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Want a surprise gender reveal? Here are some ideas

Fun gender party reveal ideas to share your special news

Emily Pidgeon
By
A couple holding a gender-reveal balloon
aprilante / Shutterstock

Today, many parents-to-be don’t want to be surprised in the delivery room as to whether they are welcoming a son or a daughter. Knowing ahead of time, helps with name picks and more. A routine ultrasound can determine whether the baby is a boy or a girl at around 18 to 22 weeks. Excited parents have been sharing this special news with gender revel parties for quite a few years now. Blogger Jenna Karvunidis is often credited with holding the first gender revel in 2008 when she announced she was having a girl on social media with a special cake. Since then, gender reveal parties took off with some sadly going wrong as people tried to come up with their own unique gender reveal ideas.

Gender reveal party ideas don’t have to be over the top to be whimsical or surprising. Hosting a gender reveal party is a cute way to make a special revelation to family and friends. We’ve got some sweet and fun ways to make this noteworthy reveal to the important people in your lives.

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Couple holding boy or girl card

Gender reveal party ideas

You don’t need alligators or an explosion to announce the news about whether you’re having a boy or a girl. There are plenty of thrilling ways to share this magical news. Gender reveal party ideas can be simple like slicing into a cake or a shower of appropriately colored ribbons. If you and your partner have decided on a gender reveal party to spread to make this special announcement, then you first need to decide on how to share the announcement. Here are some fun and low stress ways to make a gender reveal.

  • Colored silly string – This is a great idea for all guests to participate in, not just the parents.
  • Confetti/party cannons – These are filled with colored glitter, either pink or blue, and are usually popped open by the parents in front of their guests.
  • Pinata filled with colored confetti – Like the excitement at a birthday party, one of the parents hits the pinata and it explodes with pink or blue confetti to reveal the gender of the baby.
  • Balloon-popping – This idea is versatile and can be used in many ways. If your significant other is a hunter, consider having them shoot an arrow into a prefilled balloon that’s affixed to a wooden board or block. When it reaches the balloon and pops, the colored substance inside is expelled and reveals the gender.

Cookies for baby shower favors

Unique gender reveal ideas

If you’re looking for something a bit different that the traditional silly string or balloon gender reveals, there are certainly off-the-beaten path ideas to put your special twist on announcing the big news to your family and friends. Try these distinctive gender reveal ideas on for size.

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In a galaxy far, far away

Star Wars has been part of popular culture for more than 40 years ago. If you’re a huge fan, introduce your baby’s gender in very “Jedi” fashion. “Are we having a Luke or Leia?” is a great opportunity for fans to celebrate their pregnancy while also showing off their nerdy sides. Additionally, using specially made pink or blue-lit lightsabers to reveal your baby’s gender is a unique way to usher in your little one.

Country roads, take me home

Farm animals, tractors, hunting, and rustic decor go together well for parents looking to embrace their love of country life. Incorporating an array of elements such as “doe or buck?” signs, adding camouflage to the traditional pink and blue decor, or installing an ignition smoke bomb to a tractor to reveal your precious cargo’s gender are creative ways to bring your theme full circle. You may even be able to integrate the farm-like theme into your gender-reveal extravaganza with an authentic venue like holding it in a barn.

beautifully decorated gender reveal cake

More gender reveal party ideas

As with most things, simple can sometimes be best. If you want a gender reveal party, but don’t want to go big. There are simple ways to make the announcement when you have your family and friends all gathered together. Here are some straightforward gender reveal party ideas that don’t take a lot to put together.

  • Let your dog make the big announcement by entering the festivities with the appropriate bandana tied around his or her neck.
  • Parents can make siblings feel extra important by letting them make the exciting reveal. An older sibling can have a tee-shirt hidden under a sweatshirt. When it’s time, remove the top layer to announce it a little brother or sister is on the way.
  • Wrap a pink or a blue onsie in a box with neutral paper. Unwrap the present or let one of the grandparents-to-be have the honors during the dessert portion of the party.
  • If you’re into magic, pull a blue or a pink rabbit out of the hat.
  • Open up a superhero or a Disney princess umbrella to make the render reveal. This is a super cute reveal if you’re having an April showers party.

pink and white balloons for gender reveal party

Tips on how to throw a unique gender reveal party

If you’re a mom or dad-to-be or the party host for an upcoming gender reveal celebration, we have a few tips to share to help your party go off without a hitch.

  • Get creative with your food and/or drinks that are being served –   Simple additions to the meal, such as fun-colored, or theme-based flavored beverages, help tie the overall theme together.
  • Designate guests, or party helpers, as your photographers – Select a few folks to walk around, snapping photos or filming special moments (like the big reveal!) so that you can enjoy your party without the added pressure to document it.
  • Create an original hashtag for the event – If you’d like to coordinate a collection of attendee’s photos, consider coming up with an original and festive hashtag, such as a mashup of your last name and the words baby, bundle, and so on. You can then ask your guests to use that hashtag when posting photos on social media. This allows you to quickly locate their tagged photos and save them to create photo albums, both printed and digital. These albums make great gifts for grandparents!
  • Choose one person as your trusted confidant – This person will know the sex of your baby and will be responsible for handling the big reveal. Your confidant must be someone who can keep a secret and be willing to take care of getting the appropriate gender color makes its way into the vessel you’ve chosen to reveal your baby’s gender.
  • Include your guests with a gender poll – When your guests arrive, have a table placed nearby, outfitted with the makings of a gender poll. It could be as simple as blue and pink-colored tokens with two clear bowls, where guests will place their predictions on the baby’s gender. Get creative with the polling station, helping it fit into the party theme. This adds a fun element to your shindig, setting the tone for lighthearted fun right away.

In addition to the polling station, you may want to add an additional bowl (or box, crate, whatever works with your theme) that will collect name suggestions for your bundle of joy. This is a fun and interactive component that helps your guests feel welcomed into “the village.”

Pregnant couple holding blue smoke cannons celebrating
t.max / Shutterstock

It’s your party and you’ll theme if you want to

Having a theme for your gender-reveal party is a common practice among soon-to-be parents across the board. These themes are often based on the parents’ hobbies, interests, favorite movies, books, or TV series and usually involve a reveal centered around that theme. While choosing a theme is not required, they are an entertaining way to incorporate additional liveliness into your celebration. Themes can also help spur ideas on other aspects of the party such as food, drinks, the style in which the gender is revealed, and decor.

If you’re expecting a bundle of joy and would like to share whether you’re expecting a boy or a girl with your closest friends and family, a gender reveal party is a special way to do it. With these gender reveal party ideas and tips, you’ll be able to find the perfect way to make this exciting announcement to the people who mean the most to you.

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Emily Pidgeon
Emily Pidgeon
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Emily's work has appeared in the Tube City Almanac, Tube City Online and our Affinity Sites. When she's not writing, she is…
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