Baby Shower Games: 20 Fun Ideas Guests Will Love
Updated September 2025 · 7 min read
The best baby shower games are short, easy to explain and inclusive. Crowd-pleasers include Guess the Baby Food, Don’t Say “Baby”, Baby Name Race, Guess the Baby Photo and a nappy-changing relay. Pick three or four so there’s still time to eat, chat and open gifts.
- Choose 3–4 short games (5–10 minutes each) rather than filling the whole party.
- Mix one or two quiet guessing games with a single active game.
- Have small prizes and printable game sheets ready in advance.
- Pick games that work whether or not the parent-to-be wants to join in.
How many games should you play?
Three or four is the sweet spot. Any more and guests start watching the clock; any fewer and the party can feel flat. Aim for a mix — one or two quiet guessing games, a pen-and-paper round, and a single active game to lift the energy. Keep each one to five or ten minutes.
Classic guessing games
- Guess the Baby Food — number a few jars of baby food, remove the labels, and have guests taste and guess the flavour. Closest score wins.
- Guess the Baby Photo — ask guests to email a baby photo of themselves beforehand, display them numbered, and see who can match the most adults to their baby pictures.
- The Price Is Right — line up a few baby essentials (dummy, wipes, babygrow) and have guests guess the total cost. It’s quietly useful for first-time parents too.
- Guess the Bump — everyone cuts a length of string to match the size of the bump; closest guess wins.
Quick pen-and-paper games
- Baby Name Race — set a two-minute timer and see who can write the most baby names starting with each letter of the parents’ surname.
- Nursery Rhyme Scramble — unscramble jumbled nursery-rhyme titles.
- Baby Word Scramble — unscramble baby-related words like ttbeol (bottle) and lelupacir (caterpillar… just kidding — keep them easy).
- Wishes for Baby — everyone writes a hope or piece of advice on a card for the parents to keep.
Active games
- Nappy-changing relay — teams race to change a nappy on a doll. Chaotic and very funny.
- Don’t Say “Baby” — everyone gets a clothespin; if you catch someone saying “baby,” you take their pin. Whoever has the most at the end wins.
- Cotton-ball scoop — blindfolded players scoop cotton balls from one bowl to another with a spoon.
Sweet and sentimental options
Not every game needs a winner. Advice cards, a time capsule of predictions for the child’s first birthday, or a late-night nappy signing (guests write encouraging notes on nappies for those 3 a.m. changes) all give the parents something to keep.
Prizes and printables
Small, universal prizes work best — a candle, chocolate, a mini plant or a gift card. Print game sheets and pens ahead of time, and keep a master answer sheet handy so scoring is quick. For a virtual shower, guessing and pen-and-paper games translate best over video, with answers dropped in the chat.
Frequently asked questions
How many games should you play at a baby shower?
Three or four short games is ideal u2014 enough to keep things lively without eating into time for food, chatting and gifts.
What baby shower games work virtually?
Guessing games (Guess the Baby Photo, The Price Is Right) and pen-and-paper games (Baby Name Race, word scrambles) work best over video, with guests posting answers in the chat.
What are good baby shower game prizes?
Small universal gifts everyone appreciates u2014 a candle, chocolates, a mini plant, or a coffee-shop gift card.
Do you have to play games at a baby shower?
Not at all. Some hosts skip games entirely in favour of mingling, a craft like decorating onesies, or simply good food and conversation.
Sources
General event-planning and etiquette guidance; no medical claims. StorkWorld guides are written to be practical and are reviewed for accuracy.