✍️ Best Baby Shower Games Editorial Team · Updated May 2026

Saran Wrap Prize Ball

Build a softball-sized ball out of plastic wrap with prizes hidden between every couple of layers and a big prize at the dead center. Players unwrap with bare hands while the dice keep rolling — when someone hits doubles, the ball gets snatched away mid-unwrap. The Saran Wrap baby shower game is chaos and it's the photo-op of the entire shower.

✅ Crowd-pleaser
🏃 Active

⏱ Prep: 30 min+
👥 Best for: 8–25 guests
🍷 Coed: Yes
📹 Virtual: In person

What you'll need

One full roll of plastic wrap — Saran or Reynolds from Costco for around $6, or a smaller roll from Target if you're making a single ball
15–25 small prizes between layers (mini Hershey's, EOS lip balms, scratch-off lottery tickets, mini Burt's Bees, gum, $1 bills) — $20 total from the Target dollar section or Trader Joe's checkout aisle
One nice grand prize for the center — a $30 Target gift card, a Yankee Candle classic, or a small bottle of wine from Trader Joe's
Two regular six-sided dice from any board game or a Walmart two-pack ($3)
Oven mitts from the kitchen drawer — optional but the mitten variation is the photo every group chat shares for weeks
A clear stretch of living-room floor or a low coffee table for the unwrapping circle

Before the shower (setup)

Three full days before the shower, build the ball. Don't rush this part — the morning-of build always ends in loose wrapping and the first player wins the whole ball in twenty seconds. Pour a glass of wine, put on a movie, and dedicate forty-five minutes. Start with your grand prize at the center: a $30 Target gift card slipped into a small envelope, a Yankee Candle classic in its box, or a small bottle of wine for an over-21 shower. Wrap the grand prize tightly in five or six initial layers of plastic wrap. Pre-stretch each piece before you wrap so it sticks to itself.
Now build outward. After every couple of layers, tuck a small prize against the ball — mini Hershey's, an EOS lip balm, a scratch-off lottery ticket, a folded $1 bill, a mini Burt's Bees lip balm — and wrap right over it so it's locked in. The Target dollar section is a goldmine for these; $20 worth fills a softball-sized ball easily. Keep wrapping. Mix prize sizes so guests later in the round still find something good. Your finished ball should be roughly softball-sized and packed tight enough that bare hands can't tear it without effort.
Lay out the playing area on shower day. A clear stretch of living-room floor with everyone sitting in a circle works best. A low coffee table also works if you want a centerpiece feel. Set the two dice next to where the starting player will sit. Have the prize you're hoping survives the round (the grand prize tucked deep inside) introduced verbally — "there's a $30 Target gift card at the center of this ball." That's the motivation. Pull oven mitts out of the kitchen drawer and decide ahead of time if you're running the mitten variation (it doubles the round time but the photos are gold).

Front-door setup for Saran Wrap Prize Ball — 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

Once everyone's seated in the circle, hand the Saran wrap ball to the first player and the dice to the player on their left. Walk through the rules out loud. "You unwrap with bare hands as fast as you can. The person next to you is rolling these two dice over and over. The instant they roll doubles — any pair, two ones or two sixes — they grab the ball from you. Whatever fell out of the ball before that moment is yours to keep. Then they're unwrapping and the player to their left is rolling. We keep going until the ball is gone and someone finds the grand prize."

Call go and watch the chaos start. The unwrapper is shredding plastic with bare hands while the dice player is rolling at top speed — two dice, two dice, two dice, until doubles hit. Sometimes that's three seconds, sometimes it's a full minute. Whoever's holding the ball when doubles hit hands it off, and the ball keeps moving around the circle. Prizes fall out as layers come off — players pocket them quickly. The whole game is loud, fast, and exactly the kind of chaos that ends with someone bumping into a coffee table. Watch elbows, watch glassware.

Continue around the circle until the final layers come off and the grand prize is revealed. Whoever unwraps the layer with the grand prize wins it. Hand the prize over right then and let everyone collect the small prizes they pocketed along the way. The whole Saran Wrap baby shower game runs about fifteen to twenty-five minutes for a circle of ten to fifteen players. Take a group photo with everyone holding their prizes — that's the photo every shower group ends up sharing in the group chat afterward.

A hand lifting a clothespin off another guest's shirt — the steal moment in Saran Wrap Prize Ball — The moment of the steal — someone slipped, someone caught it, pin changes hands.

Variations to try

Single die. Roll a single die instead of two. The unwrapper holds the ball until the roller hits a 6. Faster — best for small groups (under eight) where the round needs to keep moving.
Mitten chaos. Force the unwrapper to wear oven mitts. Brutal. Doubles the round time, multiplies the laughs by ten. The photos from the mitten version are gold for the parents' baby book and the group chat.
Themed ball with one giant grand prize. Skip the small in-between prizes entirely. Build a ball with nothing but layers and one excellent grand prize ($50 Target gift card, a nice candle set). Players fight harder for the final layers because there's only one prize.
Two-ball chaos. Build two balls and run them in opposite directions around the circle simultaneously. Twice the action, twice the chaos, half the round time. Best for a group of twenty or more where one ball moves too slowly.
Pair with [[pass-the-parcel-baby]]. Both wrap-and-unwrap games but with different mechanics. Run Saran Wrap Ball as the centerpiece chaos game; run Pass the Parcel earlier as the calmer warm-up. Forty-minute games block total.

Pro tips from hosts who've actually run this

Pre-stretch every layer of plastic wrap before wrapping. Loose wrapping means the first player wins the whole ball in twenty seconds and there's no game.
Mix prize sizes through the layers. Big prize at the center is a given; mix mini candy with $1 bills and lip balms so even mid-round players score something worth pocketing.
Time the round. If it drags past twenty-five minutes, switch from doubles-only to any-pair-or-7 rolls to speed things up.
Build the ball three days in advance, not the morning of. Rushed builds equal loose wrapping equal a five-minute round.
One named grand prize at the center is the bait. Without it, the ball loses momentum around layer ten and players check out.
Film it. The flailing-with-mittens version is gold for the parents' future kid-watching-this-someday moment. The group chat will love it too.
Have a trash bag ready next to the circle. Plastic wrap shreds everywhere and cleanup goes way faster if guests can drop scraps as they unwrap.

Common mistakes to avoid

Building the ball the morning of the shower. Rushed wrapping is loose; loose wrapping means the first player wins the whole ball in thirty seconds.
Forgetting the grand prize at the center. Without a substantial prize at the core, players lose interest after a few rounds of unwrapping for mini candy bars.
Letting one player keep the ball through multiple doubles. The whole game is the passing — enforce it strictly when doubles hit.
Skipping the trash bag. Plastic wrap shreds across the floor and stays there for the rest of the shower if you don't have a designated trash spot.
Running on hardwood without a blanket. Plastic scraps stick to socks and follow guests around. A blanket or rug under the circle catches the mess.

Best prize for this game

The Saran Wrap baby shower game lives or dies on its prize layering. Grand prize at the center: a $30 Target gift card, a Yankee Candle classic in a gift box, or a Bath & Body Works lotion-soap-spray trio ($30). Small prizes between layers: mini Hershey's bars ($3 a bag at Target), EOS lip balms ($3 each), scratch-off lottery tickets ($1–$5 each), gum, $1 bills, mini hand sanitizers from Bath & Body Works ($1.50 each). Aim for $20 total spent on small prizes across fifteen to twenty placements through the ball. Announce the grand prize by name before the round starts to set the motivation.

→ More baby shower prize ideas, by budget

Our verdict

Forty-five minutes of prep, twenty minutes of pure chaos, and the photos from the Saran Wrap baby shower game game show up in the parents' first-birthday slideshow. Worth every minute of building.

Saran Wrap Prize Ball — FAQ

How much plastic wrap do I need for the Saran Wrap baby shower game?

One full Costco-sized roll of Saran or Reynolds (around $6) covers a softball-sized ball easily. Two rolls if you want a softball-plus version for a guest list over twenty. A standard Target roll works for a smaller ball but you'll run out fast.

What prizes work best inside the Saran Wrap ball?

Small, flat, candy-bar-sized items: lottery scratch-off tickets, mini Hershey's bars, EOS lip balms, gum, $1 bills, mini hand sanitizers, gift card envelopes. Skip anything sharp (no pins), anything liquid that could leak (no full lip glosses), and anything fragile. The Target dollar section is the cheapest place to load up.

How long does the Saran Wrap baby shower game take?

Fifteen to twenty-five minutes for a softball-sized ball with eight to fifteen players. The mitten variation can stretch it to thirty-five. Plan it as your centerpiece game — usually mid-shower after gift opening, before cake.

How tightly should I wrap the layers of the prize ball?

Tight enough that bare hands can't rip the first layer off in three seconds, but not so tight that fingers can't find an edge to start. Pre-stretch each layer of plastic wrap before wrapping — that's the trick to a ball that holds together long enough to actually play.

Can the Saran Wrap baby shower game run outdoors?

Yes — even better outside in a backyard, because the plastic wrap scraps blow away on their own. Have a trash bag tied to a chair leg for cleanup. Avoid running it on grass during a windy day or you'll be chasing scraps later.

Is the Saran Wrap baby shower game safe for older relatives?

Yes, with a tweak. Seat grandparents next to a younger guest who can roll the dice fast on their behalf. The unwrapping motion is easy on the hands; the only physical demand is bare-hands tearing, which works for any age.

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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.