Safety Pins in Rice

Place tiny brass safety pins in a bowl of rice. Take turns blind folding people and see how many pins they can pull out in a minute. It's harder than it looks! Works best for smaller parties.

Compile a list of about 20 questions about the mom-to-be to ask the attendees to see who knows her the most. The attendee with the most correct answers wins.

Sample questions include the following: What names does she have for picked for the baby?, Does she hope for boy, girl or either?, What are the color of her eyes?, What are the colors she has picked for the nursery?, What is she wearing today?, What is her favorite children's character (Pooh, Bart Simpson, etc.)?, Has she had any crazy food cravings and if so, what was it?

If you are having the shower after the baby is born, change the questions to Labor Trivia. Ask questions such as exact birth weight, time of birth, time arrived at the hospital, etc.

Two people hold a clothesline, while each attendee takes a turn hanging up baby clothes. The trick is that they have to hang the clothes while holding the baby and talking on a cordless phone! The one who can hang the most clothes in one minute wins.

Fill a baby bottle with little jelly beans (or other small candy, you can even get baby themed candy at some candy stores). Show the attendees the baby bottle and have them guess how many beans or candy are in the baby bottle. How about picking the mom's favorite small candy to use as they did at my baby shower? Or you can use baby pins instead of candy in the guessing game for your party. This is a low calorie version!

Create a sheet of four to six baby pictures (from magazines, mother-to-be photo album, family albums, etc.). Make photocopies of the sheet to each guest. The guests try to create funny captions of what they think the baby is trying to say!

Use a bingo card without the numbers. Each guest writes what he/she thinks the mother-to-be will be getting as gifts. As the mom opens her gifts, the attendees mark it off their card if they have it. When the card is full (or a line in any direction is a smaller party), the guest yells BINGO and wins.

Pass out note cards and pencils to each attendee. Each person writes a common baby question such as "What do you do when a baby cries?" or "How do you get a baby to sleep through the night?" Then collect the cards and redistribute them face down (so you cannot see the question) and have each attendee write the answer to their initial question on the blank side. Then read the cards and get ready to laugh! For example, you could have a card with a question "How do you know you have folded a cloth diaper correctly?" on one side and the answer "Where you get your first smile" on the other.

Have attendees bring a small item that you would use for a baby (i.e. pacifier, bib). Give each attendee a list of names of all the attendees. Have them wear these things if possible. After everyone is there and sitting down, have them remove the items and put it in a small basket.

See how many people can guess what each person was wearing when they came to the shower. When the lists are complete, have them take what they brought out of the basket. The person with the most correct wins. All items go to the mom-to-be.

Find someone who can draw and have them draw a picture of a nursery with errors in it. For example, crib missing a wheel, candle instead of night lamp, etc. Make sure to make enough copies for everyone and give the attendees a time limit (5 minutes) to find the mistakes. The one with the most mistakes wins.

The attendees are separated into teams. The mother-to-be creates a list of baby items. The list is cut up and put into a bowl. She pulls one slip from the bowl and shows it to one member of each team. That person goes back to the team and tires to make a sculpture of the item. The team that thinks they know the item raises their hands. The mother-to-be asks them the word. If they are incorrect, the remaining teams keep going until someone guesses. Remember all the teams are working on the same word at the same time. Oh, one more thing, no talking during the sculpturing, but laughing is allowed.

Have the attendees draw a picture of a baby. But instead of holding the paper on their laps, they have to put the paper on their heads! Use a paper plate or magazine under the paper to ease the drawing. The guest of honor picks the one she likes best or most resembles a baby. Funny!