Input requested: Baby showers
I'm hosting a baby shower for a dear friend who is expecting her first child (a boy) this summer. I've done bridal showers, but this is the first baby shower I've done. I'm thinking about having a brunch, and am wondering if you and your blog readers have any suggestions for activities, devotionals to read, games, fun food, etc. There will probably be about 10 people attending. I don't have children of my own yet, so I was hoping to get the perspective of some young mothers out there. Thank you in advance for any suggestions... -Jessica
Having only hosted one very informal baby shower in my life - we had tea things and everyone went around and shared a word of encouragement for this mom and then we all then prayed for her - I should probably leave this question to better be answered by those more qualified and creative than me. Ideas and thoughts, anyone?
Graphic: Diaper cake from Lil Spunky Bunny
Graphic: Diaper cake from Lil Spunky Bunny
posted by Crystal Paine at 8:36 AM
25 Comments:
I would ask the mom-to-be what she likes & dislikes about baby showers first.
Personally, I detest games at baby showers, and I made that clear to my sis who was going to host a shower for me.
Little things like that might make a big difference in how comfortable the new mom is and make it the best experience possible.
I LOVE games at showers. It gets people interacting more than if you all just sit around and eat and chat.
Most important is to honor the new mom for being willing to make her body a living sacrifice to bring a new child into the world. Celebrate the gift God is giving the family. Have a bunch of scriptures about children printed out and have the guests read them to the mom.
Having guests share funny parenting anecdotes and parenting advice is very helpful as well.
Give them mom a gift of cute thank you notes and have someone write down all the gifts for her as she's opening them - that will make the big task of writing thank you notes so much easier! You could even pre-address the envelopes for her, since you have all the guest's addresses from when you sent out the invitations. She will appreciate that help SO much.
I can say that I hate the real embarrassing games (there has been no tp measuring of my belly with any of my kids;) but love the geeky games. One of the most popular was the matching the baby animal name to the animal. Another one is getting safety pins out of rice. One of the best things is some sort of memory thing. One time I got a photo album with a message from each attender and a picture of them. I love that. Anything that is heart felt is wonderful.
Crystal,
I'm a fairly new reader of your blog. (came from Amy's Humble Musings). I have been to several showers where we bless the baby with scripture. It is quite beautiful.
Here is an example:
John 3:16
We ask, Lord, that (baby's name) come to know you as her personal
Savior at a very early age. May she believe that you gave your only Son, Jesus, to die for her so that she would not perish but have everlasting life.
I'd be glad to e-mail you the sciptures we prayed at the last shower I hosted. Everyone had a pink card with the scripture printed. These later were put into a little book for her.
Let me know if you'd like them.
We just hosted a baby shower for a lady in our church in January. I created a pin-the-paci-on-the-baby game, which went over well (my children are still playing with it). I also made up a diaper bag scrabble game for all to play.
Also, playing a matching photos game is fun... have guests bring in a baby photo and see if guests can guess who the baby photo is of. Another idea is to remove the labels from a few baby jars and have guests guess what's inside (either by looking or tasting).
Baby showers are such fun.
I love celebrating the miracle of new life!
~ Christina
our small group had a lovely couples shower for us when we were expecting our boy. Some gave us baby sitting as a gift, which was wonderful. We all tried to identify baby food, which the guys loved. They closed by circling around us laying hands on us and praying for us. It was wonderful
I'm not a big fan of baby shower games. But I did attend one shower where everything was teeny - brownies cut in tiny squares, cherry tomatoes, tiny sandwiches, tiny plastic forks and spoons. It was very cute and different
One cute idea I have seen at baby showers is displaying a framed picture of both the mother and father when they were babies.
Games are fun, if the guest of honor agrees, and you can easily "google" info for shower games. A more lasting activity is to have each woman pray for the mom-to-be, possible providing evidences of grace in her life that people have seen during the pregnancy.
Another practical idea is to ask each guest, if possible, to bring a frozen casserole or main dish for the mom-to-be to take home and fill up her freezer.
I'm not a fan of shower games either, yet I know some women who love them.
One of the cute ideas I've come across is to get plain bibs and ask the guests to decorate them with fabric paints.
Baby Bingo can be a fun game, and no one need participate if she doesn't want to. Make a grid similar to a bingo card but leave the squares blank. The guests then writes the baby items she thinks the mother will receive into the squares - diapers, powder, onesies, socks, etc. Then, as the mommy is opening the gifts, the guests can cross out the squares until someone gets a bingo. The hostess can decide if she wants to get a small gift for the bingo winner or not - I usually do, but it's something simple and enjoyable like a tin of good chocolate or a nice bouquet of flowers.
I agree it's nice to ask the mommy first what she would prefer. As we've seen, some ladies dislike games.
At the last baby shower I attended, the hostesses passed out disposable diapers and had us write notes of encouragement, Bible verses, and even silly quotes on the diapers. It was a fun and interactive activity for the guests, a practical gift, and source of future encouragement to the mother.
At my first baby shower, one thing the ladies did was to each write "Tips for a Happy Mommy & Happy Baby" on a recipe card. The advice given ranged from spiritual (pray lots! start each day with God, etc.) to physical (accept offers of help when you're a new mom, give daddy some time alone with baby so you can take a bubble bath, etc.). I really loved going back and reading those cards again and again--I even went through them again later after my second child was born. I found it so helpful to get advice from older, more experienced moms. :)
At our church, we have frequent baby showers it seems :-)), and usually we play some sort of game such as baby shower bingo...this is where each guest gets a bingo sheet that is blank, and they have to write in on all the squares what they think the mother to be will be getting, and as she gets it, they check it off. The first one who gets a bingo wins...usually they keep playing til all the prizes are given away. This is fun and not stupid like some games I've played. We have also done the one wehre you match the baby animal to the animal name, and that is harder than it sounds!
Usually there is a short Bible study in the spirit of Titus two, where a more experienced mom has a few words of encouragement for the new mother, and some thoughts from the Bible. We also do this at Bridal Showers.
When guests arive, everyone gets an envelope, and they write their name and address on it so the mother can easily send out thank you notes. They usually draw one or two enevelopes for prizes too.
For those who don't know what to get, there is usually a group gift, where people put money towards some big ticket items such as a crib, stroller ,etc. The shower I was at Saturday gave her a high chair, port-a-crib, and matching stroller, as well as a few other big things--all purchased from about 20 people who gave a few dollars here and there. Usually the person organizing the shower also organizes the group gift and collects the money.
For the meal, it is usually a light brunch with munchies. Again, if you are doing this for a church sort of shower, where all the ladies at a church are invited, you may also put out a sign up sheet so that each person brings a certain thing...last week I brought bagels, for example, and we had bagels, cream cheese, and breakfast casserole, as well as fresh fruit.
hope this helps, Jessica.
We hosted a baby shower and had everyone decorate a 3x5 card with stickers and write their blessing/prayers on the card.
When the mom-to-be opened her presents, we took a poloroid picture of her with the person who gave her the present after she opened it.
We then prepared a "memory book" with the decorated card and the poloroid picture. We were then able to give the mom-to-be the book right then and there to take home with her.
The last page was a group picture of everyone at the shower!
Super fun!
Hi Crystal,
I'm also fairly new to your blog but have truly enjoyed the entries I've read so far.
My favorite baby shower idea is for each guest to bring their favorite childhood book to help build the new baby's library. It can be a favorite from their childhood or just a children's book they enjoy. With so many books out there, it's nice to start a library with books you know others have enjoyed.
Crystal,
Thanks so much for posting my question, and thank you readers for all your suggestions. This is really helpful!
Jessica
For my son's baby shower, my friend made "dirt cake", which is oreo pudding cake, and put it in little plastic cups with gummy worms in it. She decorated with shovels and pails and dump trucks to go with the little boy "dirt" theme, and she made frosted "frog" sugar cookies. It was so cute! She even had little fake spiders all over the table cloth. It was very "little boy" and very creative - everyone loved it!
i don't mind some games, but not the really awful games like putting cotton in a bowl on your head blindfolded........ and of course the terrible toilet paper game.
I have enjoyed playing baby pictionary, or a questionare to see how well you know the mom. We also did something fun where we had a small gift like a gift basket or they did a gift card at the last one which they had a raffle for. The price for a raffle ticket was a bag of diapers or wet wipes. It really helps the mom with getting a bunch of diapers or wet wipes!
i also played a game where I took names of famous women who were mothers in history or now and taped it onto each guest's back. They had to ask everyone else questions to find out who they were. Some of them were infamous mothers, and some of them several guests realized they did not know historical mothers very well!
Also, going around the room and sharing things you learned about being a new mother if they were mothers.
For food, i think it depends on when you have it. We had a afternoon one with fruit, snacks, and cake. Another one we had taco salad, teddy grahams, gummy bears, and a cake with teddy bear decorations!
We have also got onesies to write messages on for the mother to use!
My favorite kind of shower games are the ones that can be done independently as opposed to "rounding everybody up" for a game. I once displayed a board with numbered baby pictures of guests. That took some planning ahead, but it was fun. The ladies could look at the board and guess who's who at their leisure. Also, a theme that I recently used at a baby shower was animal footprints, and the Theme was Eph 5:1-2 "Be ye followers of God as dear children .... and walk in love"
I really enjoy hosting baby showers! My biggest prayer for each one I’ve hosted is that the mommy leaves feeling blessed, refreshed, and encouraged. I believe the whole event needs to bring her smiles, laughter, and joy!
I try to make the food simple, cute, and delicious. I usually make “mini” everything.
Another tip I was given from a friend is to make sure the guests know where the mommy is registered (Baby’sRus, Target, on-line, etc.), which number child this is (1st, 2nd, etc.), and if they know the sex of the baby.
Praying over the mom or parents and reading scripture blessings over their new child is a must. Games can be fun too, but not to many. I typically have everyone introduce themselves since many times the guests don’t all know each other or how they are a part of the mom’s life.
Lastly, I had two surprise showers throw for me when I was pregnant with our second baby girl. They were a blessing to me, but looking back, it might have been nicer if I was informed a head of time. Just a thought for those making the plans…
Completely random, but a cute drink to serve at a baby shower is ginger ale (or 7up)mixed with blueberry sherbert for a boy, or raspberry sherbert for a girl.
The sweetest thing I have seen done, is to have each person write a note to the baby (and Mom too). These notes encouraged that little one in their walk with Jesus, spoke blessings over their lives and encouraged Mom....they are wonderful for the little ones to read when they get older..they can see how many people have been praying for them and encouraging them in pressing into a fuller knowledge of God.
Blessings,
Cheri
At my baby shower they had the guests write little notes of encouragement on index cards and stick them inside newborn size diapers. They told me to mix those diapers into my other ones at home so I would get little surprise messages from time to time. I have to admit they have been very fun to read! Someone at the shower mentioned that it had been done at her baby shower only the guests wrote on the actual diapers with pens and it rubbed off onto her baby's clothes- so there's a tip of what NOT to do :)
Another fun thing we did at my shower was each guest got a pre-cut and printed piece of paper with letters down the left side spelling my child's name- then they wrote a line or two of encouragemnet starting with each letter. For example, the "b" on one of them was "Be aware that you are surrounded by friends who are willing to help" and the "a" was "always thank God for your little angel" I loved getting those cards and put several of them in a scrapbook to keep.
I don't like baby shower games in general, but here are a few cute ones that were used at the shower my mom and sis hosted for me:
Don't Say Baby!: This game is very simple to play and a good ice breaker if not everyone knows each other well. You just each person six clothespins (my mom used wooden ones and painted them pink and blue!) when they come in the door. The have to wear them on their sleeves, etc. The object is, all the guests are told to avoid saying the word "baby" or else they have to give up one of their pins to whoever they were talking to. At the end of she shower, whoever has collected the most pins is the winner and receives a small prize.
Diaper The Baby! This is fun and fast paced, not involving any paper or pens. You just need a doll and a cloth diaper and safety pins, plus a kitchen timer. Have the guests line up at a table where everything is set up and see how fast they can diaper the baby.
For refreshments, I've been to tons of showers and seen lots of ideas. My favorites have been a "build your own sundae" buffet where you get one or two pails of icecream and then set out bowls with appropriate toppings like sprinkles, chopped nuts, cherries, banana slices, etc., a can of Red-Whip and a bottle or two of syrups. Yum! Another idea is to use long loaves of French bread and make giant sub sandwiches and then slice them into pieces before the shower. You could serve that with a pasta salad.
My favorite inexpensive decorating idea is to string lengths of twine, clothesline, or whatever works around the walls of the room and hang baby clothes from it! The last shower I went to, the hostess used some things her children had outgrown like onesies, pairs of socks, sleepers, overalls, etc. and had them hanging up...it was so adorable, plus the mom got to take them home. The hostess used baby blankets as table coverings, too.
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