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25 Baby Shower Activities (That Are Not Games!)

Throwing a baby shower and looking for some fun activities and games that the grown ups will actually enjoy?

These baby shower activities are perfect for organisers looking for ways to entertain guests and make the party one to remember.

Baby shower party enjoying baby shower activities

Having been surprised with a baby shower of my own and attended quite a few as a guest, it’s definitely a good idea to have some things planned for people to do.

Many people who attend a baby shower for someone they know may not have met others at the party before that day.

Activities give people something to do that unites them right away and helps to break the ice. It also keeps the party going.

What activities can you do at a baby shower?

There are a few different types of activities and games to look at, and which one will work best for you depends a lot on what the mama-to-be might prefer and the general vibe your guests will bring.

For example some mothers may just love the idea of crafting activities where people can mingle at their leisure and aren’t brought into organised games.

Other mothers may love the idea of some crazy games that get people laughing! For some mothers any sort of organised activity might feel a bit too kids party for them, in which case getting guests to fill out messages of goodwill and predictions may bet better.

Here are the types of activities you might organise for a baby shower:

  • Creative crafting – decorate the onesie, decorating baby blocks etc
  • Thoughtful – predictions for the baby, messages of advice for mama-to-be, putting together a time capsule etc

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13 creative baby shower activities

These are some creative baby shower activities that involve guests making things at their leisure.

You could choose just one of these ideas, or have a few different stations using several of these activities and allow guests to choose which one they take part in.

1. Write a message on a nappy

The one is super simple (and cheap), gives the mama-to-be something useful and will make her smile a lot. It’s a winner.

It gets people talking and having a bit of fun together at the actual party.

Then after the baby is born when the new parents are changing nappies late into the night they get some inspirational or funny messages to read.

One diaper company in Australia even said this type of message on nappies can help to boost a new mum’s mood, especially if she may be struggling.

You will need

  • Stack of nappies in newborn or Size 1 (aim to get at least three per guest)
  • Box or crate – choose a pretty box or crate you can stack the nappies in. You could get a cardboard box and cover the outside with pretty baby shower gift wrap.
  • Sign – get a small chalk board or print off a sign to tell guests what you want them to do.
  • Marker pens – get a few different colours.

How to

Stack the nappies in your box and place this on a table with the sign. Add your marker pens and some balloons or flowers to decorate the table too if you want to.

All guests need to do is pick a nappy and write something or draw a picture.

It could be a short inspirational message, something simple like “hang in there baby” or “you’re doing great”, or something funny.

Write a message on a diaper - baby shower activity idea

I love this diaper decorating station set up by Uiliana Olson.

This diaper sign from Etsy can be downloaded and printed to give your guests a guide to what to do.

Some ideas for what to write on the nappies include:

  • This one is for daddy
  • Warning! Toxic
  • Smile 🙂
  • Oops I did it again!
  • Nose plugs not included
  • Daddy, this is the front
  • I love my mummy
  • It ain’t gonna change itself
  • The dog did it

2. Bring a book instead of a card

I absolutely love this idea because it’s just so much more practical than a gift card.

Instead of writing a message of congratulations in a card, guests are asked to bring a book that’s appropriate for a baby and write their message in there.

This means that rather than a card that sits in a box forever, the mama has something she will use regularly and can turn to messages from loved ones whenever she picks one up.

You will need

  • Box for the books

How to

Make sure you tell people in the invitation ahead of the baby shower that you would like them to bring a small book instead of a card.

Set up the box with a sign saying “Baby books” in the room where you’re having the party and ask guests to pop the books in there.

Guests can find simple board box for the same price of a gift card on Amazon or check out your local charity shop. It just requires a little bit of forward planning to everyone knows to look for a baby book ahead of the baby shower.

3. Onesie decorating

Not only does this let people channel their creative side, but it also gives the new mum some outfits for baby to wear.

Once the onesies have been decorated you can display them on a clothes line in the room where the shower is taking place. They make a lovely addition to the decorations for the party!

You will need

  • Plain white baby onesies – by onesie we mean a short-sleeved vest (no legs) with poppers that do up around the bottom. Get at least two per guest.
  • Clothing marker pens – get lots of different colours
  • Clothing stamps and/or stencils – Getting some letter stamps and/or stencils is great as guests can then spell out messages or slogans with these.
  • Iron-on patches
  • A large table and chairs with plenty of space for guests to sit so they can decorate

How to

You don’t have to get every single one of the decorating options outlined above. Just clothing pens will be enough.

But there are some really cute stamps and stencils you can get for decorating the onesies that help people be that bit more creative with this activity.

If you do get iron-on patches remember to place some thick cloth over the table to protect it when people apply the patches.

It’s also a nice idea to get a onesie that everyone signs as a lovely record of who was at the pregnant lady’s baby shower.

You can also get some string or clothes line hung up where you are having the party and clothes pegs to display the onesies once they have been decorated.

I love these little designs from Welcome to the Mouse House which were made using just marker pens and a little creativity.

Baby shower activity - onesie decorating with transfers

Some ideas for what could be written or printed on your onesies:

  • Rock star
  • Little Rascal
  • Est. 2020 (year of birth)
  • Little brother / sister
  • Limited Edition
  • Got milk?
  • Mum + Dad = Me
  • Feed me!
  • Made With Love

4. Life drawing

A life drawing session is a great alternative baby shower idea but one that could be really good fun!

Its borrowing an activity that you normally see at hen parties, but I think it works really well for a baby shower too if the mama-to-be doesn’t want a shower that’s ALL baby.

Due to the amount of materials you may need to get for this activity, including the life model, it’s not such a cheap option but it is definitely something people will remember.

You will need

  • A model – there are agencies everywhere that will send a life model to your home
  • Art canvas or paper and easels – one for every guest
  • Paint, pencils or charcoal

5. Advice for the new mama

If you have lots of people at the shower who are already parents then this is a great way for the mum-to-be to capitalise on that wealth of knowledge.

Guests offer their best advice for the new mama, writing it down so she can look at the cards after the baby shower is over.

This activity is great because you simply leave the cards and pens out for guests to fill them out at their leisure. It doesn’t require everyone to sit and pay attention all at once.

You will need

  • Plain paper or baby advice printables – you can get free printable baby advice cards, such as these ones at Maple Planners
  • Pens
Baby advice and prediction cards for a baby shower activity

How to

Give guests space where they can sit to write down their advice.

Have a sign close to where the blank advice sheets are explaining you want them to write down their best pieces of advice for the new mum.

Explain the advice does not have to be deep and meaningful and can be funny or just a few words of encouragement.

Not sure how to entertain baby shower guests? You need my Baby Shower Games Bundle! Features 15 great activities – including Baby Bingo, Advice sheets and Predictions sheets for guests to enjoy! Download in PDF format and print as many copies as you need. Get everything you need for Baby Shower entertainment here!

6. Headband-making station

A headband-making station is another crafty activity but actually it’s pretty straight-forward to do – you definitely do not need sewing skills!

The great thing about this activity is that the pregnant lady gets a few headbands for her baby to wear! It’s a lovely personal gift from the ladies at the baby shower to the mama-to-be.

You will need

  • Hot glue gun
  • Ribbons
  • Fabric flowers
  • Elastic headbands
  • Tape measure or ruler

You can get pre-made kits like this one from Etsy as shown below.

How to

If you buy a kit with pre-cut elastic for the headbands then you will be able to simply pick the flower and elastic you like then stick the flower to the band.

If you’re making it without having pre-cut headbands, that’s fine it’s still very straightforward to do.

There’s a great headband size guide over on Practically Functional that advises for a newborn the band should be 12ins for a newborn and 13ins for up to three month olds.

Simply measure your elastic and cut. Next make it into a circle and glue the two ends together. Where there is an overlap of the two ends you can cover this with a shorter piece of elastic wrapped over the area. Next stick your flower or bow on top of the spot where the ends overlap and you’re done.

7. Baby bib decorating station

The baby bib-making can be a bit of a combination of the onesie decorating with fabric pens or paints plus the headband making.

It can be really simple with just some fabric pens, such as this idea from Elizabeth and Co Vintage.

Or you could try using a few extras to decorate the bibs such as little bow ties or flowers you can stick on with a hot glue gun.

You will need

How to

Have a table set up with bibs, your choice of pens or paint plus any extra decorations and let your guests decorate them how they choose.

You could also try using iron-on patches to decorate the bibs.

8. Decorating baby blocks

Decorating baby blocks is a relaxed activity for baby shower guests to do plus it makes a toy for the baby to play with.

You can pick and choose what colour scheme you may like for the blocks when picking out the paint. Then it’s up to the guests to decorate each individual block however they would like.

I love these pretty grey blocks from Pure Sweet Joy.

You will need

How to

There are various different ways you can decorate your blocks. You could follow Pure Sweet Joy’s tutorial.

This involves a combination of paint and stickers to create these pretty blocks you can see in the picture above. You use the letter stickers as a kind of stencil and paint on them before removing once the paint is dried.

This idea from Spot of Tea Designs involves some printable letters as well as painting. The end result looks great.

And Amy Latta Creations has a lovely post describing her baby block decorating that lets the guests at your baby shower choose how they decorate each block.

9. Make a fingerprint tree canvas

This activity leaves you with a wonderful and unique piece of art to decorate your baby’s nursery.

It captures a memory of everyone who was at your baby shower.

There are tons of different printable images you can use for this activity or you could order a canvas or print to use.

You will need

  • Blank fingerprint baby shower tree art (I love this one)
  • Stamp ink pads
  • Baby wipes (for cleaning hands after)

How to

Simply buy or download a baby tree template.

Set it up on a flat surface with some ink pads. Pick a colour scheme ahead of time so you can get the look that you want. Ask your guests to press a finger to the ink pad then onto the picture at the ends of the tree branches to create the leaves.

10. Make a floral crown

You could make floral crowns for yourselves then pose with them for a photo, or you can make them for the baby.

It’s pretty straightforward making your own once you have all of the kit assembled, plus it’s a nice relaxing activity for everyone to do.

There’s a great tutorial over on The Spruce Crafts.

You will need

  • Fake flowers
  • Faux greenery to fill gaps
  • Scissors
  • Tape measure
  • Floral wire
  • Floral tape
  • Hot glue gun

How to

Measure your floral wire so that it fits around your head comfortably then trim and twist the ends together before covering the ends with tape.

Tape the blooms to the floral wire, adding the greenery in empty spots.

You can use the glue gun to add extra single flowers here and there to finish it off.

11. Baby alphabet colouring book

You can find tons of different alphabet colouring books to print online at Etsy or free to download as PDFs.

Ask your guests to draw and colour in the pages to make baby’s first alphabet book.

This gorgeous alphabet book from Something Turquoise looks amazing and as she’s shown here is a great way to add to your decorations.

You will need

  • Alphabet book sheets
  • Pens and/or pencils

How to

Make sure you have a decent sized table for people to sit and decorate their book sheets.

Ask them to choose one or more sheets each – depending on how much guests you have – and they then decorate each sheet however they choose.

12. Share your family traditions from childhood

Ask your guests to share their family traditions from childhood to give the new mama some inspiration for starting some of her own.

You will need

How to

Set out the templates or paper and ask people to note down their favourite family traditions.

These can either be traditions from when they were growing up or things they enjoy doing now.

13. Baby shower gift bingo

This games makes watching the mama-to-be opening her gifts that little more exciting!

The part where the pregnant guest of honour opens her gifts is probably the longest bit of the baby shower.

By having a gift bingo it keeps all of the guests involved, even when it’s not their gift being opened.

Then you can have a prize for the first person to shout bingo!

Baby shower gift bingo - a baby shower activity idea

You will need

  • Baby shower gift bingo cards – you can buy them on Etsy or download my FREE gift bingo cards as a printable PDF via the link below.
  • Pens
  • A prize – A box of chocolates or bottle of fizz to take home work well.

How to

Hand out gift bingo cards to your guests and give each of them a marker pen.

They mark the appropriate squares if the pregnant mama-to-be opens a gift that matches something on the bingo card.

Once a player gets five in a row they shout “bingo”, or “baby” if you prefer, and get the prize.

14. Create a time capsule

Ask your guests to bring along meaningful items such as photographs of them with the parents-to-be, articles, clippings, memories written down on pieces of paper, etc.

Then bury the time capsule in the yard of the parents-to-be’s home and this could be unearthed when baby turns 16 as a fun way to turn back the clock!

11 Simple and thoughtful baby shower activities 

These are thoughtful and no-fuss baby shower activities for people who don’t like games!

They’re for a calmer shower where you don’t want big loud party games. These suit a smaller group of 15 or fewer people.

1. Baby predictions 

Ask your guests to fill in predictions about what they think the little one will look like, how much they will weigh and what their name might be. 

You can make it easier with blank baby prediction sheets like this one

2. Words of advice 

Ask all guests to fill out a sheet, or guest book, featuring words of encouragement and advice ahead of the baby’s arrival. 

3. Celebrity baby names 

There are some distinctive baby names picked by celebrities, making this a fun game and one that will also spark chatter about favourite names.

Get a list of celebrity baby names – go for at least 10 – and challenge guests to guess which celebrity, or celeb couple, chose that baby name.

You can get printable celeb baby name game cards online in this bundle. 

4. Fill in the blanks 

Challenge your guests to fill in the blanks of well-known lines from famous nursery rhymes.

You can get an easy printable version of this game in my baby shower bundle.

5. Baby emojis 

A baby emoji game involves challenging your guests to guess the nursery rhyme, or movie title, spelled out in emojis.

You could design your own game and put it together yourself, or get a done for you emojis game in my baby shower bundle.

6. Animal gestation 

Ask your guests to guess the gestation length of different animals. This is such a fun one because it’s quite surprising how short, and long, the gestation of certain animals can be!

You could put this one together yourself – by simply researching 10 animals and their gestations, then acting as quiz master as you ask guests to write down their guesses.

You can also get printable done-for-you versions of this game online to save you time!

7. Baby books 

Challenge each guest to bring their favourite story book from childhood, or one their own babies have enjoyed. 

At the baby shower ask them to write a note inside with a message for the mother-to-be or the baby, or both! 

8. Guess the price 

Guests are challenge the guess the cost of a list of key baby items. At the end add up the total cost of the shop, and whoever is closest to the total cost in reality wins the game!

To put this game together first research the price of key baby items such as:

  • Diapers
  • Baby gro
  • Wipes
  • Baby bottle
  • Muslin
  • Formula
  • Bib
  • Cloth sling
  • Rattle
  • Blanket

Once you have found the actual price add up the total cost and this is the answer that guests are trying to get right as the guess the cost of each individual item.

9. Baby bucket list 

Challenge the guests to put together a list of things that baby should do in the first year.

This is a nice way to give the new parents some ideas to do with their baby! And also something fun for them to look back on.

10. Baby Pictionary

Split your guests into two or more teams. Then challenge guests to draw a baby-related item and their team has to guess what it is!

You will need:

  • Cards or bits of paper with different baby items written on them
  • Paper or notepads
  • Pens and/or pencils

The items or things you can challenge guests to draw include:

  • Diaper
  • Baby onesie
  • Pacifier
  • Bottle
  • Baby proofing
  • Lullabies
  • Crawling

11. Baby photo challenge

This is such a fun baby shower activity and is bound to get everyone talking!

Ask every guest to bring a baby photo of themselves to the shower. Ask them to place their photo on a board of pictures – make sure they do this one at a time so no one can see.

Now number the photos and challenge your guests to guess which baby photo matches to which guest.

Free baby shower activity printables

Want some easy free printable activities for your guests?

Grab six fun printables for your baby shower here:

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Vicky Smith is a mother of two daughters and a journalist. She has been writing and vlogging about parenting for over five years.