Baby Shower Games That Are Actually Fun (and Not the Nappy One)

Quick quiz. What do melted chocolate in a nappy, a tape measure around someone's bump, and a blindfolded dummy race have in common?

They are all baby shower games that sound fun on paper and make at least three people in the room wish they had stayed home. 😬

Baby shower games have a bit of a reputation, and honestly, it is deserved. Too many showers end up with guests politely sniffing nappies while the mum-to-be smiles through the mortification. But it does not have to be like that. The right games bring people together, get everyone laughing, and give the whole afternoon a buzz that lasts well past the last slice of cake.

Here are the ones that actually work, tested by real parents and real guests, with zero nappy-sniffing required.

Baby Photo Guessing

This one is a classic for a reason, and it actually delivers. Ask every guest to bring a baby photo of themselves. Pin them all up on a board when they arrive, number each one, and hand out answer sheets. Everyone tries to match the photo to the person.

It is ridiculously simple, costs nothing, and consistently gets the biggest laughs of the day. There is something wonderfully humbling about seeing your very put-together friend as a potato-faced six-month-old in a knitted bonnet.

Top tip: include a photo of the mum-to-be's partner too. It always gets the loudest reaction.

Celebrity Baby Name or Indie Band?

Read out a list of unusual names. Guests have to guess whether each one is the name of a celebrity's baby or an actual indie band. Think Apple, Blanket, Pilot Inspektor, Audio Science.

This game is endlessly entertaining because some real celebrity baby names are genuinely unhinged, and some indie band names sound exactly like something a Hollywood star would call their third child. Prepare to watch the room descend into chaos when someone insists "Moon Unit" must be a band.

You can find lists online with a quick search, or make your own. Around 15 to 20 names is the sweet spot.

The Price Is Right (Baby Edition)

Hold up a selection of common baby items, one at a time, and have guests guess the price. A pack of nappies, a bottle steriliser, a car seat, a babygrow. Whoever gets closest without going over wins the round.

This one is brilliant for two reasons. First, it is genuinely funny how wildly wrong people's guesses are (non-parents consistently think everything costs about four pounds). Second, it doubles as a sneaky education session for guests who are about to become aunties and uncles and have absolutely no idea what baby things cost.

Babygrow Decorating Station

Set up a table with plain white babygrows and a pile of fabric pens. Guests design a babygrow for the baby, writing messages, doodling pictures, or attempting artistic masterpieces that look like they were drawn during a mild earthquake.

This is less of a competitive game and more of a lovely activity, but it works beautifully as a low-key thing people can drift in and out of. The mum-to-be ends up with a collection of personalised babygrows, some sweet, some hilarious, and all of them genuinely wearable.

If you want to add a competitive edge, have everyone vote on their favourite design. Winner gets a prize.

Do Not Say Baby

Give every guest a small peg or clip when they arrive. The rule is simple: nobody is allowed to say the word "baby" for the entire shower. If someone catches you saying it, they take your peg. The person with the most pegs at the end wins.

This one runs in the background all afternoon and gets progressively funnier as people tie themselves in linguistic knots trying to say "the little one" and "your upcoming arrival" instead. Someone will forget within seven minutes. Someone else will become a ruthless peg-collecting machine. It is glorious.

The Prediction Cards

Leave a stack of cards on each table with prompts like: date of birth, weight, hair colour, first word, who will baby look more like, what will the first obsession be. Guests fill them in and pop them in a box.

It is not really a game with a winner, but it is a gorgeous keepsake. The mum-to-be can read them on the day or save them for after the birth and see who got closest. Bonus: these are usually very funny. Somebody always predicts the first word will be "tax" or "brunch."

The Dummy Relay

Okay, stay with me. Split guests into teams. Each team has to race to complete a series of baby tasks: put a nappy on a teddy bear, dress the teddy in a babygrow, wrap the teddy in a muslin, and pop a dummy in. First team to finish wins.

This is chaotic, noisy, and absolutely brilliant for mixed groups. It works especially well at co-ed showers because there is nothing funnier than watching a group of adults wrestle a tiny vest onto a stuffed animal at speed.

How to Keep the Energy Right

The secret to baby shower games is pacing. You do not want back-to-back competitive rounds like some kind of antenatal game show. Mix it up. Start with something low-key (baby photos on the board as people arrive), build to something interactive (The Price Is Right), add a creative station people can visit between eating cake, and save the high-energy chaos (the relay) for when everyone has relaxed into the afternoon.

Two or three games plus one activity is usually the sweet spot. Any more and it starts to feel like a corporate team-building day, and nobody wants that energy at a baby shower.

The Prize Situation

Game prizes do not need to be expensive, but they should be nice enough that people actually want to win them. A beautiful muslin, a set of cute dummies, a soft cellular blanket. These all work brilliantly and double as gifts the mum-to-be can quietly reclaim later if she wants to.

If you would rather skip individual prizes, put together a small bundle for the overall winner across all games. Something like a lovely gift set makes it feel special without breaking the budget.

And honestly? The best prize of all is bragging rights. The person who correctly identified that Moon Unit is, in fact, Frank Zappa's daughter will bring it up at every gathering for the next five years. That is worth more than any candle.

One Last Thing

The most important ingredient in a brilliant baby shower is not the games, the decorations, or the cake (although good cake helps). It is the people. Get the right people in the room, give them something silly to do together, and the afternoon takes care of itself.

So ditch the melted chocolate nappies. Your guests will thank you. 🎉