An Adoption Shower?

Question

I am giving my sister an adoption shower. This is her first child and I am having a little trouble with the party games. The child she adopted is five years old, so the baby games won't work. Does anyone have suggestions for games you can play for an adoption? I want to make this just as special as if she had a baby.

Answer 1

She did have a baby...just happens to be five

Answer 2

The child will need plenty of "new normal" time to adjust with his/her immediate family, so you might want to plan to have the shower before he arrives.  That's usually how baby showers work, anyway (unless the baby arrives unexpectedly early).  New moms need their rest, too!

Here are some shower game suggestions:

Give each guest a piece of paper with the child's full name written on it.  Have each guest write one  five-year-old-like piece of advice, rule, or wish beside each name letter.  For example:

B... Beans are "the magical fruit."

E... Enjoy your first day of kindergarten!

N... Never talk to strangers.

Then, vote on your favorites.

If a lot of the guests are moms or interact with kids, you can do games based around characters that the 5-year-old will be familiar with.  Pictionary, matching games, charades, name-that-tune, etc. all work.  This helps introduce the new mom to Dora the Explorer, the Wiggles, Thomas the Tank Engine, and all of the other friends who will be entering her home along with the child ;)

Ask your guests to bring pictures of themselves at approx. five years old and have everyone guess who's who.

When mom opens her gifts, set a timer to ring after every 5-10 minutes.  Whoever's gift is being opened when the timer goes off gets a small prize.

It can also be fun to buy kid party games at the toy store and play them at the party but leave them for the new mom to enjoy with the child.  Electronic hot potato (with Mr Potato Head!) is a fun one.

Answer 3

1. Guess the number of Jelly beans in the jar. Then the child gets to eat the jelly beans when he/she is in the home.



2. How tall is the child? With the toilet paper squares. Like guess how big the soon to be Mommy's belly is.

3. Put the child's full name on a sheet of paper, one for each guest. Have them write words out of the child's name. Whoever has the most words in the end, wins.

Congratulations! Your going to be a Aunt!

Answer 4

When I adopted my daughter at 9, my older daughter and her Friend gave us a "shower".  I don't even remember if we played games or not.  What I do remember is the number of people who showed their support and love by being there.  Good luck with your shower.

Answer 5

Your baby shower doesnt have to be like everyone else's...build it around reality

Answer 6

How about a little quiz about the new child?  At my dad's fiftieth birthday party I did a quiz about him, the winner got a gift basket.  The point of this game is for family and friends to really learn about the child.  When you read the answers out loud everyone will learn that the new little girl's favorite animal, favorite sport, what she wants to be when she grows up... etc.

Answer 7

since she'll be five maybe you can have the moms race to do 5 year old type things. (tie shoes, pack a lunch for school, button a coat...) kind of like the shower game where the fastest diaperer wins.

Answer 8

I would have it like a mix of baby shower and birthday party. You can still have them give her parenting advice. But have fun children games for the guest to play. Although they are older they will still find it amusing.

Answer 9

You might call it a Welcome To The Family shower - the 5-yr old, presumably, will be in and around the party--and it could be a kind of special event for her/him too...here are your new mom's family and friends, all here to welcome YOU to the family!  If she/he has been in foster care, or in some impersonal situation where it wasn't ever considered family per se, what better than a Welcome Home event where [unlike with newborn or pre-born infants] the new kid in the family is part of the 'shower'.  Not sure there are any adoption games, per se, but certainly pencil/paper word games and such would be entertaining enuf, with perhaps a drawing for a 'surprise' gift [let the new kid do the drawing perhaps?]...good eats and lots of love, that's all you need.  Photo albums from your and your sister's childhood might be fun...can you pick out mommy or auntie...give the new kid a sense of continuity where she/he may have come in late but can still catch up with the family...like she/he finally got here, right?