Nikolas

Go to the dollar store. You can get all kinds of cute little goodies there. How about scented soap?Costume jewelry, little statues of kids and animals, placemats and napkins, craft supplies,recipe cards, CDs of music. All of these can be obtained at the dollar store. If most of them are Mommies, how about baby supplies? You can get onesies, Nukies, bibs,etc at the dollar store. Cooking implements. For a grand prize, you could make a basket with “gourmet” food items in it. You can usually get nice enough baskets at the thrift shop. Then go to the dollar store and get crackers, cheese spray, popcorn, flavored coffees and teas, etc. and you might include some recipe cards, some of which have some of your favorite recipes on them. You could make tickets and give out tickets each time someone wins, then at the end, whoever has the most tickets gets the grand prize, if a tie, have a special game for a playoff. Have a blast, and have a healthy baby. Best wishes.

Salvatore

One year I went to 4 baby showers… aside from feeling my biological time clock ticking, I did learn a lot about good prizes… Consider the following options:

* Gift certificates for: massage/salon/nails, williams sonoma (or other cooking store), amazon.com, or anything you can think of…

* Baskets/packages of relaxation stuff… candles, bath salts, lotions, oils…

* Recipe books… I saw on the tv the other day that some people give recipe books in a package including the ingredients to their favorite recipe in the book… I’ll try that someday in general.

* Items from the cooking store… nice set of measuring cups/spoons, nice potholders, apron, baking dish… you can do this in place of the gift certificate if that would be too expensive and you can find nice sets on sale…

* Latest DVDs… whatever is on sale at Best Buy… good tear jerkers or if you know your guests have children, the latest children’s movies out on DVD
** You could also do a kiddie contest if there will be a good group of children there btw ages 5-11… coloring or something…

Email me if you want a good list of games for baby showers at

Take good care,
Sense

Jacquelyn

Pretty hand soaps and lotions……shower gels, candles, bath salts.
I went to a baby shower last weekend and we played a game ID what is in the diaper….. The hostess took 5 diapers and a part of 5 different candy bars. She labeled the diapers 1-5 and the took part of each candy bar and put one in each diaper and put the in the microwave for 30 seconds to melt it. It really looked authentic. You should have seen the people trying to guess what the different candy bars were….sniffing, tasting…..boy it was hysterical.

Kathy

Party Favor Game Winner Gifts

♥ For women:
Candles (scented votives are nice)
Blank journal
Potpourri/herbs
Small basket or vase
Small picture frame
Candy jar
Small box of fancy chocolates
Blank note cards
Bath treats, gift soaps or lotions

♥ Men (if they attended too):
Hats stuffed with popcorn or peanuts

As for every guest, all you need to give them is a thank you card sent in the mail. If you’d like to do more. I think a bag of popcorn with the bags decorated, it’s a boy/it’s a girl, would be a good take home gift.

Thank you notes
♥ We are all pressed for time and it can be particularly crazy when a baby is on the way. A nice gesture which saves the expectant mom the time and energy looking up addresses is to buy enough thank you notes for all of the guests. During the party, have each guest address their own envelope and then collect them and present them to the mom. Mom can alos draw an envelope out of the basket and the person she draws wins a prize.

I know you didn’t ask but heres some fun game ideas:

♥ Play the “Tricked ya” variation of Guess whats on the tray.Thats when you place 8-10 small baby items (pacifier, diaper pins, baby spoon, etc. on a tray and hold in in sight for about 30 - 45 seconds for everyone to memorize. Then you remove the tray and have everyone guess.
Well this alternate version is nice for a change of pace — especially when you have hosted or attended a lot of baby showers and have played this game one too many times. In this version, the hostess displays the tray and then leaves the room for a moment. Once she is out of sight, the guests, expecting to guess the contents of the tray, are told to recount what the hostess is wearing, including as many accessories as possible. The most accurate guesser wins the prize. There is even a combo variation of this game where the hostess actually becomes the display by pinning small baby items to her clothing and then leaves the room while the guessing commences.

♥ Bottle Chug
Fill 8 oz bottles with something (we use soda/juice/and beer) and have everyone compete to finish them.

Another fun idea:
♥ Get someone to write down everything the mom to be says when she opens her presents. At the end of the night say ‘This is what was said the night the baby was conceived’ and then list everything she said.

It’ll be like:

‘OO I always wanted one of these’
‘Wow, thats so tiny’
‘Aww look at it, it’s pink’

stuff like that..you’ll have everyone rolling with laughter.

I hope this helps!! =)

Jennifer

I have pages on my website dedicated to just this sort of thing. It has sentimental games and activities and nice prizes/”thank you” gift ideas, too!!

Check it out, ifyou get the chance!!