27 Baby Shower Games People Actually Enjoy (No Cringe, We Promise)
If you're the one planning this shower, you've probably already pictured the bad version: the room goes quiet, someone hands out a worksheet, and everyone half-smiles through a game that peaked in 2011. You don't want that. You want games that get the room laughing without putting anyone — including the mom-to-be — on the spot.
That's a solved problem. Below are 27 games organized by what they're actually good for: breaking the ice while people are still finding seats, guessing games for a group that likes a little competition, gentler active games that don't require anyone to leave their chair, keepsake games that give the parents something to keep, and a handful built specifically for guests joining by video call. Every entry has enough detail to run it today.
Icebreakers
Best for the first 20 minutes, while people are still finding seats and getting a plate of food. Low pressure, easy to join late.
1. The Purse Raid (What's in Your Bag?)
Works for: large groups · mixed ages · zero supplies
Call out household or baby-related items one at a time — a safety pin, hand sanitizer, a photo of your own kid, a red pen. Whoever produces it first from their bag or pockets gets a point. Keep a list of 12–15 items ready so it doesn't drag.
2. Human Bingo (Find Someone Who...)
Works for: larger groups where guests don't all know each other
Hand out a grid of prompts — "has more than two kids," "met the mom-to-be in college," "has changed a diaper in the dark." Guests mingle and collect a signature for each square. First full row wins. Needs one printed grid per guest; we've written a template on our printables page.
3. Two Truths and a Bump: Mom Edition
Works for: any size · needs a comfortable mom-to-be
The mom-to-be shares three statements about her pregnancy or parenting plans — two true, one invented. Guests vote on which is the lie before she reveals it. It puts her in the spotlight in a way that feels flattering rather than exposing, which makes it a good opener.
4. Advice Swap Mixer
Works for: groups that don't all know each other · needs floor space
Guests pair up for 90 seconds, trade one piece of parenting or relationship advice, then rotate to a new partner when you ring a bell. Repeat four or five times. It's less a "game" than a structured way to get everyone talking to someone new.
5. Hum That Nursery Rhyme
Works for: mixed ages · any group size
One guest hums the tune to a nursery rhyme — no words — while the group shouts out guesses. First correct guess hums the next one. Keep a list of 10–12 rhymes on hand so nobody freezes on their turn.
6. Baby Word Scramble Race
Works for: any group · good for guests who'd rather not perform
Hand out a list of scrambled baby-related words — BASSINET, LULLABY, PACIFIER — and give guests three minutes to unscramble as many as they can. Whoever solves the most wins. Full word list and answer key on our free printables page.
Guessing games
The heart of most showers. These reward a little competitiveness without anyone needing to be loud, athletic, or comfortable with an audience.
7. Guess the Baby
Works for: any group · fun to revisit after the birth
Guests write down their predictions for the baby's due date, birth weight, and length before the baby arrives. Whoever's closest on the most categories wins. Traditionally run with a paper chart pinned near the guest book; it works just as well as a phone-based game, and it's one of the four built into BumpBash.
8. Baby Photo Match
Works for: groups where guests mostly know each other
Collect a childhood photo from each guest ahead of time, number them, and have guests match photo to person. The hard part is always the collecting — see our full guide to running this one, including a version where guests upload their own photo when they join and skip the group text entirely.
9. Baby Trivia
Works for: any group size · fills 10 minutes between gifts
A round of multiple-choice questions about pregnancy, birth, and baby facts — some genuinely surprising, some just fun. Works best fast-paced: five to ten questions, scored on the spot instead of graded at the end. Try the five-question version below.
10. Emoji Pictionary: Baby Edition
Works for: any group · especially popular with guests in their 20s and 30s
Translate baby-related phrases, lullabies, or movie titles into strings of emoji — 🌙👶 for "Goodnight Moon," say — and have guests decode them. Show one string at a time and give the room 30 seconds before revealing the answer.
11. Guess How Many
Works for: any group · good quiet-table activity while people arrive
Fill a clear jar with something small — cotton balls, wrapped candies, diaper pins — and have guests write down their best guess. Closest without going over wins the jar. Keep the true count somewhere private until the reveal.
12. Nursery Rhyme Fill-in-the-Blank
Works for: mixed ages — grandparents tend to win this one
Print or read the first line of a classic nursery rhyme with the last word missing — "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of ___" — and have guests fill in the blank. Ten rhymes is usually enough for a full round.
13. Baby Animal Names Quiz
Works for: any group · a light warm-up before a bigger game
Guests match baby animal names to their adult counterparts — joey to kangaroo, kit to fox, cygnet to swan. Surprisingly harder than it sounds, and a nice change of pace from questions about the actual baby.
This is how BumpBash feels on your guests' phones
Five quick questions. Tap an answer, watch the score climb — done in under a minute.
Active-but-gentle
Games with a little movement, but nothing that requires changing clothes, leaving the house, or being the center of attention against your will.
14. Diaper Raffle
Works for: any group · mention it on the invitation
Ask guests to bring a pack of diapers, any size, in exchange for a raffle ticket. Draw a few tickets during the party for small prizes. It quietly solves the "we're going to need a lot of diapers" problem while giving guests an easy, useful gift option.
15. Don't Say "Baby"!
Works for: any group size · runs in the background all party
Clip a clothespin or ribbon to every guest at the start of the party and announce that saying the word "baby" is banned. Anyone who slips gives their clothespin to whoever caught them. Whoever has the most clothespins when gifts are opened wins.
16. Left, Right, Baby!
Works for: seated groups in a circle
Wrap a small gift in several layers. Read a short story aloud that's packed with the words "left" and "right" — guests pass the gift in that direction every time they hear the word. Whoever's holding it at the end keeps it, or unwraps one layer and passes it on for a longer game.
17. Pass the Parcel: Baby Edition
Works for: seated groups · good for mixed ages
Wrap a small prize in many layers of paper, tucking a mini treat or trivia question between each layer. Play music while the parcel passes around the circle; when it stops, that guest unwraps one layer. Keep going until the final layer reveals the main prize.
18. Balloon Pop Advice Cards
Works for: any group · best outdoors or over a drop cloth
Before the party, fold small pieces of paper with a writing prompt — "best sleep tip," "a word to describe parenthood" — and slip one into each balloon before inflating. Guests pop a balloon and answer whatever prompt they find inside, out loud or on a card for the keepsake box.
19. Diaper Bag Relay
Works for: larger, younger crowds with room to move
Split guests into two teams. Each team races to correctly pack a diaper bag from a pile of scattered items, or to change a diaper on a doll one-handed against the clock. Loud and a little silly — best saved for groups with the space and energy for it, and easy to skip for a quieter shower.
Keepsake moments
Games that leave the parents-to-be with something to keep, not just a memory of a fun afternoon.
20. Wishes for Baby
Works for: any group, including virtual guests
Guests write a wish for the baby, one piece of advice, and a prediction for who the baby will become. Read a few aloud during the party if the mood is right, then keep all of them for the parents to revisit later. This is the fourth built-in BumpBash game — guests fill it out on their phone, and the Full Shower plan turns every entry into a keepsake PDF automatically.
21. Time Capsule Letters
Works for: any group · schedule away from louder games
Give each guest a card to write a short letter to the baby, sealed and dated to be opened on a specific birthday — first, or eighteenth, are popular choices. Store the sealed envelopes together in a box for the parents to keep.
22. Thumbprint Family Tree
Works for: any group · good as guests trickle in
Set out a printed or hand-drawn tree on card stock with an ink pad nearby. Each guest presses a thumbprint onto a "leaf" and signs their name beside it. Frame the finished piece for the nursery.
23. Baby Predictions Jar
Works for: any group · a lighter cousin of Wishes for Baby
Guests jot down a prediction — the baby's first word, who they'll take after, what they'll be into at five years old — and drop it into a jar. Parents open the jar on the baby's first birthday and read every prediction against reality.
Games for virtual showers
A full breakdown of these, plus eight more built specifically for video calls, lives on our virtual baby shower games guide. Here are four to start with.
24. Guess the Due Date
Works for: any remote group
Guests submit their best guess for when the baby will actually arrive — rarely the actual due date. Score by closeness rather than exact match, so nobody's shut out after round one.
25. Virtual Baby Trivia
Works for: any remote group
The same fast multiple-choice format as an in-person shower, except every guest answers from their own device while the host reads questions aloud on the call.
26. Nursery Reveal Screen-Share
Works for: remote guests who haven't seen the nursery yet
The host walks the camera through the finished nursery while guests type guesses about paint colors, themes, or where the crib ended up.
27. Lullaby Playlist Building
Works for: remote and async guests alike
Each guest submits one song for the baby's playlist, with a one-line reason why. Less a competitive game than a collective gift, and it works even for guests who can't make the call.
Games we left off this list, on purpose
A few "classics" still show up on other lists. We skipped them — here's why.
Measuring the belly with ribbon
It puts a tape measure on the guest of honor's body at her own party — exactly the kind of attention most moms-to-be say they'd rather skip.
Guess the baby food (blind taste test)
It's a genuinely unpleasant few minutes for a lot of guests, and it reliably produces the one photo nobody wanted taken of themselves mid-gag.
Melted chocolate in a diaper
It reads more gross than funny to most modern guest lists, and there are better ways to get a laugh out of a room.
Guessing the mom's weight gain
There's no version of putting a number on someone's body that feels like a gift, even as a joke.
Questions hosts ask
How many games should we plan for a two-hour shower?
Three or four is usually right — enough to fill the time between gifts without turning the whole afternoon into a game show. Mix one guessing game, one keepsake game, and something gentle and active if your group likes to move.
What if some guests are joining virtually and some are in the room?
Any game that lives on a phone works for both. In-room guests scan the QR code, virtual guests tap the link, and everyone lands on the same leaderboard. See our guide to virtual baby shower games for more on running a mixed crowd.
Do we need prizes for every game?
No. A handful of small prizes for the games with a clear winner is plenty — nobody expects a trophy for nursery rhyme trivia. Guests show up for the fun, not the loot.
What if a game doesn't fit our group?
Swap it. Nothing on this list is required — pick three or four that match your crowd's energy and skip the rest. A quieter group might skip the relay race; a livelier one might skip the letter-writing.
Want the four games above ready to go?
Guess the Baby, Baby Photo Match, Baby Trivia, and Wishes for Baby — set up in about 10 minutes, no printing required.
Keep planning: virtual shower games · free printable games · the baby photo guessing game, in depth