A soft spot on a baby's head can be seen pulsing. What is it keeping time with?Answer: The baby's heartbeat. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Your Baby's Head
About how many hours a day does a newborn sleep?Answer: 16 to 17. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Getting Your Baby to Sleep
The Apgar test scores heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflex response and which fifth sign?Answer: Color. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Apgar Scores
Around what age does a baby's first tooth usually appear?Answer: 6 months. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Baby's First Tooth: 7 Facts Parents Should Know
At what distance does a newborn see best?Answer: About 8 to 12 inches. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Infant Vision Development: What Can Babies See?
By about what age can a baby pick out a parent by voice, even from another room?Answer: One month. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Hearing and Making Sounds
By about when will a newborn focus on your face while you cradle it?Answer: The fourth week. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Newborn Eye Color
The first Apgar score is given one minute after birth. When is the second?Answer: At five minutes. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Apgar Scores
Hold a newborn upright with its feet on a table and it seems to walk. When does this stepping reflex fade?Answer: After about two months. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Newborn Reflexes
On the CDC's checklists, 'smiles or laughs when you play peek-a-boo' is a milestone for which age?Answer: 9 months. Source: CDC: Milestones by 9 Months
On the CDC's milestone checklists, which is the first age where 'Laughs' appears?Answer: 6 months. Source: CDC: Milestones by 6 Months
Pediatricians say babies generally like which kind of voice?Answer: High-pitched. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Hearing and Making Sounds
The soft plates of a newborn's skull can overlap on the way out. What is this called?Answer: Molding. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Your Baby's Head
Virginia Apgar devised her newborn score in 1952. What was her field of medicine?Answer: Anesthesiology. Source: Wikipedia: Virginia Apgar
Waving 'bye-bye' is on the CDC's milestone checklist for which age?Answer: 1 year. Source: CDC: Milestones by 1 Year
What are the soft spots on a newborn's head called?Answer: Fontanelles. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Your Baby's Head
What is colostrum?Answer: The first milk a mother makes. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Colostrum: Your Baby's First Meal
What is the colored ring around the pupil of the eye called?Answer: The iris. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Newborn Eye Color
What is the highest possible Apgar score?Answer: 10. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Apgar Scores
What is the other name for a newborn's startle reflex, when the arms fling out?Answer: The Moro reflex. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Newborn Reflexes
Which eye color is the most common?Answer: Brown. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Newborn Eye Color
Which newborn reflex is nicknamed the fencing posture?Answer: The tonic neck reflex. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Newborn Reflexes
Which of a baby's teeth almost always come in first?Answer: The lower front teeth. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Baby's First Tooth: 7 Facts Parents Should Know
Which pigment sets the color of a baby's eyes, skin and hair?Answer: Melanin. Source: HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Newborn Eye Color
Baby animals 22
A baby llama or alpaca takes its name from a Spanish word for baby. What is it?Answer: A cria. Source: Wikipedia: Cria
A newborn koala crawls into its mother's pouch. About how long does it live there?Answer: Six to seven months. Source: Wikipedia: Koala
A nine-banded armadillo litter is almost always made up of what?Answer: Four identical young. Source: Wikipedia: Nine-banded armadillo
A squab is the young of which bird?Answer: The pigeon. Source: Wikipedia: Squab
Flamingos are famous for being pink. What color is the plumage of a newly hatched chick?Answer: Greyish. Source: Wikipedia: Flamingo
How does a giraffe give birth?Answer: Standing up, so the calf drops to the ground. Source: Wikipedia: Giraffe
How does the common cuckoo raise its chicks?Answer: It lays its eggs in other birds' nests. Source: Wikipedia: Common cuckoo
How long does a Virginia opossum's pregnancy last?Answer: 11 to 13 days. Source: Wikipedia: Virginia opossum
How long does an elephant pregnancy typically last?Answer: Between 18 months and two years. Source: Wikipedia: Elephant
In falconry, what is an eyas?Answer: A falcon chick still in its down. Source: Wikipedia: Falcon
Marmosets and tamarins are the only primates that regularly give birth to what?Answer: Twins. Source: Wikipedia: Callitrichidae
Most bat mothers give birth to how many pups at a time?Answer: One. Source: Wikipedia: Bat
What color is a newborn giant panda?Answer: Pink. Source: Wikipedia: Giant panda
What decides whether an alligator egg hatches male or female?Answer: The temperature of the nest. Source: Wikipedia: Alligator
What is a baby porcupine called?Answer: A porcupette. Source: Wikipedia: Porcupine
What is a hare under a year old called?Answer: A leveret. Source: Wikipedia: Hare
What is a young eel called once it has passed the glass eel stage?Answer: An elver. Source: Wikipedia: Eel
What is a young goose called before it can fly?Answer: A gosling. Source: Wikipedia: Goose
What is the land-living juvenile stage of a newt called?Answer: An eft. Source: Wikipedia: Newt
When a sow gives birth to a litter of piglets, what is it called?Answer: Farrowing. Source: Wikipedia: Pig
Which bird's egg is among the largest for its body size, as much as 20% of the female's weight?Answer: The kiwi. Source: Wikipedia: Kiwi (bird)
Young oysters that have fixed themselves to a surface are called what?Answer: Spat. Source: Wikipedia: Oyster
Mom or dad? Animal parents 14
A cassowary father hatches the eggs, then looks after the chicks for about how long?Answer: About nine months. Source: Wikipedia: Cassowary
A hornbill mother is sealed inside the tree-hole nest. How does she eat?Answer: The father passes food through a narrow slit. Source: Wikipedia: Hornbill
A male emperor penguin keeps the egg warm for about two months. Where is the mother?Answer: At sea, feeding. Source: Wikipedia: Emperor penguin
A male rhea hatches the eggs of several females at once. How many eggs can he sit on?Answer: Ten to sixty. Source: Wikipedia: Rhea (bird)
Among jacanas, the long-toed birds that walk on lily pads, who hatches the eggs and raises the chicks?Answer: The father alone. Source: Wikipedia: Jacanidae
How does the male midwife toad earn the name?Answer: He carries the eggs wound round his back and thighs. Source: Wikipedia: Common midwife toad
In seahorses, which parent carries the eggs until they hatch?Answer: The father, in a brood pouch. Source: Wikipedia: Seahorse
In three-spined sticklebacks, which parent builds the nest?Answer: The father. Source: Wikipedia: Three-spined stickleback
In which bird does only the father make crop milk for the newly hatched chick?Answer: The emperor penguin. Source: Wikipedia: Crop milk
Where do many giant water bug mothers lay their eggs?Answer: On the father's wings. Source: Wikipedia: Belostomatidae
Where do the eggs of a Surinam toad develop?Answer: In pockets in the skin of the mother's back. Source: Wikipedia: Common Surinam toad
Where does a Darwin's frog father carry his tadpoles?Answer: In his vocal sac. Source: Wikipedia: Darwin's frog
Which emu parent sits on the eggs, hardly eating or drinking for about eight weeks?Answer: The father. Source: Wikipedia: Emu
Which insect is unusual because many mothers stay to watch over their eggs and young?Answer: The earwig. Source: Wikipedia: Earwig
Finish the nursery rhyme 24
Brahms's famous lullaby was first published in which decade?Answer: The 1860s. Source: Wikipedia: Wiegenlied (Brahms)
How many bags of wool does the black sheep have in 'Baa, Baa, Black Sheep'?Answer: Three. Source: Wikipedia: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
How many men did the Grand Old Duke of York have?Answer: Ten thousand. Source: Wikipedia: The Grand Old Duke of York
In 'Hey Diddle Diddle', who ran away with the spoon?Answer: The dish. Source: Wikipedia: Hey Diddle Diddle
In 'Hickory Dickory Dock', what did the clock strike before the mouse ran down?Answer: One. Source: Wikipedia: Hickory Dickory Dock
In 'Sing a Song of Sixpence', how many blackbirds were baked in the pie?Answer: Four and twenty. Source: Wikipedia: Sing a Song of Sixpence
In 'This Little Piggy', what did the third little piggy have?Answer: Roast beef. Source: Wikipedia: This Little Piggy
In the rhyme 'Monday's Child', which day's child is full of grace?Answer: Tuesday. Source: Wikipedia: Monday's Child
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch what?Answer: A pail of water. Source: Wikipedia: Jack and Jill
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over what?Answer: The candlestick. Source: Wikipedia: Jack Be Nimble
Jack Sprat could eat no fat. What could his wife not eat?Answer: Lean. Source: Wikipedia: Jack Sprat
Polly puts the kettle on. Who takes it off again?Answer: Sukey. Source: Wikipedia: Polly Put the Kettle On
'Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes' comes from a rhyme about a ride to where?Answer: Banbury Cross. Source: Wikipedia: Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
'Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream.' Life is but a what?Answer: Dream. Source: Wikipedia: Row, Row, Row Your Boat
'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' began as a poem, 'The Star', published in 1806. Who wrote it?Answer: Jane Taylor. Source: Wikipedia: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
'Wee Willie Winkie', who runs through the town in his nightgown, is a nursery rhyme from which country?Answer: Scotland. Source: Wikipedia: Wee Willie Winkie
What did Little Jack Horner pull out of his Christmas pie?Answer: A plum. Source: Wikipedia: Little Jack Horner
What did Old Mother Hubbard go to the cupboard to fetch for her poor dog?Answer: A bone. Source: Wikipedia: Old Mother Hubbard
What grows in the garden of 'Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary', along with pretty maids all in a row?Answer: Silver bells and cockle shells. Source: Wikipedia: Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
What had the three little kittens lost?Answer: Their mittens. Source: Wikipedia: Three Little Kittens
What was Little Miss Muffet eating on her tuffet?Answer: Curds and whey. Source: Wikipedia: Little Miss Muffet
Where is Little Boy Blue while the sheep are in the meadow?Answer: Under a haystack, fast asleep. Source: Wikipedia: Little Boy Blue
Which lane does the Muffin Man live in?Answer: Drury Lane. Source: Wikipedia: The Muffin Man
Who are the three men in a tub in 'Rub-a-dub-dub'?Answer: The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. Source: Wikipedia: Rub-a-dub-dub
Baby customs around the world 16
A 'push present' is a gift given to whom?Answer: The new mother. Source: Wikipedia: Push present
At a Korean first birthday party, what happens in the 'doljabi'?Answer: The baby picks an object said to predict its future. Source: Wikipedia: Doljanchi
Baby showers as we know them became popular only when?Answer: Around 1950. Source: Wikipedia: Baby shower
The Hindu ceremony of annaprashana marks which first in a baby's life?Answer: The first solid food. Source: Wikipedia: Annaprashana
In European folklore, which bird brings the babies?Answer: The stork. Source: Wikipedia: White stork
In Ghana, what is a baby's traditional naming ceremony called in English?Answer: Outdooring. Source: Wikipedia: Outdooring
In Japan's miyamairi, about a month after the birth, where is the baby taken?Answer: To a Shinto shrine. Source: Wikipedia: Miyamairi
In the Chinese first-birthday custom of zhuazhou, a baby who grabs the abacus is said to be headed where?Answer: Into business or accounting. Source: Wikipedia: Zhuazhou
In the Netherlands a birth is celebrated with rusks topped with sugared seeds of which spice?Answer: Aniseed. Source: Wikipedia: Muisjes
Japan's Shichi-Go-San festival on November 15 celebrates children of which ages?Answer: Three, five and seven. Source: Wikipedia: Shichi-Go-San
On Bali, part of a child's traditional name comes from what?Answer: Birth order. Source: Wikipedia: Balinese name
Traditionally, a baby shower was given only for which child?Answer: The family's first. Source: Wikipedia: Baby shower
What do the British and Australians call a pacifier?Answer: A dummy. Source: Wikipedia: Pacifier
What is 'kangaroo care'?Answer: Holding a baby skin to skin against a parent's chest. Source: Wikipedia: Kangaroo care
Which country has given expectant mothers a box of baby clothes and supplies since 1938?Answer: Finland. Source: Wikipedia: Maternity package
Which gem is the birthstone for babies born in May?Answer: Emerald. Source: Wikipedia: Birthstone
How it works
Every one of these 100 trivia questions for baby shower games has a single true answer, so nobody needs to know the couple. They run from the top Apgar score to the name for a baby porcupine, nursery rhymes and customs from Korea to Finland.
Read the full guide
A 15-minute game between gifts and cake
Seat guests at tables of five and give one reader the phone. Tables write their answers, then the reader taps any choice to show the answer. Twenty questions take about fifteen minutes. A guest on a video call picks Scored round below the question and presses Start the round. It marks 20 questions at the end.
Newborns, leverets, rhymes and customs
The 24 newborn and first-year questions are the baby trivia questions for baby shower purists: the distance a newborn sees best, the age the stepping reflex fades. Baby animals asks for the leveret and the bird whose egg is a fifth of its mother's weight. Then come 24 rhyme lines and 16 customs, from Korea's doljabi to Finland's baby box.
Put a grandparent on every team before Finish the nursery rhyme. They know who takes the kettle off after Polly puts it on.
At a co-ed shower, open with Mom or dad? Animal parents: the seahorse, the emu and the emperor penguin give dads something to boast about.
Choose Finish the nursery rhyme under Start from, below the question, play it, then press Print on the score card. The last row of the list adds more rhyme lines. Print one per table.
Questions and answers
Are the newborn facts medical advice?
No, they are trivia. Each restates a sentence from an American Academy of Pediatrics parent page or a CDC milestone checklist, linked under the answer and read on September 19, 2026. Take questions about your own baby to your pediatrician.
Are these mom and dad trivia questions for baby shower guests to answer about the couple?
No. A pack with fixed answers cannot know the parents-to-be. Mom or dad? Animal parents asks about fourteen animals, such as the seahorse father and his brood pouch. For guessing games about the couple, open the baby shower question game.
Which topics suit a room of mixed ages?
Finish the nursery rhyme and the newborn facts have the most easy questions, seven each, so open with those. Mom or dad? Animal parents is the hardest, with one easy question in fourteen. Save it for last. The levels are our estimate.