One brain-wracking part of planning a baby shower is coming up with games and activities which the guests won't find boring, tedious, or too silly to do. There are a lot of fun things and activities that you can do which everyone will enjoy and could pass the time during the quieter parts of the baby shower. One of these is the baby shower auction game. Sounds interesting? Read on!
In truth, these games could be money-generating or just for fun, it would all depend on the situation the parents-to-be are in. For example, one of the activities that could be done near the end of the shower would be to have some gift items available that the guests could bid on.
These don't have to be and shouldn't be outrageously expensive. Something like a kit of good toiletries, a pretty shawl, even a pack of phone cards could be the items put up for bid. Either the hostess can supply these or the guests can bring two gifts – one for the coming baby and the other for the auction. Having them wrapped ups the suspense of the game and can result in spectacular bids.
After the auction is done, the winning bidder gets the prize awarded to him or her and the money collected gets presented to the parents-to-be. These would probably go into a hospital or milk fund for the baby.
If you want to make this game more thrilling, allow a trade of prizes to go on after everyone has been awarded. You could have this either before or after the gifts have been opened.
For a non-money generating version of the auction game, why not give each guest an amount of play money or Monopoly money to use on bidding for things around the baby shower, like the centerpieces on the tables or some of the decorations used around the party area? Or to make it more fun, play a trivia game and award each table a corresponding amount of money for every correct answer they give. Only the first to answer gets an award. The questions don't just have to be those that center around this baby, either. It can be about any kind of pregnancy, childbirth, or baby trivia.
The guests can also get five “dollars” of play money for every five diapers that they bring to the shower. With diapers going for a dollar apiece, they'll be trucking in quite a load that the new parents may not have to buy diapers for a few months.
If it's a big gathering, you could separate the guests into groups and have them bid against each other. The hostess could act as auctioneer and this can be done while the mommy-to-be is busy opening gifts and listing down the givers.
It's a great way to keep the guests occupied and also to facilitate
cleaning up afterward. You'll be sure that everyone goes home with
something! And do award a prize to the best auction maven of the
baby shower.