I am the first to admit that I have been anti-shower game of any sort in years past - but I must have turned a corner somewhere along they way during all of the parties I've attended.

Yes, they can be annoying, eyeroll inducing and just downright corny. But they can also be ice-breakers for people who don't know each other. And there seems to be an expectation that there will be games when you attend a shower, and heck who doesn't like to win a prize?

After all my years of shower game negativity. I kind of sort of inadvertently volunteered to be in charge of shower games for our friend's shower next week. Did I really just do that? I thought to myself. Yes, yes I did.

As I was talking to the hostess about the impending shower I started listing off a laundry list of shower games from past baby showers of yore.

Let's see there's the:

  • Guess the guest of honor's belly circumference yarn game.
  • Take the labels off the baby food and pass them around and guess what they are game .
  • The melt the candy bar in the diaper, pass it around and sniff it and guess what kind it is game... (this is the one I really think takes shower games to their all time low...)
  • Match the wacky baby name with the celebrity game
  • The super stressful - you have 60 seconds to match the mismatched tiny baby socks, roll them up and see who gets the most game.
  • And who can forget the modeling clay version of pictionary using baby/pregnancy terms?
  • Or hey how about the one where everyone gets 5 diaper pins to wear - but you have to surrender one each time you say the word "baby" to whomever catches you saying the "b" word. The one who collects the most pins wins.

After the about the third game example listed, I came to the realization that I am a veteran at baby shower games. No noticeable war wounds. They are completely harmless and so I volunteered to play game show hostess at the party.

I started doing research and learned about a new game (at least it's new to me). It's called "Oops. My Water Broke!"

I'll explain - you freeze tiny little plastic babies (found at most craft stores) in an ice cube tray. Each guest gets a cube placed in their mimosa or what have you - and the first person to have their baby thaw out and tumble into their drink wins. Bonus: it gives you an opportunity to yell out "Oops my water broke!" How often do you get to do that?

It's a game of passive participation and pretty easy. Not annoying. Merely silly.

I just did a practice run in my freezer. I gotta say it was a bit disturbing to see little babies bobbing in my ice cube tray. Now I just need to make sure they don't thaw out on my drive to the shower next weekend.

Okay - I'm looking for more ideas for non-annoying shower games. And as long as I'm asking - how about prizes? Any good ideas. I grabbed a handful of Bonne Bell Lip Smackers - what are some other universally appreciated tchotskes?