. Read the most unusual names aloud. The parents can take the lists home.

Nursery drawing game

Players

6 to 30, in teams

Minutes

15

Ages

8 and up

You need

Cards with nursery words, paper or a whiteboard, and markers

1. Write baby and nursery words on cards: crib, stroller, bath time, lullaby, first steps.
2. A player draws a card and sketches it with no letters or numbers.
3. Their team has one minute to guess.
4. Rotate the artist so everyone who wants a turn gets one.

Without a printer: Read words from a list on a phone to each artist in turn.

For this game: Printable drawing game cards

Don't say baby

Players

8 to 40

Minutes

Runs through the shower

Ages

All ages

You need

A small clothespin or a sticker for each guest

1. Clip a small clothespin on each guest at the door.
2. Explain the one rule: nobody may say baby.
3. Catch someone saying it and you take their clothespin.
4. Count clothespins before the gifts are opened. The guest holding the most wins.

Baby item memory tray

Players

6 to 30

Minutes

10

Ages

All ages

You need

A tray, 15 to 20 clean baby items, a cloth, paper and pens

1. Lay out baby items on a tray: a bib, a sock, a spoon, a rattle, a teething ring and so on.
2. Let guests look for one minute, then cover the tray.
3. Everyone writes down all the items they can recall.
4. Lift the cloth. The longest correct list wins, and the items go to the parents.

Guess the belly size

Players

Any number

Minutes

10

Ages

All ages

You need

A ball of ribbon or yarn and scissors

1. Play this only if the parent-to-be likes the idea.
2. Each guest cuts a length of ribbon they think will go once around the bump.
3. The parent-to-be, or a friend, tries each ribbon in turn.
4. The closest length wins.

Diaper the doll race

Players

4 to 20, in teams

Minutes

10

Ages

10 and up

You need

A baby doll, a diaper and a timer for each team

1. Give each team a doll and a diaper.
2. On go, the first player puts the diaper on the doll. For a harder round, they wear oven mitts.
3. Teammates take turns, relay style, removing and replacing the diaper.
4. The fastest team with a secure diaper wins.

Whose baby photo

Players

8 to 40

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

All ages

You need

Baby photos from guests who want to join, numbered, plus paper and pens

1. Ask guests ahead of time to send a baby photo if they want to take part.
2. Number the photos and put them on a board or table.
3. Guests write down who they think each baby is.
4. Reveal the names. The guest with the most right answers wins.

Without a printer: Show the photos as a slideshow on a TV, or pass a phone around.

Guess the price of baby items

Players

6 to 30

Minutes

10

Ages

12 and up

You need

8 to 10 baby items with their prices noted, paper and pens

1. Collect baby items such as a pack of diapers, wipes, a bottle and a baby monitor, and note what each costs.
2. Hold up each item while guests write their price.
3. Reveal the prices one by one.
4. Each item goes to the closest guess without going over. The most points wins.

Guess the item in the bag

Players

6 to 30

Minutes

10

Ages

All ages

You need

A cloth bag, ten small baby items, paper and pens

1. Put small baby items in a cloth bag: a pacifier, a baby spoon, a bath toy, a sock, a nail clipper.
2. Pass the bag around. Each guest feels the items through the cloth for 20 seconds.
3. Guests write down every item they can identify.
4. Empty the bag. The most correct items wins.

Which parent will

Players

Any number, best at a coed shower

Minutes

10

Ages

All ages

You need

A list of prompts and two signs with each parent's name

1. Write prompts such as 'Which parent will do the night feedings?' or 'Which parent will cry on the first day of school?'
2. Read each prompt. Guests point at the sign of the parent they pick.
3. The parents then say which of them they think it will be.
4. Guests who matched the parents' answer score a point.

Pick a team

Players

Any number

Minutes

Until the reveal

Ages

All ages

You need

Pink and blue clothespins, stickers or ribbons, and two jars

1. As guests arrive, each picks a color to show their guess.
2. Guests wear their color, or drop a token into the matching jar.
3. Count the jars before the reveal so everyone knows which side is bigger.
4. After the reveal, the winning team gets the first slices of cake.

Gender reveal bingo

Players

6 to 40

Minutes

15 to 20

Ages

All ages

You need

A different bingo card for each guest, the call list and markers

1. Print a different card for each guest.
2. Call the celebration words in a shuffled order.
3. The first full line wins. Check it against the calls.
4. Play a round just before the reveal to hold everyone's attention.

Without a printer: Guests draw a grid and fill it from the call list, read out before the first call.

For this game: Baby celebration bingo

Team pink against team blue relay

Players

8 to 40, in two teams

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

All ages

You need

Two balloons and two markers for the turning points

1. Form two teams from the arrival guesses: everyone who picked pink, and everyone who picked blue.
2. Each team lines up behind a start line with a balloon.
3. The first player taps the balloon through the air to the marker and back without catching it, then hands it on.
4. If the teams are uneven, some players on the smaller team go twice.
5. The first team to finish leads the countdown to the reveal.