# Is this baby shower quiz too hard?



## Smokering (Sep 5, 2007)

So I wrote a quiz for a game at SIL's baby shower - the guests are going to be divided into two teams to answer, and there'll be a mix of people who've never had babies, people who've recently had them and people who had them a few years ago. MIL thinks the quiz might be too hard; I don't (I wrote it off the top of my head, without having to look any facts up), but I'm a bit of a pregnancy/birth geek. I asked my mother a few of the questions and she said they were easy, but then we both remembered she was an ex-midwife.







So what do you think? I don't want to turn the party into an exam...

The baby quiz

If you do think it's too hard or too boring, any ideas for easier/more fun/more easily answerable by the childless questions? I am planning to include a few "What's SIL's nickname for the baby?"-type questions as well.


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## camera_mama (Jun 4, 2009)

I think that most of the stuff on the quiz is too hard for people, especially if they are childless or not really into the whole birth culture. I would stick to fluffier questions.


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## MadiMamacita (Jan 29, 2006)

some were too hard- i'd revise 3, 12, and 14 specifically. those were the ones i thought would be least accessible to the general public. fun idea!


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## samstress (Feb 21, 2008)

sorry, but this quiz doesn't look like much fun at all.

are you not wanting to do the typical baby shower games?


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## 1growingsprout (Nov 14, 2005)

Those questions are way too hard.
Why not stick with the more traditional 'fluff' questions... The shower should be fun, not reminscient of a college biology exit exam.







:


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## Smokering (Sep 5, 2007)

Hmph. Well, OK, the People have Spoken. What would you consider appropriately "fluffy" questions, then? I've already put in a few about celebrity baby names and baby book finish-the-sentences. I'm trying to avoid anything that might have contentious answer, as there'll be mix of mainstream and non-mainstream mothers there (so no "Is CIO evil?" questions!)









See, _I'd_ find all those questions fun... if I didn't know the answer to, say, the question about fetal hair and someone said "Lanugo" I'd be all "Cool! Lanugo. That's interesting", and store it up as a random factoid next to "how to sing 'Into the West' in Quenya" and "when was cheesecake invented" (ancient Greece, if anyone's interested). So it's very possible my definition of "fun" is a little off. But 1growingsprout... an angry face? Really?









samstress, we're doing some games, yeah. The quiz isn't a totally random idea, there are plenty of them online. I just thought most of them were too boring.


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## ~pi (May 4, 2005)

I disagree with pps. I think you could absolutely use that list, but you might want to make it a team game, i.e. divide the group into two teams, give each team a "buzzer" (i.e. give one team a loud rattle and the other a squeaky toy) and have them compete like a quiz show. You start to read the question; the first team to make a noise gets to answer the question (+1 point if they get it right, -1 if they get it wrong); if the buzzing team gets it wrong, the other team can try for a steal (+1 if right, no penalty for wrong.) This type of game tends to work best if once a team buzzes, they have a short time limit on how long they have to answer the question (e.g. 10 seconds.)

Chances are that in a group, it will be easier to come up with an answer, and especially when you have a group of people who don't know each other, a team game is a good way to break the ice and get people to warm up to each other. You could also throw in some slightly less birthy questions in addition to the extras you mention, i.e.:

- The baby's EDD is Month Day. If s/he arrives on the due date, s/he will be which zodiac sign?

- Which baby is heavier: one born at 4170 g or one born at 9 lbs 3 oz?

- If you know the baby's name: The baby's name will be [name]. How many points would that name total if you spelled it with Scrabble letters?

etc.

Good luck whatever you do!


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## Evergreen (Nov 6, 2002)

Quiz=boring

Same questions in a quiz game=fun

Actually, I would think the quiz would be fun but I am nerdy like that.


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## AbbieB (Mar 21, 2006)

I agree with others that the average person would find the quiz hard, but maybe that's good if it is a team effort.

Just an idea:
One shower I went to had a quiz game that had a crazy huge list of baby animal names (kid, cub, chick, calf, colt, duckling, puppy, kitten, etc...) and the idea was to name the type of animal it refers to (or maybe it was a list of animals and we needed to name the baby name). We all had fun trying to figure some of them out.


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

hmmm i would imagine informational would be th eway to go.

i found the quiz hard. fine hair - yeah i know that. what is it called? NO CLUE and not really interested in knowing - except now i know.

i would think if you brought up did you know fun facts about raising children - even in the animal world it might interest others.

celebrities kids names is absolutely of no interest to me.

however 'if you saw blood in your one day olds diaper what would you think' would pique my interest. which is why i like the sleep thru the night question. i would also like knowing whales nurse their babies. they have whale milk that they shoot thru the water when the calf nuzzles the mammary gland. some nurse for 6 months others 2 years. depending on the kind of whale.

but i wouldnt do it as a paper pencil quiz. i would do it as a game.


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## sisteeesmama (Oct 24, 2008)

For me I like the idea a lot, but when I read the actual questions you had written the way you did it turned me off and I couldn't even finish reading it.....
I don't know if they were too hard as much as too dry. A shower should be about the soft ephemeral nature of infancy, not the techinical side of things IMO, and this is just one persons opinion, mind you. NOw if this were a game to play for a group of doulas or something then cool.
I could give examples of how I would change the questions a little if you want.


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## guestmama9972 (Jun 5, 2003)

What if you make it multiple choice? I always think those are easier than fill in the blank.


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## Anastasiya (Jun 13, 2006)

I agree that while I personally found the quiz neat (and would love to blow the socks of the other team because I knew most of the answers!), it IS dull and too teachy, preachy, technical, medical, yada yada yada.

I would guess the average person wouldn't find it fun at all....unless like someone mentioned it was a team effort, but even then, I don't know...some people just don't care about knowing that kind of stuff.

Just for more info for you, here's another quiz: http://www.diva-girl-parties-and-stu...by-trivia.html


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## KirstenMary (Jun 1, 2004)

Maybe I'm a freak, but I loved that quiz.







:


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## kirstenb (Oct 4, 2007)

It reminded me of a science test, a little bit. I would maybe take some of those questions and mix them in with some more fluff questions.


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## labdogs42 (Jan 21, 2009)

The quiz seemed a bit dry and technical to me.

a fun alternate "game" would be to type up pages for the guests to write their "advice" for the parents to be on and them have them read some of the suggestions aloud. We used the words always and never to make it more interesting. For example, the prompts would read something like this:

Diapers -- Always...
baby pictures -- Never...
Bottles -- always...
Pacifiers -- never...

You don't even have to have people read them out loud, especially if you think people might get into tiffs about it, but they can be fun for the mom to read and see what advice different people gave.


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## readytobedone (Apr 6, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *KirstenMary* 
Maybe I'm a freak, but I loved that quiz.







:

i liked it too









i agree that making it a team affair would make it more fun for most people and also take the pressure off of those who may not know the trivia.

i hate shower games in general. this one actually looks way better than anything i've done at a shower!


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## honey-lilac (Jun 30, 2009)

I also found it cool.







But then again I'm a total nerd and I don't like typical "party games" as a rule. This one sounds like fun!


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## BroodyWoodsgal (Jan 30, 2008)

I would find it fun....but I also think spelling bees and geography quizzes are a blast, sooooooo
















The most fun I ever had at a baby shower was playing one of those nursery ryhm quizzes...everyone seemed to have a lot of fun remembering the old songs and little ditties...I think that tends to be a more traditional "fluff" game!


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## Mary-Beth (Nov 20, 2001)

I didn't think the quiz was too hard...but imo, it was not very fun.
It is a science quiz.

I personally don't like the fluff games either.

Just gather, eat, talk, give gifts, possibly offer blessings/prayers...


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## lindberg99 (Apr 23, 2003)

I think a quiz game would be fun. Maybe make it into a Jeopardy style where the harder questions get more points? Or like "Who wants to be a millionaire?" where each team can try to win a million obviously pretend dollars. (Unless you have a really big budget!







) And like someone said, I'd throw in some personal questions. Like what was SIL's reaction when she found out she was pregnant? or whatever.

I played baby pictionary at a shower once using baby words. That was actually kind of fun.


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## Zenful (Jun 27, 2009)

I think it's important to know who the quiz takers will be from the perspective of how many of them are nerdy and like these types of quizzes







Even if there are quite a few parents there with little kids and even some who are into the birthing culture, they may not like scientific factoids all that much. If a lot of them are nerdy then I say go for it...they'll probably get a kick out of it...if most are not, then definitely more "fluffier" questions. Or, better yet, skip the quiz altogether since quizzes in general are pretty nerdy, imo. There are lots of fun baby shower games out there...my personal fave is the candy bar diaper one where you put different types of melted candy bars (like snickers, crunch, milky way, etc.) in some disposable diapers and then pass them around the baby shower and have people guess the names of the candy bars. Kinda gross, maybe, but it's also pretty silly and fun.


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## Smokering (Sep 5, 2007)

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm trying to include some less medical questions, but they might still be a bit arcane/nerdy/boring... what do you think?

* What do you call a baby ...
deer? (fawn)
kangaroo? (joey)
swan? (cygnet)
hare? (leveret)

* What were the names of Anne of Green Gables' children? (1 point for each child)
(Joyce, Jem, Walter, Nan and Di, Shirley, Rilla)

* What number grandchild is this for MIL/FIL? (2)

* According to "Little Boy Blue", the sheep is in the meadow. Where is the cow? (In the corn)

* What is the Afrikaans name for "grandma"? (Not sure of the answer to this actually - Oumi? SIL is South African though, so it's vaguely relevant)

*Who played Rosemary in _Rosemary's Baby_? (Mia Farrow - also a question that makes more sense in context, as SIL's name is Rosemary!)

* What are the names of The Wiggles? (Sam, Murray, Jeff and Anthony. Too random? I didn't know this myself, had to look it up, but the Wiggles are pretty big here and some of the girls have preschoolers)

* Which character on _Friends_ gave birth to triplets? (Phoebe)

* What year will it be when the baby turns 21? (I'll only give them 5 seconds to answer this one - it's 2030)

* How old will SIL when the baby turns 21? (Heh, no idea, have to ask her)

Still thinking of more ideas...

ETA: A fair few of the women there are people SIL knows from law school. Does that qualify them as nerdy? I don't know many of them that well. I was planning to divide them into two teams for the quiz and keep score with tally marks on a big sheet of paper. If the first team gets the answer wrong, I'll pass it to the next team. The winning team will get candy bars or something as prizes. Not having any games at all isn't really an option, as MIL is organising the bulk of the party and wants games. Neither MIL or I can stomach the melted-chocolate-in-sposies game or the guess-the-flavour-of-the-baby-food game; we're doing the measuring-the-tummy-with-a-string one though, because MIL wants it. And I'm making a roster for people to sign up to bring meals round to SIL after the birth. Other than that it'll mostly be eating and chatting.


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## lalaland42 (Mar 12, 2006)

Will alcohol be served at the shower? Because then it would be hilarious.







:


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## zinemama (Feb 2, 2002)

Wait - why do there have to be games at all? Why not just have a nice shower?


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## Zenful (Jun 27, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lalaland42* 
Will alcohol be served at the shower? Because then it would be hilarious.







:

Too true!


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

Good mix of trivia and facts.

I'd maybe make the childrens books questions a fill-in-the blank instead of finish the line. Like "lay on a ____" or you'll have people sitting there for an hour.


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## elmh23 (Jul 1, 2004)

Honestly, the quiz isn't all that hard, but it's not all that fun either.


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## St. Margaret (May 19, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AverysMomma* 
I would find it fun....but I also think spelling bees and geography quizzes are a blast, sooooooo
















The most fun I ever had at a baby shower was playing one of those nursery ryhm quizzes...everyone seemed to have a lot of fun remembering the old songs and little ditties...I think that tends to be a more traditional "fluff" game!

I love the song/rhyme idea! As a new mom, I wished I knew more good songs to sing to DD (She still loves all kinds of inappropriate "lullabies" like slow Ben Folds songs and Leonard Cohen







) so that would be nice for the mama









I agree, only do that quiz if it's a game show style thing. Part of it was how it was written, but it would be great read by someone all Alex-Trebec-y


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## Mulvah (Aug 12, 2008)

While I like the quiz, in general, I would find it boring at a baby shower. If you want to keep the dry questions, throw in at least half that are somewhat fun, like some of the ones you suggested above. I would also suggest cutting it down to 10 or 15 questions, total.

BTW, I think it's sweet you're putting so much thought into this.









Quote:


Originally Posted by *lalaland42* 
Will alcohol be served at the shower? Because then it would be hilarious.







:


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## NiteNicole (May 19, 2003)

I'm not a huge fan of shower games. In my experience, the ones that get the most participation are the ones that require the least participation (like the one where everyone is given a ring - wedding shower - or pacifier - baby shower - on a ribbon and everytime you catch someone saying "wedding" or "baby" you take their ring or paci. Whoever has the most gets a prize, whoever still has their ring gets a prize) or gift bingo. That's great because watching someone else open gifts can get REALLY boring. If you have a good mix of cards (the ones you can download usually only have 12 unique cards or so, so more than one person can Bingo at one time) the game can last a long time. I'm really surprised by how competitive people will get over this but at least everyone is interested in the gifts. There's a nother where you can guess how many packs of diapers, onesies, etc will be given - put out notecards somewhere and let people write down their names and guesses. Or set a timer and whoever gave the gift that's being opened when it goes off gets a gift.

Shower games are kind of dumb, but the less you have to do, the more people like them. The ones where people have to sit around filling things out seem to take forever and make a real lag.


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## Spring Lily (Sep 26, 2006)

Glad you're not using that quiz. Some of them aren't entirely accurate, anyway, technically. Like the 1st one--there's some evidence that identicals can run in the family, too. And #8 isn't quite right, I remember watching a science program about it where they explained that it is actually both parents, the whole XX XY thing is oversimplifying the genetics.

I've never been fond of shower games, especially quizzes, measuring the mom's belly, or candy bars in diapers (YUCK!). I did go to one where they had a basket of baby items and everyone had to guess the total price of all the items. The mom-to-be got the basket afterwards. It was like price is right, and everyone enjoyed it.


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