Gender reveal parties and baby showers are quickly becoming a hot trend for parents who want to share the joyous news with friends and family around. The great thing about gender reveal parties is that men can be invited, too! The reveal can be for the guests or the guests and parents alike.

Use the Cake

A genius way to find out the sex of your baby is to use a gender reveal cake. How does it work, you ask? At your doctor visit, ask for the sex of the baby to be written and placed in a sealed envelope. By using food coloring to die the cake mix, the party guests will be learn the sex of the baby once the cake is cut into. On one episode of “Cake Boss” a couple enlisted the help of cake maker extraordinaire Buddy Valastroto make their gender reveal cake. This couple didn’t even know the sex of the baby until they cut into their cake, so it was a surprise to everyone. The cake itself can be decorated a variety of ways, depending on what the theme is of your party. Some ideas:

• Baby carried by a stork with the words, “He? She? Open to see!”
• A diaper shaped cake reading “It’s a. . .”
• A bee shaped cake reading “What could it bee”

Registering for Gifts

Since you don’t know the sex of the baby, you should ask for gender neutral, necessity items. They include:

• Crib, mattress and crib sheets
• Changing station
• Diapers and wipes
• Bath time items
• Onesies or any gender neutral clothes
• Stroller
• Car seat
• Portable crib
• Pack and play

Aside for the necessities, you can ask for gift cards and money, that way once the gender is revealed you can buy specific clothing items.  You could also ask for gifts that  benefit you as the parent, like parenting books. “The 10 Commandments of Parenting” is a great book for all new parents to read. Author Ed Young draws from decades of counseling and raising his children to help others by detailing clear and simple rules to parenting. Included amongst Young’s commandments are “Thou Shalt Spend Time With Thy Children” and “Thou Shalt Discipline Thy Children.”

Name Suggestions

Before the excitement of shower games and presents being unwrapped, what can guests do while eating food? Instead of having them sit there twiddling their thumbs and making idle chit-chat, encourage them to think of baby names.  Supply guests with pink and blue pieces of paper and have them write down name suggestions: one boy name and one girl name. At the end of the party, the mother-to-be can go through all the names and save the ones she likes.

The Games

The Diaper Game: This one is fun AND just the right amount of embarrassing for everyone involved. It includes diapers and poop (well, chocolate). Take a few varieties of chocolate bars and microwave one bar with one diaper. I recommend using Hershey’s, 100 Grand, Snickers and Twix bars. Once melted in the microwave, pass around the “loaded diapers” and have guests guess which diaper has which chocolate. This makes for some picture-worthy moments seeing as it looks like everyone is sniffing, and eating, a dirty diaper!

Old Wives Tales: Specific to gender reveal parties is the Old Wives Tales games, in which you ask the mother a series of questions, ultimately revealing the sex of the baby, according to the Old Wives Tales. Some questions include:

• Do you crave the heels of bread or the middle? Heels: Boy; Middle: Girl.
• Eating more or sick/nauseated: Eating more: Boy; Sick: Girl.
• During the pregnancy have you been crabby or happy? Crabby: Girl; Happy: Boy.
• Carrying low or high? Low: Boy; High: Girl.

Show Your Spirit: Not a game per se, but have the guests guess what the mommy will be having. Supply guests with either pink or blue pins and have them choose a side! The friendly competition will add the the fun of the party. Once they choose a side, have them wear the corresponding color.