How do you feel about baby shower games? I’ve attended a fair number of baby showers in my time, have planned and hosted a baby shower for a friend, and have also been the lucky recipient of two baby showers myself. And over the years, I’ve gone from loathing to loving the unique brand of games played at baby showers. They’re games you don’t play anywhere else, at any other occasion, and some of them used to make me cringe.
Use string (or squares of loo roll) to guess how big around the mama-to-be’s tummy is? Yeah, I used to think that was a terrible baby shower game to play, until my friends and relatives were eyeing up my baby bump and hilariously over- and under-estimating my girth. I don’t remember who won that game at my baby shower, but I remember how everyone laughed and made jokes as they were playing it.
Another baby shower game I like is the one where you hand out clothes pegs or safety pins and guests attach them to their top, then have to avoid saying the word “baby” lest they surrender their peg/pin to the person they said it to. At my own baby shower, devious aunties and sly cousins were particularly good at tricking other guests into saying the word via some well-directed small talk. I don’t remember who ended up with the most pegs, but again, I do remember how we laughed – and how the game got people who don’t usually talk much to feel more comfortable chatting with others.
One of my favourite baby shower games of all has to be “Guess the Baby Food.” You get several jars of baby food and little spoons or popsicle sticks, cover the jar labels, and get guests to taste the food and guess what it is. This works best with foods that have only one or two ingredients, like apple and pear puree, but is equally funny when you choose things like lamb stew and beef bolognaise – if only for the guests’ reactions, which range from politely revolted to all-out gagging.
But there’s still one baby shower game I refuse to play, and that’s the one where you melt an unwrapped chocolate bar, place it in a nappy, and get guests to guess what kind of chocolate bar it is. The ones with nuts look particularly disgusting, let me tell you. And with three children, I’ve changed more than my fair share of poopy nappies. I don’t need to look at chocolate that’s pretending to be poo. That’s just an insult to my dear friend Chocolate.
But there are plenty of other baby shower games to love and enjoy. If you’re hosting a baby shower, attending a baby shower, or if you’re the mum-to-be and a friend or relative is throwing you a baby shower, don’t shy away from the games. Because even if you think they’re a bit tacky or silly, baby shower games really are quite fun, and a lovely way to make memories for all the people who love you and your baby.
Arohanui,
Katherine
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