Baby Shower Games: How Many to Play, Which Ones and How to Run Them

Plan three to five games for a baby shower that lasts two to three hours. That is enough to fill the gaps between arriving, eating and opening gifts without the party turning into a game show. One of them can run in the background all afternoon, so only two or three need everyone to stop and play.

A small or quiet group can do with fewer, and a shower with no games at all is fine too. The sections below cover how to pick games for your guests, when to play them, prizes, and how to run a shower online.

How many games to play at a baby shower

The number depends on how long the shower lasts, since a sheet game takes about 5 to 10 minutes once everyone has a pen.

• 1 to 1.5 hours (office or lunch shower): 1 or 2 games
• 2 hours: 3 games
• 3 hours: 4 or 5 games

Count a background game, such as the clothespin game or a diaper raffle, as half a game, since nobody has to stop eating or talking to play it. If gift opening will take a long time, as it does with 25 or more guests, let gift bingo be one of your games so that guests have something to do while they watch.

Do you have to have games at a baby shower?

No. Games exist to give guests who don't know each other something to do together. If your guests are close friends who will talk for three hours anyway, one easy game or a keepsake activity is plenty.

Ask the mom-to-be first. Some people love the silly games, and some would rather skip anything that puts them at the front of the room. A quiet guest list does better with keepsake cards than with a timed race.

Picking baby shower games for your crowd

Look at the guest list before you pick the games.

• Guests who don't know each other: start with a game that gets them talking, like Guess Who, where everyone brings their own baby photo and the room tries to match photos to faces.
• Mixed ages, grandmothers included: quizzes like finishing nursery rhymes work well, since older guests often know them best.
• Coed showers: Guess the Price and a trivia round go over better with partners and friends than games about pregnancy symptoms.
• Large groups (30 or more): pick games that everyone plays from their seat at the same time. Skip anything where guests take turns.
• Office showers: keep it short and on paper, one sheet game and gift bingo if there are gifts.

1Don't Say "Baby"

• Good forany group
• Timethe whole shower

Every guest gets a clothespin to wear when they arrive. Whoever hears someone say "baby" takes that person's pin, and the guest with the most pins at the end wins. Put a sign by the door so that late arrivals know the rule.

2Gift bingo

• Good forbig showers with lots of gifts
• Timeduring gift opening

Each guest gets a bingo card with baby gifts in the squares (bibs, a swaddle, a board book, a night light) and marks off each gift as it is opened. The first full line calls BINGO. Use different cards for everyone, or ten people will win at once.

3Guess the Price

• Good forcoed showers
• Time10 minutes

List about a dozen baby items, like a pack of diapers, a tub of wipes and a bottle, and have guests write what each one costs. The host reads the real prices, and the closest total wins. Keep your receipts when you shop, so you have the real numbers.

4Nursery rhyme quiz

• Good formixed ages
• Time5 to 10 minutes

Guests finish the missing line of 10 to 15 well-known rhymes. It takes a few minutes, and guests who barely know the parents can play it as well as anyone. Ask people to put their phones away first.

5Who Knows Mommy Best

• Good forclose friends and family
• Time10 to 15 minutes

Guests answer questions about the mom-to-be: her first job, her favorite food, what she'll be like at 3 AM with a newborn. She reads the right answers out loud, which is usually the funniest part.

6Baby items A to Z

• Good forquiet groups and big rooms
• Time5 minutes

Set a timer for five minutes. Guests write one baby item for each letter of the alphabet, and the one with the most letters filled wins. Letters like Q and X start the debates.

7Diaper raffle

• Good forany group
• Timea minute at the end

Guests who bring a pack of diapers fill in a raffle ticket, and you draw a winner before everyone leaves. Put the note on the invitation, so people know to bring them. Our editable baby shower invitation has a note line for this, or for a book request.

When to play games at a baby shower

Spread the games out between the food and the gifts.

1. As guests arrive: hand out clothespins and raffle tickets, and start Guess Who if you are playing it.
2. After everyone has food: one or two sheet games while people sit and eat.
3. During gift opening: gift bingo.
4. Before cake: one last short game, then the raffle draw and prizes.

Collect the sheets and score them while the next thing happens, so nobody waits around for results.

Baby shower game prizes

Give one prize per game, so with four games you need four prizes, plus one for the raffle winner. Keep each prize small, something you would be happy to get yourself. Good choices for mixed groups are a candle, a nice hand cream, a plant, fancy chocolate, a coffee shop gift card or a pretty notebook.

Skip baby-themed prizes, since the winner probably doesn't have a baby. If the budget is tight, give the winners first pick from a basket of small treats.

Running games at a virtual baby shower

The same games work over a video call if everyone has the sheets before the call. Email the file to guests the week before and ask them to print it or fill it in on a tablet.

• Sheet games (nursery rhymes, trivia, A to Z): everyone plays at once, then the host reads the answers and guests score themselves.
• Guess the Price: the host holds each item up to the camera.
• Gift bingo: works well online, since the gift opening is the main event of the call anyway.
• Prizes: send e-gift cards the same day.

Keep an online shower to about an hour with two or three games. People tire faster on a screen than around a table.

If you want the games ready to print

Our baby shower games bundle has 15 games and activities on 33 pages, including all seven games above, with 30 different gift bingo cards and two pages of answer keys. The sage green design has no pink or blue, so it works for a boy, a girl or a surprise. If you haven't printed party games before, our guide on how to print printables at home covers paper, scaling and card stock.