New Baby Shower Games-

February 11th, 2010 by careforourbaby No comments »
Varun Thakur asked:


tiny_mce_markero you’re holding a baby shower? Then you will need baby shower games to keep the guests entertained. While the baby shower is a good time to pamper the mom-to-be and make her feel very special there are also a number of guests that need to be kept happy for the duration of the event. Our focus here is on baby shower games, since these are always the most memorable part of any baby shower.

Baby shower games can be both silly and entertaining by overall they should be plain old fun. Some are intended to embarrass the mom-to-be, but others can really be fun and may even teach the guests something or visit www.baby-care-book.com. The promise of a prize, even something token like, always adds to the enjoyment too.

Games can be a great way to get guests to mingle at a shower especially if they don’t know each other and it is also a great ice breaker. Here are some ideas for choosing the right baby shower games:

In the planning stages of the baby shower, be sure to discuss potential game ideas with the mom-to-be. She may have some definite dislikes when it comes to baby shower games, and since it’s her day, you want to be sure to plan something she’ll enjoy and be very comfortable with.

Plan the first baby shower game for early in the party because it can make for a great icebreaker, so try to schedule it for just after everyone arrives but just before the main food courses and gift opening.

Pick a game that is connected to your theme. Whatever your decorating and food plans, you can tie it all together with a well-chosen game in the same theme.

Prepare in advance. If your game requires writing, be sure you’ve gathered up enough pens and pencils beforehand. And the same thing goes for other objects: have it all ready to go so guests don’t have to wait.

Choose creative but inexpensive prizes as token items for guests. The fun of the game should be in the playing, but it’s nice to have a prize and enters a little competitive spirit. Take pictures during the baby shower game. They make great additions to a mom’s scrapbook and as a long term keepsake for the baby.

Choose easy Games.

Games should be easy to explain and easy to play. Anything confusing or difficult takes all the fun out of it and people get bored before the game even begins.

So now that you know how to plan for the shower games, here are some of the more popular shower games for you to incorporate into your event:

Guessing the Baby Food – Remove the labels from a few jars of baby food after marking the lids by numbers. Make a list of the contents of each jar. Each person has to taste the food and try to guess what it is – pear, potato, custard, beef etc. Let everyone write down the number from the jar and what they think is in it. The person with the most correct guesses wins the game!

The Tray Game – Place a number of baby items on a tray. (Usually about 15-20). Slowly circle the room allowing each guest a chance to examine the items. Remove the tray from the room and see who can remember the most items on a paper in 2 minutes. Usually the items on the tray go to the expectant mom and the winner gets a small prize.

Guess the Girth – Check with the guest of honor in advance on this one. All you need is a ball or two of string. Ask guests to cut a length of string that they think will stretch around the future mom’s belly. After everyone has had a turn, the mother-to-be measures and cuts a string that fits her belly. Compare her string to all the guests’ pieces of string. The person who was closest wins a small prize. This is a great icebreaker and always good for some laughs.

Baby Picture Match Game – In advance, ask all the guests for pictures of themselves as babies. Assemble the photos on a pin up board and assign a number to each photo. At some point during the shower, pass out sheets of paper to the guests so they can match each baby to the appropriate grown-up. If the guests don’t know each other well, name tags can help the process. The person who gets the most correct answers wins.



How to Start your Own Baby Food Business Part#3: Naming, Taglines, & Logo Creation

February 11th, 2010 by careforourbaby No comments »
Mischelle Weedman Davis asked:


Naming

You have probably already thought up a clever name for your baby food business. It is one of the most gratifying parts of the startup phase. You probably woke up in the middle of the night with some fabulous name or had some sort of naming epiphany while taking a shower.

But if you haven’t come up with a name yet let me help you come up with a strategy for creating the right name for your business.

Branding Yourself.

A quick and easy way to name your company is to give it your own name. Like: “Mischelle’s Baby Food Catering” or “Mischelle’s Baby Food Service”. It is quick, it is easy, and if you add your last name it is unlikely that someone else has already trade marked the name. “Chef Mischelle Davis’ Baby Food Bistro”.

The Thesaurus Strategy.

A good thesaurus is your best friend when trying to find the right name. If you don’t have one on your bookshelf you can go to an online thesaurus.

Spend time looking up synonyms for words that relate to what you do. Mix and match the words coming up with lots of combinations that seem to fit your personality and the mission of your baby food business. During my 15 year career in high tech I helped name several companies and lots of products. Whether we came up with a name or selves or hired a fancy, high-priced branding or advertising company to help us we ALWAYS broke out the thesaurus.

You’ll need several potential names as some enterprising mompreneur may have already trade marked one of the names. Try playing around with synonyms to words like: baby, food, plate, cup, fresh, new, dinner, meal, nutritious, good, healthy, little, sweet, farm, chef, bliss, tummy, spring, birth, mother, etc.

The Contest Method.

If you are not the creative type and are more concerned about the operational pieces of getting a baby food company up and running, you can always turn the naming of your company into a marketing event.

You may already be a member of an online parenting group. Most cities have a Google or Yahoo! news group dedicated to local parenting issues. In big cities like Seattle every neighborhood has one. Tell the parents in your online community that you are going to be launching a baby food service and offer FREE baby food to the person who comes up with your company name.

This is a great way to create some buzz for your company and get your potential customers involved. During the later chapters of this book you will learn just how important customer involvement is.

Taglines

It’s difficult starting a new business and creating an effective business name and brand. Businesses often have names that don’t particularly resemble their products and services – a tagline can help clarify.

Taglines are typically descriptive phrases that accompany a business name. E.g. Sprouts ‘ “Catering to baby’s nutritional needs”. Taglines help explain what your business does or create a feeling associated with it. They should be simple and memorable.

There are generally two types of taglines. Descriptive: they explain what your business does. Emotional: They create a tone or feeling about your business.

When creating a tagline follow these simple rules.

- Keep It Simple – short and simple, easy to remember

- Affirmative – people like positive statements – negatives are a turn-off

- Appealing – the tagline should spark interest

- Enduring – your tagline might around for years, so don’t add text that could date it

Baby food catering, delivery, etc. is a new idea. Help potential customers quickly identify what you do by choosing a good tagline.

Logo Creation

Since any business that is associated with babies is inherently emotional and cute you can feel free to break all of the corporate rules about logo creation. Have fun! Get creative. In the case of a baby food business it can actually be positive. But remember when choosing a name, creating a tagline, and developing a logo this is a FOOD BUSINESS. Food that people need to feel good about giving their babies. You need to establish that you are trustworthyeven before they try the food. So don’t go crazy.

I have worked for some software companies that would easily spend $250,000 creating a logo. Most of us don’t have that kind of money to spend when starting a new business. But luckily there are great new ways to get “killer creative” at affordable prices.

If you don’t have a friend who is a graphic designer consider looking for one of the online logo creation services. Some do surprisingly good work.

During the creation of Sprouts we used DesignOutpost You post your logo requirements and desired price and artists compete to win your business. You can see some of the logo designs that we did not choose in the appendix.