A free baby shower emoji game

play on a screen, send to guests at a virtual shower, or print with a built-in answer key

Four emoji themes and instant scoring.

The baby shower emoji game is the one game I reach for every single time I help plan a baby shower, because it works for absolutely everyone in the room. Guests get a list of quirky emoji combinations and race to work out the baby-related word or phrase each one is hiding — 🍼 is a baby bottle, 🐛🍎 is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and 😴👶 is that famous piece of advice to sleep when the baby sleeps. It is part emoji Pictionary, part guessing game, and it takes about five minutes to explain and zero minutes for people to fall in love with.

I built the version on this page to fix the two things that always bugged me about the printable rounds floating around online: you could only ever play one fixed list, and there was never a good option for guests joining in from their phones. So this one plays three ways — reveal the clues on a big screen at the party, send guests a link to play and score themselves at a virtual shower, or print a clean worksheet with the answer key already built in. Pick a theme, choose how many clues you want, and go.

How to play the baby shower emoji game

The rules are refreshingly simple, which is exactly why the game suits a room full of people who may or may not know each other yet. Here is the version I use:

• Give every guest a puzzle sheet, or send them the link, with a numbered list of emoji clues.
• Set a timer. Five to ten minutes is plenty for a fifteen-clue round.
• Each clue is a rebus: the emojis spell out a baby word, a nursery rhyme, a children’s book, or a slice of parenting life. 🚗💺 is a car seat and ⭐✨ is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
• Guests write their best guess next to each number. Keep it generous — “bottle” and “baby bottle” should both count.
• When time is up, read out the answer key. Whoever has the most correct answers wins.

If you are playing on a screen instead of paper, you reveal one clue at a time, let everyone shout their guesses, then flip the answer with a tap. It turns a quiet worksheet into a group event, and it is my favourite way to run it when the guests already know each other.

How to keep score

Keep it simple with one point per correct answer. For a close spelling or a reasonable synonym, give the point — this is a baby shower, not a spelling bee. If you want a tiebreaker, add one bonus “tricky” clue worth two points, or time how fast your top scorers finish.

Ways to play: on a screen, online, or printed

At the party

Cast the game to a TV or open it on a laptop and reveal the clues one by one. Guests call out answers and you flip each clue over once the room has had a proper guess. This keeps everyone in the same moment and gets the biggest laughs of the afternoon.

At a virtual shower

Long-distance guests usually miss out on shower games, but this one travels. Send everyone the link, have each person play through on their own device, and compare scores over the video call. There is a multiple-choice mode that keeps things quick and friendly for a mixed group.

On printed worksheets

Sometimes paper is still the move. The printable version gives you a numbered clue sheet plus a separate answer-key page for the host, in clean black and white so it does not drain your printer. Print one per guest and you are ready.

Baby shower emoji game answer key

Half the internet searches for the answers, so here is the key for the baby essentials round. Reading each clue next to its answer is also the fastest way to see how these puzzles think:

• 🍼 — Baby bottle
• 🧸 — Teddy bear
• 👶🛁 — Bath time
• 👶🛏️ — Crib
• 🧷 — Diaper pin
• 👶🧦 — Booties
• 🚗💺 — Car seat
• 🍼🌙 — Night feeding
• 🦆 — Rubber duck
• 👶👕 — Onesie
• 🧴 — Baby lotion
• 🎀 — Hair bow
• 👶🦷 — Teething
• 👣 — Baby footprints
• 🎠 — Crib mobile
• 📖🌙 — Bedtime story
• 👶🎵 — Lullaby
• 🍼🥛 — Formula
• 🩹 — Band-aid
• 🚼 — Baby on board

Every theme in the game has its own key, and the printable worksheet always prints the matching answers on the last page, so you are never left guessing at your own guessing game.

Try the other emoji themes

One list gets old quickly if your friends play a lot of showers, so I gave the game several themes you can swap between:

• Baby essentials — the classic guess-the-baby-item round above.
• Nursery rhymes — decode the rhyme from the emojis. 🐭🕰️ is Hickory Dickory Dock and 🥚🧱💥 is Humpty Dumpty.
• Children’s books — everyone’s favourite. 🐛🍎 is The Very Hungry Caterpillar and 🌙💤 is Goodnight Moon.
• Baby and parenthood — the round that earns knowing laughs from the parents in the room. 🥱☕ is running on coffee and 🧺👕🧺 is so much laundry.

Mix them together for a surprise round, or run one theme per game if you want a longer session with a few different winners.

Host tips I have learned the hard way

• Read the room on difficulty. A baby-essentials round on easy is perfect for a big, mixed guest list, while the trickier nursery-rhyme clues are better saved for a group that likes a challenge.
• Fifteen clues is the sweet spot. Long enough to feel like a real game, short enough that nobody drifts off before the reveal.
• Have small prizes ready. A candle, a bag of good coffee, or a gift card all work, and it is worth keeping a spare on hand in case of a tie.
• Do the reveal out loud. Even with printed sheets, reading the answers to the whole room is where the game truly comes alive.

Pick a theme above, choose your clue count, and you have a shower game ready in under a minute.

Frequently asked questions

How do you play the baby shower emoji game?

Give each guest a numbered list of emoji clues and a few minutes to work out the baby word or phrase hidden in each one. 🍼 is a baby bottle and ⭐✨ is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Guests write their guesses, then the host reads the answer key and the highest score wins. You can also reveal the clues one at a time on a screen and let everyone guess out loud.

What are the answers to the baby shower emoji game?

The answers depend on the theme you pick. In the baby essentials round, 🍼 is a baby bottle, 🚗💺 is a car seat, 🧷 is a diaper pin and 🚼 is baby on board. There is a full answer key further up the page, and the printable worksheet always includes the matching key on its last page so the host can score in seconds.

Is the baby shower emoji game free to print?

Yes. You can print both the clue sheet and the answer key for free, with no sign-up. It prints in plain black and white to stay easy on your printer, and you simply run one copy per guest. We have many more free baby shower games as well.

Can guests play at a virtual baby shower?

They can. Send everyone the link and each guest plays through on their own phone or laptop, then you compare scores on the video call. There is a multiple-choice option that keeps it quick and welcoming for guests joining from a distance.

What is the difference between this and emoji Pictionary?

They are the same idea with different names. Emoji Pictionary swaps the drawing in classic Pictionary for emoji clues, and a baby shower emoji game is simply that puzzle built entirely around babies, nursery rhymes and children’s books.

How many people can play?

As many as you like. Because everyone works from the same clue list, the game scales from a small family gathering to a big party with no changes at all — you just need enough worksheets, or one shared screen.