Parenting & New Baby Advice Blog

Archive for June, 2007

One of the most fun laugh-out-loud games, the candy bar baby shower game can be played in several ways, but the most popular way is to play it as a memory game. You simply play this game like you played a classic childhood memory game. Just set up a poster board or cork board that measures 5 squares by 6 squares (total of 30 squares or 15 pairs of baby terms). You can use a yardstick and sharpie pen to draw straight lines while creating the grid. In each grid square, write one of the baby terms being sure to mix them all up (each term will appear twice within the grid). Then, pin or tape small construction paper squares with a number (1 through 30) on them over each grid square so that all the terms are covered up. Going around the room, each guest takes a turn by choosing 2 numbers. If they don't guess a matching pair, cover the 2 squares back up and the next person in line is up to guess. If they get a matching pair, they win the candy bar associated with the term. For instance, if they get the matching pair of ‘breastfeeding' squares, they'd get a Milky Way candy bar as their prize.  Be sure that you buy at least one of all the candy bars on the list so that you have a prize for each correctly guessed answer.

A game variation would be to list all the baby terms in a column down a sheet of paper with scrambled versions of the candy bars in a column down the right hand side of the paper. Make copies of the game sheets for all the guests. The goal would be to unscramble the candy bar words and match them to the correct baby terms. The person with the most answers correct wins candy bars or you can divide the candy bars up amongst the guests that have correct answers. Some suggested terms and corresponding candies are listed below (just choose your favorites) -

The Conception: SKOR

Pregnant Belly: Chunky Bar

Epidural or Grandparents: Lifesavers

Umbilical Cord: Twizzlers

Late to the Hospital: Rocky Road

Hospital Address: 5^th Avenue

Choosing A Baby Name: Watchamacallit

Newborn Girl: Baby Ruth

Twin Boys: Mike & Ike

Triplets: Three Musketeers

10 Pound Baby: Whoppers

Preemie: Runts

Hospital Nursery: Cry Babies

Delivery Doctor: Butterfinger

Father or Dad: Sugar Daddy

Cool Mom: Peppermint Patty

Breastfeeding: Milky Way

Breast Engorgement or Dirty Diapers: Mounds

Hospital Bills or College Fund: 100 Grand

Bottle: Bottle Pop Candy

Mom Alone Time: Zero

Mom Nap Time: Take Five

Baby Giggles: Snickers

When you are on a tight budget, the cost of baby shower favors can sometimes put you over the top so consider some of these fantastic do-it-yourself favors. They are both clever and affordable.

Cinnamon Rolls - Bake cinnamon rolls either from a can or made from scratch. Then add a tag reading ‘Thanks from (Mother's name)'s bun in the oven'.

Tea or Coffee - Buy packets of tea or coffee and punch a hole where you can hang a tag reading ‘A Baby is Brewing - Thanks For Being A Part of The Party'.

Jelly Beans - Buy pink and blue jelly beans and fill plastic bottles or small glass jars from your local craft store. Then add a tag reading ‘(Mom's name)'s Baby Shower' along with the shower date.

Homemade Cookies - Buy a cookie cutter and make gourmet cookies to give your guests as favors. For example, duck shaped cookies for a duck themed shower.

Small Shaped Soaps - Available in numerous shapes, small soaps make excellent baby shower favors. Just choose a shape to coordinate with your theme. Attach a personalized tag with the baby shower information like Mom's name and date.

Small Potted Plant - Buy small pots of African violets, ivy or other houseplants and hang a tag with the shower details. Blooming flowers are perfect for an April Showers bring baby flowers themed shower.

Candles - Buy shaped candles to fit your theme or pink or blue votive candles that you wrap in cellophane. Add a tag with the baby shower information.

Photo Frames - Small 2" x 3" photo frames can be purchased and placed in pink or blue organza bags. Just add a hang tag with shower details for an elegant favor.

Edible Candy Bags - Buy Jordan almonds, Hershey kisses or M&M's along with pink or blue organza bags to hold the candy.

Candy Bar Favors - You can either print your own candy bar wrappers or buy them pre-printed online. Buy your favorite candy bars at a local shop and wrap them up for a great favor.

Keeping the expense of throwing a baby shower down can be difficult so we’ve put together this list of 10 fantastic diy (do-it-yourself) baby shower games that will be fun for everyone.

1)     Baby Item Memory Game - Borrow 10 to 15 small baby items (or buy them if you want some little gifts to give to the expectant Mom after the shower). Place the items on a large tray or cookie sheet. The hostess should parade the tray around the room stopping for just a few seconds at each guest’s chair so they can get a quick look at the tray of items. Cover the tray back up and give the guests a few minutes to write down all the items on the tray. The one that gets the most items wins.

2)     ABC Baby Alphabet Game - Make up game sheets or hand out blank pieces of paper where the guest’s write down the A-B-C’s in a long column down the left hand side of the piece of paper. Then, tell the guests that they have 2 minutes to write down a baby related term or item for each letter of the alphabet. For instance, Bottle for B. Whoever has the most letters filled in wins.

3)     How Big is Mommy’s Tummy Game – Using rolls of toilet paper or yarn, let each guests tear off toilet paper or cut a piece of yarn that they think will measure the same length as Mommy’s new waste-line. Then have each guests wrap their toilet paper or yarn around Mom’s tummy to see who is closest to the right size to determine the winner.

4)     Baby Food Guessing Game – Buy 10 jars of baby food and remove the labels (be sure to mark a number on the side of the bottles with a sharpie and keep a master list of what food corresponds to what number (so you can determine the winner). Pass the jars of food around and have the guests write down what kind of baby food they think is in each jar. The guest who gets the most right wins.

5)     Guess Who? Baby Pictures Game – Have all of the shower guests bring along a baby photo of themselves (newborn to 1 year old). Place the photos on a piece of poster board and hang on the wall or lay them all out on a table and assign each photo a number. Have the guests write down which shower guest corresponds to which numbered baby photo. The guest who gets the most baby photos matched to guests wins.

6)     Guess How Many Game – Fill a jar or large glass container with a baby item like safety pins, baby blocks or blue and pink jelly beans. Depending on what you use, you can give the items to the expectant Mother as a little gift. Then have guests guess how many items are in the container. The one closest to the correct number wins.

7)     Baby’s First Photo Game – Have guests make up a photo using images and items they cut out of magazines (requires magazines, paper and glue) to make a baby photo. Then have the guests vote to determine the winning photo.

8]    Baby Scramble Game – If you have a computer, you can easily make up game sheets for the guests to use at the shower. Take 20 to 25 baby words (like bottle and pacifier), scramble them up (otlebt and rfcaipe) and put them on the game sheets. At the party, give guests 5 minutes to unscramble as many of the words on their game sheet as possible. The person with the most unscrambled words wins.

9)     Don’t Say Baby Game – When they arrive at the shower, give each guest a necklace that has either removable beads or safety pins. Any time they get ‘caught’ saying the word baby during the shower, they must give one of their beads or pins to the person that caught them. At the end of the shower, the person with the most beads or pins wins.

10)     Draw Baby’s Face – Give a round paper plate and crayon to each of the shower guests. Have them place the plate on top of their head and ask them to draw the baby’s face on the plate while they are being timed for a minute. After the time has passed, ask the mom-to-be to pick the best baby face drawing.

Make your son, daughter or grandchild's First Easter as cute, cuddly and special as they are. Baby's First Easter Gifts are made extra special when they are personalized with the child's name and even the holiday year. Here are some great ideas for this Easter season:

1) First Easter Gift Basket or Gift Set - Many companies offer plush-style Easter baskets that are appropriate for play. The ‘My First Easter Basket' from Baby Gund® features bright-colored removable toys such as a yellow chirping chick that makes noise. The toys come in a pastel colored plush basket. Personal Creations also offers a plush bunny basket that they personalize with the child's name. The great part about this item is that you can fill it with your own items for Easter morning. Choose some Easter-themed toys and board books for a fabulous package.

2) Personalized Easter Bib or Clothing - Numerous online baby companies sell clothes such as rompers and onesies as well as bunny-themed bibs that are personalized with the baby's name along with a ‘My First Easter' caption. What a great way to dress up baby this Easter holiday season!

3) My First Easter Personalized Bunny or Teddy Bear - Watch the baby's eyes light up when they see their very own stuffed Easter Bunny or Teddy Bear. The Baby Gund® ‘My First Easter' bunny is super soft and made for baby's little hands. It'll soon become baby's best friend.

4) Easter Themed Blanket - There are so many options when it comes to First Easter blankets. From super-soft fleece blankets with embroidered bunnies to character bunny-shaped security blankets, this is a cuddly gift that baby will surely love.

5) My First Easter Photo Frame - Frames covered in Easter eggs, hopping bunnies, carrots and more provide the backdrop for displaying your favorite photo of Baby's First Easter. Many online companies such as The Personalization Mall offer these frames online. Another option if you are crafty is to buy a plain wooden frame that you can paint and personalize yourself. They sell Easter cut-outs at places like Michael's to decorate the frame border as well. Whether you buy it or make it yourself, an Easter photo frame will be cherished for years to come.

Baby Gifts & Gift Baskets offers a wide variety of First Easter Gifts so visit today to find the perfect gift for your little one. And for all of your new baby gift needs year round, they have a huge selection of baby gift baskets, personalized gifts and baby shower supplies.

Own a computer and digital camera?  If so, you can make your own baby birth announcements that are beautiful, affordable and professional looking.  First, we recommend that you visit some of the websites on the internet that offer personalized, custom-imprinted birth announcements to get ideas of what styles you like, wording, and just to get ideas in general.  Second, determine how many friends and family will receive the announcements.  This will help you figure out what type of announcement might work for you. The more complicated the design, the longer it will take to create.  Therefore, if you have a large list of birth announcement recipients, you may want to choose one of the easier designs.  Finally, you’ll need to decide what information you’d like to include on your announcements.  Some people like to include every last detail about the baby including the name, birth date, length, weight, exact birth time, sibling names, parent names and even names of their family pets.  Others simply include the baby’s name and photo.  

If you plan to make your own announcements, we do recommend that you gather the supplies, address and finish as many of the announcements as possible before the baby’s due date.  After baby arrives, you likely won’t have as much time to spend on the announcements so if time is at a premium, you could try to do just 5 or 10 announcements a day until all of them are sent to your list.  Several ideas to consider are outlined below.  Making the announcements can be very fun and a great way to let your creativity shine!  

1)     Create a postcard birth announcement with your baby’s footprint.  You can buy plain white postcards and either a pink for a girl or light blue stamp pad for a girl at just about any office supply store (if you don’t know the sex of the baby, either buy one of each or buy the stamp pad after the baby is born).  You can pre-address and stamp all the postcards prior to the due date.  After the baby is born, use his/her foot on the stamp pad and then stamp the front of each postcard.  Your friends and family will all be thrilled to have their very own copy of the baby’s foot.  We recommend doing this one day when the baby is taking a nap.  Then just write the baby’s name and any statistics you want to include on the back of the postcard.  Or add one of these clever sayings: ‘Ten Little Toes, Each One As Precious As The Other’, ‘We’ve Increased The Size Of Our Home By Two Feet’ (you should use both of your baby’s feet on the card),  or ‘We Have Ten New Toes To Tickle’.

2)     Create a photo baby announcement.  After the baby is born, buy a baby t-shirt with his/her birth information and then take photo of them in the t-shirt.  If the baby has older siblings, you could include them by purchasing “I’m The Big Brother/Sister” t-shirts as well and then take the photo of all the children.  These shirts can be purchased at many online at stores including Baby Gifts & Gift Baskets. Buy postcard paper – three hole punch the photo and then tie together with ribbon.

3)     Using greeting card software, type the baby’s name and birth statistics right onto a picture post card featuring your new baby. Print addresses on the reverse, stamp and mail for a no-hassle, no envelope birth announcement.