Choose a Theme

• To make your baby shower more unique, start by giving it an unusual theme. Most baby showers are small gatherings of friends and family, usually women. Consider making yours a couples shower and inviting husbands as well. Or make it a formal tea party and give all the ladies a chance to dress up. If you're holding the shower a few months before the due date, then use the season when the baby will be born as inspiration for your theme: imagine a "summer baby" shower in early spring, or a Christmas shower in October. Or use the decoration theme that the mom is planning for her nursery as inspiration for your party theme.
  
  

Modify Games

• You don't have to use the same baby shower games you've seen at showers in the past. In fact, you can modify any fun party game to make it fit your theme and to be a perfect activity for your baby shower. For example, if you've chosen a princess theme for your shower, you could modify a storytelling game. Prepare a bag of small toys that all have to do with your princess theme, like a knight, a princess hat, a castle, a pea and a frog. Have each guest pull a toy out of the bag. Then have one person begin with "once upon a time" and start making up a story. They must incorporate the toy they drew into the story, and the story must have something to do with the baby who will be born. After one minute, the first person stops, and the next person continues the same story, incorporating their toy into their portion of the story. Keep the story going until everyone has had a chance to contribute. By the end, you'll have invented a completely unique princess fairy tale. You can use this storytelling game for any theme simply by changing the items or prompts you give each storyteller. For example, for an ABC theme, have every guest pick a letter of the alphabet that they must use as frequently as possible during their section of the story.
  
  There are many other games that you can modify to make them fit with any theme. Another game is collaborative drawing. Start with several pieces of butcher paper and some markers. Divide your group into teams of three (each team should have one piece of butcher paper). The goal for each team is to draw a picture of the baby (or of the pregnant mom). Put the butcher paper on a table where the other team members can't see it, and let the first person go up and draw the head and face. When she finishes, she should fold the paper down so her drawing cannot be seen. Then the second player comes up and draws the body and arms. The final player draws the legs and feet. The best drawing, of course, wins a prize.
  
  Another game you can easily adapt for any theme is a charades race. You can play with two teams or with one team against a time limit. Tell everyone ahead of time what the categories are; there should be two or three categories that all go with your theme. For example, for a frog theme shower, your categories could be babies, things you find in ponds and things that are green. Make a list of words to use for charades, and then set the timer and have fun. If you play in teams, each team should get the same list of words, and the first team to finish all the words wins.
  
  

Make it Meaningful

• Another way to make your baby shower activities unique is to include meaningful activities that will inspire and encourage the mom-to-be. One way to do this is by holding a blessing ceremony that honors the new mom's transition into motherhood. Some activities for this could include praying for the mom or saying words of encouragement to her about labor and motherhood. You could have guests make a birthing necklace for her by each taking a stone or bead and saying a wish for the new mom. You then use the stones to make a necklace which she can wear during labor as a reminder of the positive wishes she heard from her friends and family.