Five Cheap Baby Shower Games

If you are the family member or friend that has so graciously volunteered to host a baby shower for the expectant Mom, then you have probably realized just how expensive it can be to host a shower these days. In this hub, I've put together a list of some of my favorite unique baby shower games that are easy on the budget, but still a ton of fun to play.

In addition, I've also included some of my favorite resources for Free printable games along with links to supplies and decorations from Amazon. I love the parties in a box....they take all the guess work out of decorating and have saved me a ton of time in the past.

If you are in the age bracket where you've been attending lots of baby showers, chances are that you've run into this popular game along the way. The idea of this game is for each person to guess how big mommy's tummy is all the way around. The host should buy some cheap toilet paper, yarn, or string that can be used for the measurement. You pass the roll of toilet paper (or yarn with a scissors) around to all the guests and instruct them to tear or cut off the length that they think will measure the same as mommy's waste line. After everyone has their piece of paper or yarn, have mommy stand in the middle of the room and have each guest wrap their string around mommy's tummy. The guest that has the length of paper, string or yarn that is closest to the right size wins the game.

Buy (or borrow) about 15 small baby items such as pacifiers, baby socks, rattle, baby shampoo, etc and place the items on a large tray or cookie sheet. Give each of the guests a blank piece of paper along with pen or pencil. The hostess should take the tray of items and quickly walk around to each of the guests (stopping for just a few seconds at each location so the guest can have a quick look). Then the hostess should cover the tray up or take it into a separate room. Using a timer with about 2 minutes, the guests should write down all the items that they saw on the tray. The guest that gets the most items on the list wins.

Since this game is so popular, guests often know what's coming so here is a little twist that can get some laughs and giggles. The hostess parades around the tray just as was suggested in the above game rules. However, instead of asking the guests to write down what was on the tray. You make up a series of questions about the hostess carrying the tray (about what she was wearing). For example, was the hostess wearing earrings, what color was the hostess's shirt, how many rings was the hostess wearing, what color were the hostess's shoes, etc. The guest that paid attention to the hostess and got the most answers correct wins the game.

This game is one of my all time favorites and it is a GREAT choice for co-ed baby showers. Your guests will be rolling on the floor laughing at one another. For this game, you'll need small miniature sized baby bottles that you can buy either online or at a local retailer. If you plan to give them to Mommy after the shower, you should get BPA free bottles. You should have one bottle per guest. Give each guest a bottle and ask them to fill it with the beverage of their choice (beer, water, soda, punch). Before starting the game, make sure each guest has filled their bottle to the line. Alternatively, you can just fill all the bottles with beer or punch and then hand them out to your guests. Once each guest has a bottle, you are ready to go. The winner is the person who drinks the contents of their bottle the fastest so just yell, ready, set, go and see who wins. Be sure to have your video camera poised and ready to record this funny game.

If you've ever had the pleasure of changing a baby boy's diaper, you know that it is necessary to move quickly because it is only a matter of time before his "springs a leak". This game is a great choice when Mom has a bouncing little baby boy on the way. Divide your guests into teams of two giving each team a blue latex balloon filled with water (try to fill all the balloons with the same amount of water to keep the game fair), some diaper pins and a classic cloth diaper. One team member will be blindfolded and they will be tasked with putting the diaper on the balloon. The other team member must poke a hole in the top of the balloon and then direct her blind-folded partner (speaking, but no hands) to get the diaper on the balloon. The first team to successfully diaper the baby boy balloon wins the game...of course, they must finish before the balloon fully deflates.

If you are looking for cheap games, nothing can beat FREE printable games so here are my favorite resources for games that you can print and play.  All 3 of these sites offer games that are totally FREE.

Or consider the Baby Shower Planning Bundle from A to Z baby showers (see photo on the right). The bundle includes 75 individual and customizable baby shower games, baby shower invitation templates to make your own invitations and matching thank you cards, planning tips, newsletters and e-books with money saving tips and much, much more! What a great deal at just $19.95! Just click on Baby Shower Games

My favorite idea for a baby shower centerpiece is a baby diaper cake. If you aren't familiar with the term, it is essentially a non-edible cake that is constructed from either disposable or cloth diapers. Normally, you can add in small baby items such as booties, pacifiers, comb and brush sets, and more. It does double-duty as the centerpiece at the shower as well as your gift to the expectant mother.

You can either make your own diaper cake or buy one online at a store such as Baby Gifts & Baby Gift Baskets. They sell tons of diaper cakes in various themes so you should be able to find one that fits in with your theme and color scheme perfectly. The cake shown to the right is their Sweet Safari Baby Diaper Cake for a girl baby shower.

Yet another LOL baby shower game that is a great choice for couples showers too! Your guests will end up with messy faces so get your video camera ready for this one. Break the guests into teams of two and give each person a large bib (I like the big plastic bibs you can buy for a lobster party). Team members sit across from each other and they are both blindfolded. Each person has a small jar of applesauce, bananas or other tolerable baby food along with a spoon. The pair must feed applesauce to one another once you say ready, set, go. The first team to finish all the applesauce or baby food wins.