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Guess the Due Date & Stats — baby shower game

✍️ Best Baby Shower Games Editorial Team · Updated May 2026

Guess the Due Date & Stats

Each guest writes down their guess for the baby's birth date, weight, length, and a few other stats on a prediction card. After the baby arrives, the parents pick the closest guess and mail the winner a small prize. The cards double as a keepsake the parents can frame.

  • 🤝 Low-pressure
  • ⚡ Quick
  • 💝 Sentimental
  • 📹 Works on Zoom
⏱ Prep
5 min
👥 Best for
Any size
🍷 Coed
Yes
📹 Virtual
Works on Zoom

What you'll need

  • Printed prediction cards — one per guest (Canva template, Etsy printable, or a quick Google Docs print)
  • Pens for every guest, plus 2–3 spares
  • A pretty wood box, basket, or small frame to display and store the submitted cards
  • A small mailable prize ($20 Amazon or Target gift card, candle, gift basket)
  • Padded envelopes and a roll of stamps for mailing the prize after the birth
  • A pen for the host to write the parents' mailing address as a fallback

Before the shower (setup)

  1. About a week before the shower, design the prediction card in Canva or a Google Doc. Add 4–6 fields per card: predicted birth date, time of day, weight (lbs + oz), length in inches, hair color, eye color. At the top, leave space for the guest's name and a phone number or email so the parents can reach the winner later. Free shower templates on Canva or printable PDFs on Etsy cost $3–$5 and look more polished than DIY ones — worth it.
  2. Print one card per guest plus 5 extra spares. Stack them with pens on a side table at the shower venue. Pick up a small wood box, woven basket, or a card-display frame at Target, Michaels, or HomeGoods (~$10–$15) — that's where guests will drop their finished cards. The box itself goes home with the mom-to-be as part of the keepsake.
  3. Pick a mailable prize and have it ready in a padded envelope, addressed to no one yet. Strong picks: a $20 Amazon or Target gift card (mails as a 1-ounce envelope), a Yankee Candle, or a small Anthropologie gift box. Skip prizes that don't travel — flowers, baked goods, fresh food. Have a roll of stamps and the parents' future mailing address noted somewhere safe so they don't have to track everything down postpartum.
Front-door setup for Guess the Due Date & Stats — basket of clothespins and a chalkboard rule sign by the entryway
Set up at the front door so the game starts the second guests walk in.

How to play

During the seated portion of the party — before or after gifts — point guests to the prediction-card table. Read the rules out loud: "Fill in your best guess on every line. Drop the finished card in the box. After the baby is born, the parents will pick the closest combined guess and mail the winner a prize." Give the room 10 minutes — most guests finish in 5.

While guests are writing, walk around with the box and answer questions. Common ones: "Is the due date the same as the birth date?" (No — guess the actual birth date, which is usually 1–10 days off the due date.) "What if my guess is way off?" (Submit it anyway — surprise guesses sometimes win.) Once everyone's submitted, take a clear photo of all the cards laid out flat. That photo gets sent to the parents that evening as a digital backup in case any physical cards get lost in the move home.

After the shower, hand the closed box of cards directly to the mom-to-be. Remind her how to score: closest birth date wins automatically; if two guests tied on date, closest weight breaks the tie; then closest length. About a week after the baby's born, the parents pull out the box, find the winner, and mail the prize. Most parents text the winner first so they don't think it's spam in the mailbox.

A hand lifting a clothespin off another guest's shirt — the steal moment in Guess the Due Date & Stats
The moment of the steal — someone slipped, someone caught it, pin changes hands.

Variations to try

  • Single-field version. Just the birth date — nothing else. Cuts the card to one line and one minute of guest writing. Faster to score (just rank by closest date) and easier for guests who hate forms. Best for older crowds or quick showers.
  • Public guess board. Use a giant poster board with a calendar covering the due-date month and the month after. Each guest writes their name on the date they're guessing. Everyone sees each other's guesses — adds a competitive layer where guests jockey to claim dates. Visually beautiful keepsake too.
  • Full-trait edition. Add fields for hair color, eye color, dimples or no dimples, and a "personality first impression" line. More fun to compare after the baby's born and photos start landing in the family group chat. Pair this with [[predict-the-birth-stats]] for a richer keepsake card.
  • Bet a buck. Each guest puts a $1 bill on the front of their card before submitting. The closest combined guess takes the whole pot. The parents can also add the pot to a college fund (529 plan deposit) instead — turns the game into a tiny baby gift.
  • Zoom version. Send a digital prediction form (Google Forms, Typeform) to all virtual guests a week before the call. Guests submit guesses online. Host downloads the responses as a PDF and mails them to the parents along with the prize. Reveals happen via group chat or email after the birth.

Pro tips from hosts who've actually run this

  • Collect contact info on every card. Otherwise mailing the prize means texting half your contacts to figure out which Sarah was guess #14.
  • Take a clear photo of all the cards before the parents leave the shower. Cards get lost in the move from venue to home more often than you'd think.
  • Announce the tiebreaker order upfront. "Date first, then weight, then length" — written on the card itself prevents confusion six weeks later.
  • Pick a mailable prize that travels well — gift cards, candles, small gift boxes. Skip flowers, fresh food, anything fragile.
  • Send the photo of the cards to the mom-to-be that evening. New parents love seeing it again during the postpartum weeks.
  • Pair with [[predict-the-birth-stats]] for a richer keepsake card. That game adds time-of-birth and trait-prediction fields.
  • Stamp and address the padded envelopes before you give them to the parents — they will thank you postpartum when even "finding stamps" feels like a chore.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Skipping contact info on the cards. Once the baby arrives, the parents have no way to actually mail the winner.
  • Forgetting to photograph the cards before they leave the shower venue. Cards get lost; without a digital backup the keepsake is gone.
  • Picking a non-mailable prize. Flowers, baked goods, fresh fruit — all fail. Stick to flat or sturdy items.
  • Not setting a tiebreaker rule upfront. Ties are common; without a rule the parents argue six weeks later about whose date was "closer."
  • Storing the cards in the diaper-bag closet. Parents forget about them entirely for months. Keep the box visible in the nursery or living room.

Best prize for this game

Pick something that mails cheaply and flat. Strong picks: a $20 Amazon, Target, or Trader Joe's gift card (mails in a regular envelope), a Yankee Candle in a padded box, a small Anthropologie gift box, or a basket of fancy tea. Avoid anything fragile or perishable — the prize might sit for 2–3 weeks before it ships. Pre-stamp and pre-address the padded envelope so the parents don't have to figure that out postpartum.

→ More baby shower prize ideas, by budget

Our verdict

The classic shower game that doubles as a keepsake — every guest leaves a written prediction the parents can frame on the nursery wall. Zero pressure during the party because the winner gets announced weeks later by the parents themselves.

Guess the Due Date & Stats — FAQ

When do I announce the winner?

About a week after the baby is born. That gives the parents time to recover, count the cards, and pick the closest guess. Mail the prize within 2–3 weeks of the birth. Don't pressure the parents — they're a little busy.

What if multiple guests guess the same date?

Use the secondary fields as tiebreakers. Closest weight wins next, then closest length. Print the tiebreaker order on the card itself so there's no confusion months later.

How do the parents actually calculate the winner?

They spread the cards out, sort by closest birth date, identify the top 1–2 cards, then break ties with weight and length. Takes about 10 minutes for 30 cards. Most parents do it during a quiet afternoon nap window.

Can guests guess the baby's sex on the card?

Only if the parents haven't announced it. Add it as a bonus field, not a scoring field. Don't make guests feel weird for guessing — keep it light.

How should the parents store the cards until they pick a winner?

In the original display box, taped shut so cards don't get rearranged. Store somewhere visible — on a kitchen shelf or in the nursery — not buried in the closet under the diaper bag.

Does this work for a Zoom shower?

Yes — see the Zoom variation. Send a Google Form or Typeform a week before the call, guests submit digitally. Print or save the responses as a PDF for the parents, and mail the prize after the birth like the in-person version.

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About the author

Best Baby Shower Games Editorial Team — Party planners, parents & writers. We’re a small team of party planners and parents who’ve hosted — and been guests at — dozens of baby showers. Every game here is sorted by what actually lands in a real room, not by what just looks cute on a Pinterest board.