Action Games

Baby Bottle Relay Race

You will need two baby bottles, four buckets, and two teams.

Place two buckets near each other and the other two approximately 6-10 feet in front of them. Divide players into two teams, and then divide each team in half. Place each half of the team at a bucket.

When the relay race begins, a player from each team puts a baby bottle between their legs and runs as fast as they can to the bucket that is 6-10 feet away. When they get to the bucket they must drop the bottle into the bucket without using their hands. If they drop the bottle at anytime they must take the bottle back to the start and try again. If they get the bottle in the bucket, then next player on their team gets the bottle out of the bucket, places it between their legs, and races across to the other bucket. You keep going until all player on one team have finished successfully. Which ever team finishes first are the winners! — Submitted by Jennifer B.

Bobbing For Pacifiers

Get a baby bathtub and fill it with water. Place a dozen or so pacifiers in the water. The guests have to retrieve as many pacifiers as possible using their mouths with their hands behind their backs in a given amount of time. Generally 1 minute is good enough to create competition. Two minutes may make it far too easy. The guest who retrieves the most pacifiers wins!

To make the game tougher or yuckier, replace water with a food like applesauce or pudding. You could even make lemonade or some nice drink and bob the pacifiers in that. Your guests might actually enjoy all the dunking they have to do.

Race To The Labor Room

Buy medium sized water balloons and fill enough for each guest to have multiples. Make all the guests stand at a start line and give each one a water balloon. Have the player hold it between the knees and race to the finish line without dropping it.

If the balloon falls and breaks the guest has to shout, “My water broke”, run back to the start line, grab another water balloon and start over. The guest who reaches the finish line first with their balloon intact wins.

For a variation you can also hand out prizes for the person who breaks the least (or most!) balloons before the end of the game. Be prepared for lots of water on the floor and this game is best played outdoors!

Baby Bottle Bowling Alley

You will need nine baby bottles and a medium sized hard ball, a softball or mini basket ball would work well. Create an alley by marking it out with lines on the floor using tape or, if outside, chalk. Fill each bottle with some water to give them a bit of weight so they don’t fall down so easily and set them up in a triangle formation at the end of the lane. Then just play a traditional game of bowling using the bottles for pins.

Each person takes a turn and gets two rolls of the ball to knock down as many baby bottle “pins” as they can. When everyone has gone you start the turns over. A traditional game of bowling is 10 frames (or turns), but depending on the amount of people playing you may want to cut it down to 5 or 6 turns. Person with the highest score at the end wins.

Ballooning Belly

Blow up a bunch of small sized balloons. The aim of the game is to have the players create their own “baby belly” with the balloons. Have the guests stuff as many of the balloons under their shirt as they can without popping them to form a belly. The guest who can stuff the most number of balloons inside her shirt and create the largest belly – wins. Be prepared to blow up loads of balloons for this game and have extra balloons to blow up if needed.

It’s a great sight to see woman wearing fitted tops and dresses have a go at this one and you will be surprised at how many balloons women can get in their shirts when they are trying to win!

Baby Bottle Ring Toss

Get about 12 – 15 inexpensive baby bottles with nipples on them, the tall kind works best. Fill each bottle with water to weigh them down, then place the bottles in rows forming a square. Give each guest 5-10 “rings” and have them stand 5-7 feet from the bottles, the further away the more difficult the game so judge accordingly. You can use any type of ring, “jelly” bracelets you buy at the dollar store work well, but any ring that fits over the bottle easily will work, just make sure they have enough weight to them to be tossed.

Each guest takes a turn tossing the rings at the bottles and trying to get them over the top of the bottle or nipple part. After the player has tossed his rings collect them up and it is the next player’s turn. You can play just 1 turn each, or if you want to make it last longer, let your guests go 2 or 3 turns each. The person who gets the most rings over the most bottles wins.

“Super Stacker” Diaper Tower Game

You will need lots of disposable diapers for this game, but if make sure your guests aren’t too crazy with them while playing the mommy-to-be can use them after the shower (she’ll need tons soon so she will appreciate it).

Give each player a large amount of diapers and a table to work on. Set a timer for 3 minutes and have your guests stack the diapers as high as they can in the time allowed without the stack falling over. If their tower of diapers falls and they have enough time they can keep trying to stack. The tallest diaper tower standing at the end of the time wins. We’ve measured tallest in the number of diapers stacked so there is no need for a ruler, but it can also be tallest measured with a measuring tape (which could get funny as people try to stack the diapers sideways for more height!).

Tip: For large groups you can have your guests play in teams, or in turns, this will cut down on the diapers you need to buy. Have 5 or 6 people playing at a time, while others cheer them on. Then just write down the highest stacking diapers each turn and the tallest diaper tower after everyone has gone is the winner.

It’s really a simple game idea with a lot of options to get creative. You could add to the rules that each player must top their stack with a bottle, or a binkie, or have players stack other multiple objects in as a requirement (such as: 1 rattle, 1 bib, and 1 pair of baby socks). Any way you play you will have tons of laughs watching these “Tower of Babbles” being built… and more fun watching them fall down!

“What Not To Wear!” Gift Pass

Play this game just like “musical chairs”, but with a funny twist, and instead of the guests moving, they are passing a gift box instead.

Before the party buy a pretty corsage and wrap it in a gift box. Tell your guests that whomever is left holding the box at the end of the game has to wear whatever in inside the box for the rest of the party. Naturally, everyone will assume it is something embarrassing and will do their best to pass the box quickly!

Have all your guests sit in a circle and hand the first person the “gift”. Start the music and have your guests it until the music stops. When it stops whomever is holding the gift is “out.” The last person holding the gift box is the “winner”.

Have the winner open the box, and then wait for the huge sigh of relief (and laughs from the other guests) when they realize it’s a lovely corsage!

Diaper The Baby Boy Game

This is more of a joke on the new mommy-to-be then an actual game, but well worth the photo op if the new mommy is a fun loving and easy going gal.

Draw a large baby boy on a paper and tape it to the wall. Tell everyone that the object of the game is to pin the diaper on the baby boy blindfolded. Everyone thinks this is a spin off on the ‘Pin the tale on the donkey’ game. However, this time round get the mother to be to go first. As soon as she is blindfolded, whip out a bunch of water guns and spray her with water. She’ll be shrieking for mercy before you know it but tell her with baby boys you have to be careful else you get sprayed!

Baby Belly Pillowcase Relay

Get 4-5 pillowcases and stuff them with heavy items so that they weigh a good 15-20 pounds. You can use anything heavy that will fit, heavy books or bags of rice or beans work very well. Divide your guests into groups of 4 each and create racing lanes for them to have a relay. In each lane drop 4 baby objects like bottles, pacifiers and bibs randomly from start to finish.

Each team will gather at one end of their racing lane. Tie a filled pillowcase around the waist of the person who will start for each team. The objective of the game is for each team member to tie the pillowcase around his or her waist, run down the lane and on the way back, bend and pick up one item. When back at the start the first person will then pass the pillowcase to the second team member who will tie it on and run down the racing lane, picking up one item on the way back. All team members must take a turn until all the items have been cleared off the floor. The team that collects all the baby items first wins.

While running with the extra 15 pounds may not be so difficult (especially since the guests wont be worried about hurting the books!), bending is going to be tougher than they imagined. This game can be a little bit of a workout so make sure your guests are up to the extra weight and action.

Diaper Changing Relay Race

You will need one baby doll and one diaper for each team, and a table for “changing the baby.”

Break your guests into teams of at least 3 or 4. Bigger parties can have more teams to make the game go faster, smaller parties may need to have less teams.

When the relay race begins, each team will stand on one end of the room. The first person on the team takes the baby doll and runs as fast as they can to the “changing table” on the other side of the room. When they get to the table they must change the baby using the diaper provided. You should have either a cloth diaper and 2 diaper pins, or to make the game easier, a disposable diaper with the reusable straps. To make it a bit more funny you can also add a bottle of baby powder to the game and require each baby’s bottom to be powdered before diapering. Be warned, the chance for a big white mess increases dramatically with this option.

Once they get the baby diapered they must run back to the starting area and pass the baby off to the next teammate. The “baby” must be diapered properly. If the diaper falls off as the player is running back they must go back and re-diaper. The next player on their team takes the baby, runs to the changing table, removes the diaper, and then diapers the baby again the same way. You keep going until all player on one team have finished successfully.

Which ever team finishes first are the winners!

You will be surprised how many people can not diaper a baby with a cloth diaper, and I promise you, one player will, in a frantic rush, diaper the baby’s head (or start to before blushing and stopping herself hoping no one saw her!) If you use disposable make sure to give the left overs to the mommy-to-be, she’ll be needed tons soon, and if you use cloth diapers in the game make sure she takes those, too, since they make great for burp cloths… and we all know she will be needing TONS of those as well.

“What a Mess!” Race with Baby

You’ll need 1 baby doll for each player, a diaper bag (or something similar) and a paper grocer bag filled with random items (a laundry basket with clothes would work, too), basically the items any new mom would be carrying on a day to day basis that would have her arms full. Create racing lanes for each player to have a race. In each lane drop 5-10 baby objects like bottles, pacifiers, small toys and bibs randomly from start to finish.

Each player will gather at one end of their racing lane holding their baby in one arm, the diaper bag over their shoulder, and the grocery bag or laundry basket in the other arm. The objective of the game is for each player to run down the lane, bend and pick up the objects on the ground, putting them in the diaper bag, all while carrying their “baby” and laundry/groceries. The person who collects all the baby items and get to the end of their lane first wins.

For larger parties you can have teams. The first person runs and picks up one item, runs to the end, then returns to the start. They then pass the baby, the groceries, and the diaper bag to the second team member to run the race and pick up one item, etc, until all the team members have gone. First team to pick up all their items and finish the race wins.

While it may sound easy, every person who has ever had a child knows this not to be the case. Don’t be surprised when you see some women trying to put the baby in the grocery bag! This is against the rules, but it is hillarious to watch the craziness. This game can be a little bit of a workout so make sure your guests are up to the action.

Tub Toss

Take the nipples from about 10-12 baby bottles, you may also be able to buy just a package of nipples without bottles at a baby store. Get a baby bathtub and place it 5-10 feet from where the player will stand. If placed at a distance this can become quite difficult because the nipples are fairly lightweight so make sure to judge accordingly.

The aim of the game is for the guests to take turns tossing the nipples into the bathtub. The person who gets the most baby bottle nipples into the tub wins. For a short game, or with lots of players, you can have them each take one turn, for longer games give each player 2 or 3 turns. If there is a tie give the players one last tie-breaker turn to finish the game.

Depending on the baby bathtub used, after the game is complete the tub makes a nice gift for the mother-to-be, too.

My Water Broke! Ballon Toss

Buy some medium sized balloons and fill them with water. Pair up all your guests into teams. Give each team a water balloon ‘baby’ and tell them they have to pass the baby to each other. Make them stand 8-10 feet apart and have them toss the baby at each other. Of course if the baby falls they have to shout, “My water broke” and they are out of the game.

The pair tossing the baby longest wins. Be prepared to have lots of water on the floor. This game is best played outdoors or some place that doesn’t mind a mess.

Dress The Baby

This game can be played individually or in teams of 2 or 3 players. Get a toy baby or baby doll for each guest or team of players. Give each group one baby doll, a set of clothes for the baby, a cloth diaper with diaper pins, a bib. The set of clothes should be a complicated piece of baby clothing like a full button down romper and little baby socks. Now each group must dress the baby as fast as possible. However, each guest is only allowed to use one hand.

If your guests are playing the game single it can become very tricky. In groups too you’ll be surprised at how much co-ordination a simple task as this can require! This game is great fun and really gets your guests working together and interacting.

Pass the “Binky”

This game is played like “musical chairs”, but instead of the guests moving, you pass a “binky” or baby bottle instead. You can use either the mommy-to-be’s favorite music for this game, or your favorite lullaby.

Have all your guests sit in a circle and hand the first person the binky. Start the music and have your guests pass the item until the music stops. When it stops whomever is holding it is “out.” This keeps going until there is no one left. The last person holding the binky wins a prize.

Note: The “binky” can be substituted for anything you like, such as a bottle, a photo of the guest-of-honor as a baby (how about a sonogram image of the baby?!), even a small wrapped present (which you can use as the prize at the end).