Baby Showers
My roommate and I will be hosting a small baby shower for an expecting friend while she’s in town. Now, the last baby shower I remember attending was for my mom, when she was pregnant with my brother. I was four at the time, and it was almost eighteen years ago. My main precedent in navigating the female ritual of baby showers is through TV and movies.
I have one idea up my sleeve: mini-cupcakes. And well, that’s all I have. I’ll make some baller Funfetti mini-cupcakes, but after that I don’t know what goes on, what to serve, what silly games to play, etc. Any advice or suggestions?
I just attended my daughter-in-law’s shower today. For food, I’d suggest a variety of savories, as you’ve already got the cupcakes (which is a great idea)…perhaps some sandwiches, cheese(s)/cheese spread(s) and crackers, nuts, maybe some fruits…chips and dip and/or veg & dip is good, too. If the weather will be cold, something easy done up ahead in the CrockPot can be good — chili, soup, a BBQ’d roast with rolls for little mini sandwiches (that’s one of the things I did for son’s college graduation party). Also have a variety of beverages — you don’t need to go nuts, but water, coffee, tea, and if you have soft drinks or some such, offer something sugar-free as well…there was a lovely punch at my daughter-in-law’s shower today, but neither my husband nor I could have any because it was made with sugared soda (we can’t have sugar) and champagne (hubby doesn’t drink alcohol). The only other beverage option was coffee, and we don’t drink coffee, either, and I think the hostess found it really odd that I asked if I could get some iced water, please.
Games…depends upon the age and mix of the crowd, as well as the size of the crowd. There weren’t any games at the shower today and I don’t think anybody missed them, but I’ve also been to showers where there were games and they were kind of fun.
A variation of the smelly diaper game we played at a shower for my daughter-in-law was with different chocolate candy bars melted in the microwave, THEN passed around for people to guess which candy bars they were.
Baby Showers AAR After Hours Will you be writing more about this particular subject.
I hosted a baby shower for my cousin last year and the games that were the biggest hits were the clothes pin game and the smelly diaper game. The first game you each person a clothes pin as they first come in, during the party no one can say the word “baby” if they do then you can take their pin from them. The one with the most pins at the end of the party wins.
The smelly diaper game is really fun. You get six or seven diapers and place a different smelly item in each i.e a slice of onion, ketchup, chocolate. You close them up and then have your guests sniff each diaper and the person who guessed the most correctly wins.
I gave out wrapped prizes for each game, nothing really big like a candle, a picture frame, etc.
Another idea is to have the guests each bring a photo of themselves as infants or toddlers, and the game is to guess who each one is. Works best if there are a fair number of guests; if there are only a few it’s too easy.
I’ve been to several baby showers in the last few years, and I have a few suggestions for some fun games. Our family’s staple is “gift bingo”, everyone gets a “bingo” sheet with empy squares, you fill it in with the gifts that you think will show up and then you keep track while the gifts are being opened. Then at another shower we had pictures of the mom to be at different ages and everyone had to guess how old she was in each picture. Hope these help
The only baby showers I have been to in the past few years have been held at work. Food is catered and lots of baby kind of decorations have been placed around the room. Other than that, it’s simply a matter of the mother and father to be opening lots of presents and everyone going “awwwww.”