Mere moments after announcing a pregnancy, the question pops out, “Is it a boy or a girl?” Every new parent wants to celebrate their new baby in a big way, and the announcement is just the beginning. Step outside the cake cutting or box of balloons and find a new way to reveal the baby’s gender with these 25 unique ideas.
FOR THE SIBLINGS
Test the waters. Use a simple science experiment with pH. Add a universal indicator solution (available inexpensively online) to water so that it will change from clear to blue or pink when the kids pour in a little ammonia (blue) or vinegar (pink).
Baby or bust. Fill a black balloon with colored confetti and place it on a board with nails or pushpins behind the balloon. The kids throw beanbags to pop the balloon and reveal the contents.
Push your luck. Assemble your own confetti-filled push pops (supplies available online) or buy them pre-made. Kids push the handle up quickly to release a colorful flurry.
Knead to know basis. Buy or make your own white playdough and hide a few drops of food coloring inside. When kids start to play with it, the gender will be revealed.
Diaper change. Buy colored candy melts and fill a disposable diaper with the melted candy. Make it appropriately heavy and wrap it like a genuine dirty diaper. Have the kids open it to reveal the color of the “poop.”
FOR THE PARENTS-TO-BE
Have a ball. Many Etsy retailers offer sports balls – baseballs, footballs, soccer balls, you name it – filled with intensely-colored pink or blue powder. Have the parents-to-be hit, throw or kick the ball, which will open on impact into an impressive cloud.
Blast it out. If you’re looking for an explosive announcement, consider using a confetti cannon (available online) to blast out the gender color.
Bowled over. Make your own bowling pins with painted 2-liter bottles. Fill the bottles with colored water and set up an “alley” on a white sheet outdoors. When the ball hits the pins, the colored water will soak the sheet.
Fishing expedition. Set up a bucket with colored water and have the parents-to-be cast a white sponge fish into the bucket. Give it a minute for the fish to “bite” and then reel it in to reveal a pink or blue fish.
Tie one on. Get a bunch of scarves in several colors, tie them together and stuff them in a box. Have the parents pull on the scarves (like a magician), until the last scarf is unveiled to be pink or blue.
FOR FOODIES
Piece of cake. Popular in Victorian times for wedding cakes, participants pull ribbons from the bottom layer, with each ribbon revealing a charm that designates the “fortune” of the puller. In our version, the charms reveal a boy or girl.
Drop a bombshell. Make gender reveal cascarones by draining the contents of the eggs and leaving the shells intact. Fill the shells with colored glitter or confetti, tape the holes closed and then smash them over the heads of the parents-to-be for a festive answer.
Tea change. Use the natural hue of blue chai tea to your advantage. Pour brewed tea into cups (hot) or glasses (cold) to serve the parents-to-be. Then add lemon juice or water to disclose the gender. Lemon juice turns the tea pink, while water leaves it blue.
Toast of the town. Fill the parents’ champagne glasses with sparkling water and drop in a color fizzer tablet (available online) to reveal their baby’s gender.
Pour it on. Purchase color-changing gender reveal cups that turn blue or pink when liquid is poured inside. Have the parents fill each other’s cups while everyone watches.
FOR THE WHOLE GANG
Mum’s the word. Use solid vases and white mums as centerpieces or party decorations. Then pour food coloring into the vase water and as the party progresses, the flowers will change color. Subtle and mysterious!
Fan the flames. Another subtle way to break the news involves gender reveal candles. They’re white on the outside, but as they melt, they expose the pink or blue wax inside.
The cat’s out of the bag. Fill a piñata with colored confetti or candy. Use a traditional stick to break the piñata or buy a pull-string design that opens from the bottom.
Bubble over. Rent a bubble machine and add food coloring to the bubbles for a magical display of pink or blue.
Give it your best shot. Dress the parents-to-be in white clothing and have participants shoot water guns filled with food-color-tinted water at them.
ACROSS THE MILES
Blow them away. Send a package containing two empty latex balloons – one pink and one blue. Put a small hole in the wrong color so it can’t be blown up. Ask the loved ones to try and blow up the one they think is right.
Luck of the draw. Send a package containing one pink and one blue onesie, each with an iron-on saying. One reads “See you soon” and the other, “Maybe next time.”
Special delivery. Order a pizza for the loved ones, to be delivered while you’re on the phone with them. Have the pizza reveal in pepperoni – boy or girl.
Spill the beads. Buy a bag of expanding water beads (available online) and sort out the gender color you want. Mix them into a bag of multi-colored beads of the same size and send the package to your loved ones. Add a tag that says, “Instant baby, just add water.” The water beads will grow larger while the plastic beads remain small.
Chew on this. Use Facetime or Skype to call loved ones as the parents-to-be chew bubble gum. One parent should be chewing pink gum, the other blue gum. As they each blow a bubble, one parent pops the bubble of the color that is not the gender.
Pam Molnar is a freelance writer and mother of three. She loves to plan parties as much as the guests enjoying attending.
