Baby shower prediction cards ask each guest to guess the details of a birth that has not happened yet: the date, the time, the weight, the hair, sometimes the name. Guests fill one in, the host collects them, and the cards are read back once the baby has actually arrived.
That delay is what separates them from every other shower game. Nothing is resolved on the day. The cards sit in an envelope for weeks, and then one afternoon somebody opens them and finds out that eleven people were wrong about the date and one person was right to the hour.
What to put on the card
Five or six fields, no more. A card asking twelve questions gets three answered.
- Date of birth. The central guess, and the one everyone has an opinion about.
- Time of day. Narrows the field usefully when several people pick the same date.
- Weight. Wildly guessed by anyone who has not had children, which is part of the fun.
- Hair — how much, what colour. A reliable source of laughter later.
- Who the baby will look like. Say one parent, not "describe the face".
- One wish or one piece of advice. The line that turns a game card into something kept.
Two to leave off. The name, unless the parents have said it is undecided and they want ideas — otherwise it puts them in the position of publicly rejecting suggestions from relatives. And the sex, unless it genuinely is not known and the parents are happy to make a game of it; asking at a shower where it has already been announced is just a blank square.
Leave every field optional. There will be a great-aunt who wants to write a wish and nothing else, and her card is often the best one.
Running it without making anyone do anything
- Put the cards on a side table with pens, not on the seats. This is the game people drift over to rather than being handed.
- Say it exists once, early, and then leave it alone. One sentence: "there are prediction cards on the table if you want one."
- Have a visible box or envelope to put them in. Without one, finished cards end up under plates.
- Ask the parents first whether they want any read out. Some love it; some would rather open them privately afterwards, especially the advice ones.
- Collect them before the gifts, when people are seated and attentive, rather than chasing at the door.
- Write the date and the shower on the envelope. It will be in a drawer for two months.
The part everyone forgets: reading them back
This is where the entire value of the game sits, and it is routinely skipped because a new baby arrives and nobody thinks about an envelope.
Put a reminder somewhere — in the diary, on the envelope, with whoever hosted. A fortnight or so after the birth, when things have settled slightly, go through them.
Sort by how close each guess was to the real date and time. There is nearly always one person who is uncannily accurate and one who was three weeks out, and both are worth mentioning. A small prize posted to the winner is a nice touch and costs almost nothing.
Then photograph the cards, or at least the best ones, and send the result round to everyone who came. It is a second point of contact with the people who were at the shower, at exactly the moment when new parents disappear from view for a few months.
For more ideas, visit our baby shower printables, or see wishes for baby cards for the version that is purely a keepsake. Ready to choose a download? Browse TheDigitaLegacy on Etsy, including Halloween and boho autumn invitation designs.
A second card for the same guests
One variation worth knowing, because it costs an extra sheet and doubles what the family ends up with.
Print the prediction card double-sided: guesses on the front, and on the back a single line — "something I hope you get to do with this child". The guessing side is the game and the back is the keepsake, and people who would skip a sentimental card will fill one in without noticing, because they came for the game.
It also means you are not running two separate tables. At a small shower, one card doing both jobs is simpler than a prediction station and a wishes station competing for the same twenty people.
Printing and keeping them
Cardstock, 160 gsm or heavier. These are being kept for years and handled by a lot of people on the day.
Half-page or postcard size. Big enough to write on in a lap, small enough that the whole set fits in one box afterwards.
One per guest plus ten. More people fill these in than any other shower sheet, including the ones who skipped every game.
Leave real room for the wish. Most templates give it one short line, which forces people to write "good luck". Three lines, full width.
Store them with the shower photographs, not separately. Two boxes is how half a keepsake gets lost.
Frequently asked questions
What questions go on baby shower prediction cards?
Date, time, weight, hair, who the baby will look like, and one wish. Five or six fields is the right number.
Should we ask guests to guess the name?
Only if the parents have asked for suggestions. Otherwise it puts them in the position of publicly turning down family ideas.
When should guests fill them in?
Any time during the shower. Leave the cards on a side table with pens and mention them once.
Who wins, and when?
Whoever is closest to the real date and time, worked out after the birth. Post them a small prize.
Do these work for a virtual shower?
Very well. Email the card in advance and ask for a photograph back, then print them and add them to the set.
What do I receive when I buy printable prediction cards?
PDF files, downloaded instantly and printed as many times as you need. Nothing physical is shipped.
More printable baby shower games and keepsakes
This guide is part of our baby shower printables collection.
- Wishes for Baby Cards — the matching keepsake
- Printable Baby Shower Games — the full overview
- Baby Shower Bingo
- Baby Shower Word Search
- Baby Shower Trivia
- Baby Shower Emoji Game
- Co-Ed Baby Shower Games
Keeping the cards afterwards? See our family keepsakes collection.