Baby shower games printable pack

What is inside

• Baby shower bingo: 30 different cards, two to a page, from a pool of 48 squares
• Baby word scramble: 16 words, with the answer key
• Guess the baby food: tasting sheet with a flavor bank for 12 jars, plus a host key
• Who knows mom best: 20 questions, a guest sheet and a host answer sheet
• Mom or dad predictions: prediction cards, 12 lines each
• Wishes for baby cards: cut-apart cards, four to a page
• Baby trivia: 12 multiple choice questions, with answers and sources
• Finish the nursery rhyme: 16 traditional rhymes with the answers
• Answer keys and host notes on the last page

How to fit the games into the shower

Planners we checked suggest two to four games for a shower, at about 10 to 15 minutes each, with a few extra minutes per game to explain the rules and hand out sheets. Pampers describes a baby shower as lasting about three to four hours in its planning article and gives two to four hours as the wider range. Here is one way to use the pack across a three hour party.

• First 30 minutes: guests arrive. Put the word scramble and a pen at each seat and hand out bingo cards. Set out the wishes cards and the predictions envelope too.
• During the meal: run the baby food tasting from a side table, or hand out the nursery rhyme sheet.
• Before gifts: play trivia in teams, or read the answers for Who knows mom best.
• During gifts: bingo runs on its own.
• To finish: mom reads a few wishes aloud and the host announces the winners.

You do not need all eight. Every game except bingo added together comes to about 70 minutes of active play, so choose what fits your party.

Game 1: Baby shower bingo

Time: 20 to 30 minutes, played while gifts are opened. Best for: Any size of group. It runs by itself. You need: One card and one pen per guest.

1. Hand every guest a card and a pen when they arrive.
2. When the gifts start, the guest of honor says what each present is out loud. Guests mark that square if it is on their card.
3. Five marked squares in a row wins. Across, down and corner to corner all count.
4. The winner calls "Baby!" and the host checks the squares against the gifts opened so far.
5. Keep going for second and third place, or play to a full card for a longer shower.

Cards are shuffled from 48 squares, so no two of the 30 are the same. Hosts who want the squares to match their own gift list can build cards with the custom bingo generator.

On the cards: 48 squares in the pool, 24 on each card plus a free space. A few of them: Onesie, Baby wipes, Swaddle, Baby monitor, Tiny socks, Board book, Crib sheets, Baby carrier, Baby spoons, Nail clippers.

Game 2: Baby word scramble

Time: 5 minutes. Best for: Guests who arrive early, or a quiet moment while food is served. You need: One sheet and one pen per guest, plus a timer.

1. Give each guest the sheet face down and set a timer for five minutes.
2. On go, everyone unscrambles as many of the 16 baby words as they can.
3. When time is up, read the answers from the key and let guests mark their own sheets.
4. Most correct wins. If two guests tie, the one who finished first wins.

Every scramble uses the real letters of the answer, and none start with the correct first letter.

On the sheet: 16 scrambles, such as FEICAIPR (PACIFIER) and INEETHGT (TEETHING). The rest and the full key are in the PDF.

Game 3: Guess the baby food

Time: 15 minutes. Best for: Groups of 8 to 30 who like a little silliness. You need: 12 jars of baby food, small cups, clean spoons, masking tape and a marker.

1. Before the party, cover each jar label with tape and number the jars 1 to 12. Write which jar is which on the host key.
2. Spoon a small amount from each jar into its own numbered cup. Set out clean spoons and give every guest a fresh spoon for each cup.
3. Guests taste, smell and look, then write a flavor next to each number. The flavor bank on the sheet lists all 12 choices, so nobody is guessing from scratch.
4. Read out the answers. One point for each correct flavor. Highest score wins.

Ask guests about food allergies before you start. Anyone who prefers not to taste can smell and look only, and still play. Keep the jar labels so you can read out the ingredients if someone asks.

The 12 flavors: Peas, Carrots, Sweet potato, Pears, Bananas, Apples, Butternut squash, Green beans, Peaches, Prunes, Mango, Pumpkin. The host key page has a blank for each jar, so you can record which jar got which number.

Game 4: Who knows mom best

Time: 10 to 15 minutes. Best for: Close friends and family who know the guest of honor well. You need: Guest sheets and the answer sheet for mom.

1. A week before the shower, send mom the 20 questions and ask her to answer them. She writes her answers on the answer sheet and hands it to the host.
2. At the party, each guest fills in a sheet with their best guess for every question.
3. The host reads mom’s real answers aloud. Guests give themselves one point for each match.
4. Be generous with near misses. "Pasta" and "spaghetti" can both count.

The questions skip anything about weight, health or the birth plan, so mom never has to share something she would rather keep private.

Sample questions: What food has she craved the most? Which smell can she not stand right now? What was she doing when she found out she was expecting? Who was the first person she told? The other 16 are in the PDF.

Game 5: Mom or dad predictions

Time: 5 minutes at the party, then a reveal after the birth. Best for: Every group. It gives guests something to text about later. You need: One card per guest, an envelope and a pen.

1. Guests fill in a card during the party and drop it in the envelope.
2. The host keeps the envelope until the baby arrives, then compares each card with the birth details.
3. Score one point for every correct answer. For the arrival date, the closest guess wins the point, not only the exact day.
4. Send the winner a small prize, or a message with the full scoreboard.

Only about 5 percent of babies arrive on their exact due date, so no one should expect a perfect score on the date line.

On each card: Arrival date; Day of the week; Time of day (morning, afternoon, evening or overnight); Early, on time or late?; Weight; Length; Hair (lots, a little or none); Eye color at birth; Looks most like (mom, dad or both); Zodiac sign; One word to describe the baby.

Game 6: Wishes for baby cards

Time: 10 minutes, any time. Best for: Guests who do not love competitive games. You need: Cards, pens and a basket or box.

1. Cut the pages into cards. Four fit on each sheet.
2. Put the cards, pens and a basket on a side table. Guests fill one out whenever they like.
3. Mom reads a few aloud at the end of the party and keeps the rest.

Mom keeps the cards, and a few of them are worth rereading on a hard night with a newborn.

On each card: a wish for the baby, advice for the parents, and a book or song to share.

Game 7: Baby trivia

Time: 10 minutes. Best for: Teams of 3 to 5, or individual play for a small group. You need: The question sheet, pens and the answer key.

1. Guests answer all 12 multiple choice questions alone or on a team.
2. Swap sheets with another team and mark the answers read from the key.
3. One point per correct answer. If two teams tie, flip a coin or share the prize.

Every answer is tied to a named source, listed on the key page.

Sample questions:

• At how many weeks is a baby officially considered full term? (37 weeks / 38 weeks / 39 weeks / 41 weeks)
• About what percent of babies are born on their exact due date? (About 5 percent / About 25 percent / About 50 percent / About 75 percent)

The other 10 questions, the answers and the sources are in the PDF.

Game 8: Finish the nursery rhyme

Time: 5 to 10 minutes. Best for: Mixed ages, including grandmothers. You need: One sheet and one pen per guest.

1. Each guest gets the sheet with 16 rhymes missing their last word.
2. Set a three minute timer. Guests fill in as many as they can without help.
3. Read the first half of each line aloud and let the room shout the ending before you reveal it.
4. One point per correct word. A tie goes to the guest who can also name the next line of any rhyme.

These are traditional rhymes, so the endings are the same for every guest.

Sample lines: Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the ____. Humpty Dumpty sat on a ____. Jack and Jill went up the ____. The other 13 and the answers are in the PDF.

Printing tips

The PDF is set for US Letter. On A4 paper, choose “fit to page” in the print dialog. Regular paper is fine for a casual shower. Lightweight cardstock works if you want guests to keep their bingo cards. For black and white printing, pick grayscale in the print dialog. Every bingo square is dark text on white, so the cards stay readable.

Print only the pages you need. The cover page lists the page numbers for each game.

Where the trivia facts come from

These are the sources behind the answers. The key page in the PDF lists which source backs each one.

• Pampers, full-term pregnancy and Baystate Health, due dates for the 39 week and 5 percent figures.
• Cleveland Clinic, baby bones for the 275 to 300 newborn range and 206 adult bones.
• KidsHealth, newborn sleep and KidsHealth, growth at 4 months.
• Wikipedia, Baby shower, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Wiegenlied (Brahms).

Sources sometimes give ranges instead of single numbers, such as 14 to 17 hours of newborn sleep. The questions use the range as written.