Gender reveal games can be as simple as having guests guess the baby's sex or arrival date, suggest baby names, or share helpful advice. Or they can involve song titles, celebrities, baby charades, or even a treasure hunt. Choose one or a handful, depending on whether you're going for mostly mingle time or nonstop activity.

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Key-Takeaways
  • Gender reveal games boost energy and connection. From simple guessing games to interactive activities like charades or treasure hunts, games help break the ice, get guests mingling, and build excitement before (and after) the big reveal.
  • You can tailor games to your party style. Whether you want a laid-back gathering or a high-energy event, choose one to three games for shorter or virtual parties, or plan a fuller lineup for longer, in-person celebrations.
  • A little planning goes a long way. Prepping supplies, timing games thoughtfully, and having a few backup ideas ensures everything runs smoothly — so you can focus on celebrating with loved ones.

Why add games to your gender reveal party?

While the big reveal moment itself will undoubtedly be the main event at your gender reveal party, playing some fun gender reveal games is one way to make your soirée even more special.

Games not only make your gathering livelier, but they can also kick-start the party and help guests get to know one another. They can even build anticipation before the reveal (or keep the good vibes going afterwards).

What are some good gender reveal games?

Ready to let the games begin? Here are some of our favorite gender reveal game ideas:

A to Z baby names

Get the fun going with this fast-paced game that tests your guests' baby name knowledge. It works just as well for in-person events as it does for virtual parties.

What you'll need:

How to play:

  1. Pass out paper or printables and writing utensils to guests (or have virtual guests locate their own supplies).
  2. Ask everyone to write a girl name for every letter of the alphabet, from A to Z.
  3. Repeat with boy names.
  4. The first person to finish their list wins.

You can also play this game after the reveal and just do one round based on the baby's sex.

How old was I?

Have loved ones guess the ages of the parents-to-be in old photos — a sweet nod to all the photos they'll soon be taking of their baby!

What you'll need:

  • Childhood photos of the parents-to-be at various ages
  • A bulletin board or magnet board
  • Paper
  • Pens or pencils

How to play:

  1. Before the party, hang the photos of the parents-to-be on the board.
  2. Number the photos (with a sticky note or other method). Feel free to add surrounding stickers or decorations to zhuzh the board up even more.
  3. At the event, have guests write down the ages represented in each photo on a piece of paper.
  4. The person who gets the most ages correct wins!

Baby name suggestions

Do the parents of honor still need to land on a name for their little one? Crowdsource ideas from guests with this easy, low-key activity.

What you'll need:

  • Two containers (bowls or baskets, for example) — one labeled "boy names" and the other labeled "girl names"
  • A sign prompting guests to submit name suggestions
  • Slips of paper
  • Pens or pencils

How to play:

  1. Set up the bowls or baskets in a central area, such as near the food or drinks.
  2. Ask guests to jot down name ideas and drop them into the appropriate bowl or basket.
  3. Read the names out loud near the end of the party, if you like.

Guess that celebrity baby name

Weave some fun pop culture into your fête by testing guests' knowledge of celebrity baby names.

What you'll need:

  • A list of celebrities and their babies' names
  • Pens or pencils

How to play:

  1. Create a matching quiz with celebrity names and baby names out of order.
  2. Make copies of the quiz.
  3. At your gathering, pass out the quiz and writing utensils and see who can match up the most correct pairings!
  4. The person with the most correct answers wins.

Boy or girl?

Have guests cast their predictions in a fun, visual way.

What you'll need:

  • Pink or blue necklaces, pins, or stickers

How to play:

As guests arrive, ask them to choose a pink or blue wearable item based on their prediction. This doubles as an easy icebreaker.

You can keep this fun gender reveal idea going by serving both pink- and blue-hued food and drinks, too.

What to Expect Community member mommatobeee2020 hosted a football-themed gender reveal. Upon arrival, guests chose “Team Blue” or “Team Pink” and received a matching football pin based on their pick. For the big moment, her fiancé kicked a football — revealing they were expecting a girl!

Name popularity quiz

Partygoers guess whether certain names are more popular among baby girls or baby boys.

What you'll need:

  • A list of 10 to 20 unisex baby names (think Cameron, Blake, Taylor, and Emerson) and their popularity rankings for both baby boys and girls. (You can use What to Expect's lists of baby girl and baby boy names.)

How to play:

  1. Read each name aloud.
  2. Ask your loved ones to guess whether they think the name is a more popular moniker for girls or for boys. (For instance, Cameron is currently the 66th most popular boy name in the U.S., but only the 485th most popular girl name — meaning anyone who voted "boy" would be correct.)
  3. You can have guests jot down their answers or simply raise their hands.
  4. The person who gets the most guesses right wins.

Helpful advice

Have a lot of fellow parents on your guest list? Ask them to leave behind a piece of advice they wish they'd known before welcoming their own little ones. Bonus: This gender reveal game provides the parents-to-be with support and motivation long after the party is over.

What you'll need:

  • A blank book or strips of paper and a container
  • Pens or pencils

How to play:

  1. Set the book or papers at a central location at your party.
  2. Ask guests to contribute their top piece of advice for the parents of honor during their exciting new chapter.

Who knows the parents-to-be best?

Put guests' knowledge to the test with trivia about the parents.

What you'll need:

  • A list of about 10 to 15 questions about the parents of honor, such as "What are their middle names?" or "What are their favorite foods?"
  • Paper
  • Pens or pencils

How to play:

  1. Read each question out loud.
  2. Have guests jot down their answers.
  3. Reveal the answers.
  4. The guest with the most correct answers wins.

This game is perfect for tailoring around gender reveal themes, since the questions are totally up to you. For instance, if you're throwing a Harry Potter-themed party, ask guests which Hogwarts houses the parents-to-be consider themselves in.

Guess the song title

This is the perfect gender reveal game for music lovers.

What you'll need:

  • Lists of five to 10 song lyrics that revolve around your gender reveal party with words like "pink," "blue," "girl," or "boy" in them. For instance, the lyric could be, "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day, when it's cold outside, I've got the month of May," and the answer would be "My Girl" by The Temptations.
  • Pens or pencils

How to play:

  1. Pass out the list of song lyrics and writing utensils.
  2. Have guests write down the song title next to each lyric on the page.
  3. The person who correctly guesses the most song titles wins.

How many jellybeans?

Looking for a short-yet-sweet game to add to your line-up? Have guests estimate how many pink and blue jellybeans are in a chock-full jar.

What you'll need:

  • A jar filled with pink and blue jellybeans or other candy (count the number of beans as you add them to the jar)
  • A sign that says “How many jellybeans are in the jar?”
  • Slips of paper
  • Pens or pencils

How to play:

  1. Place the sign, slips of paper, and writing utensils next to the candy jar in an obvious location.
  2. Have guests jot down the number of jellybeans they think are in the jar.
  3. The person who gets the closest wins. (Bonus points if anyone hits the exact number!)

Guest book guessing

Turn your guest book into a prediction game.

What you'll need:

  • A guest book (or paper)
  • A small sign with instructions
  • Pink and blue pens

How to play:

  1. Place pink and blue pens near your guest book.
  2. Prop up a small sign that tells guests to sign their name in pink or blue based on whether they predict the parents-to-be are expecting a girl or boy.
  3. Have the parents-to-be reflect on everyone's predictions after the party is over while reading the sweet guest notes.

Pro tip: Leave out a couple extra pens in case one goes missing or runs out of ink.

Don't say "baby"

In this harder-than-it-sounds game, it's all about what you don't say. Prompt guests to avoid saying the word "baby" and see who's most successful!

What you'll need:

  • Stickers, safety pins, necklaces, or another accessory
  • A timer (optional)

How to play:

  1. Give each guest one sticker (or safety pin, necklace, or other accessory) to wear.
  2. Tell guests that the aim of the game is to avoid saying the word "baby," whether it's for 20 minutes or the entire event.
  3. If anyone slips up and says "baby," the guest who catches them gets to steal their sticker.
  4. The guest with the most stickers at the end of the timer (or the party) wins.

What's my name?

If the parents of honor want to share their little one's name ahead of time, this game bumps your event's excitement level up a notch.

What you'll need:

  • Lists of possible first and middle names, including the name chosen for the baby
  • Pens or pencils

How to play:

  1. Pass out the lists and have participants guess the baby’s first name from the list.
  2. Have them guess what the middle name is.
  3. The closest guess wins.

Note: This game works best for parents who already have a name planned and don't mind revealing the name in advance.

Baby charades

Laughs are sure to ensue in a baby-themed version of this classic party activity.

What you'll need:

  • A container (bowl, hat, basket)
  • Baby-themed charade prompts

How to play:

  1. Before the party, write down a handful of baby-themed charade prompts on small paper slips — like "changing a diaper" or "swaddling a baby" — and put them into a bowl or hat.
  2. Divide your guests into two groups — or better yet, tell everyone to split up into "Team Boy" or "Team Girl" based on their predictions.
  3. Have each team take turns acting out the prompts.
  4. The first team to guess each prompt correctly gets a point! Tally the points to determine the final winning team.

Baby item bonanza

Divide your guests into two teams to see who can think of the most baby gear under pressure!

What you'll need:

  • Paper
  • Pens or pencils
  • A timer

How to play:

  1. Divide your guest list into two teams, whether that's by counting off or by dividing into "Team Boy" and "Team Girl."
  2. Give each team a sheet of paper and a writing utensil.
  3. Set a timer for one minute.
  4. During that minute, both teams work together to write down as many baby items as they can — diapers, strollers, bottles, you name it — in the time allotted.
  5. The team with the most items wins.

Birthday predictions

In this easy party activity, guests do their best to predict what day the baby will be born.

What you'll need:

  • A large calendar
  • Sticky notes
  • Pens or pencils

How to play:

  1. Prop the calendar in a common space.
  2. Note the baby's due date on the calendar.
  3. Post a sign encouraging loved ones to guess your baby's future birthday.
  4. Have guests write their names down on sticky notes and then place them on their predicted date!
  5. Follow up after your baby arrives to see who was closest.

Baby treasure hunt

Send guests on a frenzied treasure hunt to find as many baby-themed items as they can! Heads-up: This game is especially fun for any kiddos at your party.

What you'll need:

  • Small baby-themed items, such as pacifiers

How to play:

  1. Before the party, hide an array of baby-themed decorations around your house or yard. (Make sure to note where everything is tucked away and how many items are hidden!)
  2. Set a timer for about five to 10 minutes and send guests searching.
  3. The person (or team) who finds the most items wins!

You could tailor the items according to your baby's sex, too. "With my daughter, we found out right before Thanksgiving," says Community mom rachelpasserini. "So we bought clear Christmas ornaments, filled them with pink confetti, and wrote her name on them. Then we did a scavenger hunt for them."

How many games should you play at a gender reveal?

There's no hard-and-fast rule about the "right" number of games to play at a gender reveal party. Some parents-to-be like to play one or two games and spend the rest of the event socializing, while others prefer to plan a game-packed itinerary — so whatever you feel is right will be fine.

But if you're looking for some guidance, consider how long you want your party to last and whether it'll be an in-person or virtual event. If you're planning a whole-afternoon, in-person soirée, it's smart to keep plenty of game ideas in your back pocket to fill the time. But if you're planning a shorter event or hosting your gathering virtually, one to three games should be plenty.

How can I make sure the gender reveal games are a success?

For your gender reveal games to be successful (and to keep your hosting jitters to a minimum), take some time to think through your plan well ahead of time. Consider how many games you'll want and in what order, for example, where they'll take place, and what supplies you'll need.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Do a dry run before the party

A few days before the event, talk through the flow of the event (including the games) to make sure it feels natural transitioning from one activity to the next. (For example, any games that include loved ones guessing the baby's gender come before the big reveal.) You'll feel more confident during the party knowing you've thought through your run of show.

Think about each game's components

If you're playing a few games that involve guests writing down answers on a piece of paper, consider playing them back-to-back so that you can hand out all the paper and writing utensils they'll need at once, rather than needing to do so multiple times.

Consider each game's length

If you're planning to play multiple games, consider alternating between one short game and one long one. That way, guests won't feel fatigued and the atmosphere stays lively.

Keep the location in mind

If you're hosting a virtual party, modify your gender reveal party games so everyone can play them at home. (You might want to send guests a list of items to have at the ready before the event begins, like a pen and pad of paper.)

Prepare more games than needed

It's not a bad idea to plan out one or two more gender reveal games than you think you'll play. That way, if there's a lull in conversation or you run through activities faster than anticipated, you'll have backup ideas ready to go.

What can you give out as prizes for gender reveal games?

There's no pressure to hand out prizes at your party — after all, everyone's presence is the best present! But if you'd like to up the ante (and the friendly competition), you can hand out small prizes to the winners of the gender reveal games.

Want some inspiration? Here are a few prize ideas to consider:

  • Self-care gifts (think lotion, sheet masks, or bath bombs)
  • Snacks or sweet treats (candy, chocolate, popcorn, trail mix)
  • Bud vases with fresh or dried flowers
  • Inexpensive gift cards
  • Small potted plants
  • Coffee mugs
  • Lip balm
  • Bookmarks
  • Candles
  • Small baking kits

Remember, the important thing is to have fun and feel all the love from friends and family during this special event. Any prizes will be extra icing on the cake.

Want to keep the celebration going? From baby name inspo to fun ways to track your bump, the What to Expect app is full of ideas and support for this exciting chapter.