You have a baby shower planned for a friend; you have organised the invitations, and sent them out to everyone on the list. You have even planned the food that is going to be available at the shower. Then you think, but what do we actually do? Just talk and hand over the gifts; or shall we play a few shower games?

Well, it does seem that many people do opt for playing a few baby shower games. If you are the playful type, and think some games will go down well at the shower, then why not have a bit of fun? There are no strict rules about baby shower games. In fact, you could take just about any party game and play it as it is. It is probably better, though, if you either come up with one or two unique ideas yourself, or give a baby twist to an ordinary party game. There must be thousands of variations you could come up with.

Here are just a few ideas that might stimulate more in you:

1. A team game that is popular across the world is a race to pass an apple from player to player, without using the hands, but using the chin to hold the apple. Baby shower game twist: try the same thing with a baby powder container. If it is the well rounded type they can be remarkably slippery, even when dry. Test it out first, to make sure it is possible (but not too easy) to pass under the chin.

2. There are lots of possible memory games. It will not be long before baby is into bed time stories and nursery rhymes. So, why not buy a good sized book with lots of the old nursery rhymes in. As the baby shower game, get the contestants to recite the nursery rhyme after you have read the first line. Some are very easy, but some will be frustrating as people try to remember word for word. If someone has a child who is into nursery rhymes, they will have a big advantage, so try to find a way to keep it even. Like make them do the reading instead of participating. When the baby shower game is over, you can donate the book to the mum-to-be.

3. An obvious baby shower game is guessing the date and time of the birth. Make it interesting by having a little bet on the outcome, with everyone agreeing on how much each to put in. record all the guesses, and when the big day comes, the nearest guess wins. Then, why not have a booby prize for the worst guess? Such as, having to do 10 diaper changes in the first month after the baby is born?

4. A variation on musical chairs could be good fun as a baby shower game, but for this you will need a few baby potties, so you'll need to elicit helps from friends with babies on this one. Set the chairs up for normal musical chairs, but then put a potty on top of each chair. Just watch people slide about as they make their dash for a potty spot when the music stops.

You could break this baby shower game into groups of say 6 if you manage to get 5 potties, or 5 for 4 etc. This may be best after a few champagnes, gins, beers or whatever you may be serving.

The above baby shower games just came to mind as I wrote this, and after a quick glance around our daughter's bedroom. I am sure, with a bit of thought and research, you can do better. Have fun!