Baby Showers – Party Games and Gift Ideas
Baby Showers – Party Games and Gift Ideas
Baby Showers are becoming more and more popular these days and are a great way to celebrate the new mum-to-be’s pregnancy and the pending birth of their baby. Traditional baby showers actually began in America just after World War II when record numbers of young couples started having babies and their families and friends wanted to celebrate the arrival of each new child.
It slowly caught on here in the U.K. after being seen for a long time as a so called ‘Hallmark occasion’ and is generally seen as something of a norm now and is celebrated by women all over the country.
The earlier formats of a baby shower generally just focused on showering the mum-to-be with gifts for herself or for the new arrival, but more recently we have seen them take the form of a party and usually include lots of silly games and activities, food and drink (alcohol-free for the mum-to-be of course!) and a chance to reminisce with friends.
At my baby shower my friends had us wrapping each other up in toilet roll to see who could make the best ‘mummy’ and the disgusting Dirty Nappies game where a selection of chocolate bars had been melted inside nappies and smeared to look like you-know-what and we had to have a good whiff to work out which chocolate bars they had been dirtied with. Lovely!
We often get asked if we have any baby shower cards or gifts in the shop and it got us thinking what the ideal baby shower presents would be. I was lucky to receive a really fab selection of gifts from my friends. One friend had very kindly bought me a wash bag filled with mini toiletries for taking into hospital (oh yes, nipple relief cream included!!) and they had all chipped in together to buy me a ‘mum-to-be massage’. I was very spoilt! But they didn’t forget my new baby either. They’d bought a lovely selection of clothes, toys and classic books that a child can’t grow up without, including ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle and ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’ by Helen Oxenbury.
Leaving my ‘shop assistant hat’ off and speaking from the point of view of a mum with a young son who has had a baby shower and been to baby showers, I honestly think we have a great little selection of gifts in the shop that would be great for taking to a baby shower. Here are some of my suggestions:
Baby Whoozit £9.99 – One of our best-selling baby toys and a firm favourite with new mums!
Sophie the Giraffe boxed baby teether £14.99 – A gorgeous gift and a necessity for teething babies.
If you know the name of the new baby then how about the Big Jigs Name Train (£2.50 per letter), which looks beautiful in the baby’s bedroom or on a nursery shelf or even Wooden Letters - for doors or walls, £1.50 per letter.
And of course you can’t go wrong with a fluffy, cuddly teddy. We have a great selection of teddies and other soft toys that are suitable from birth, such as this beautiful traditional soft fluffy rabbit from Manhattan Toys.
Whatever gifts you take, or receive, if you are the lucky recipient, the main thing to remember is to have fun and to enjoy and celebrate the state of pregnancy and the wonderful new baby joining the family.
By Rachel Hall.