What is a gender reveal party? Plus 30 genius gender reveal ideas

One of the most classic ways to reveal the sex of your baby is with a delicious cake.

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If you want to be surprised yourself, you could hand the baker a piece of paper with the sex of the baby written on it, without looking. They can then colour the sponge blue for a boy or pink for a girl.

It could also be done so that the icing inside is coloured rather than the sponge, or that the middle of the cake has been hollowed out and filled with blue or pink sweets.

Popping balloons is a fun (and loud!) way to reveal the sex of your baby.

The balloon could be filled with coloured confetti to represent the sex, so when you pop it, the confetti falls out and everyone can see whether you're having a boy or a girl.

Another way of popping balloons to reveal the sex is by attaching lots to a wall and throwing darts at them. Only one will be filled with the coloured confetti, so you might have to throw quite a few before the sex is revealed!

You can buy gender reveal balloons here at Amazon.

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This is perfect for an evening gender reveal party or as a surprise announcement.

Light up the sky with either pink or blue fireworks to symbolise the sex of your baby.

We don't mean one of those gigantic machines used in war, no.

Handheld cannons can be filled with coloured confetti to represent your baby's sex. You can either blast the cannon to make the revelation to others, or you can have guests pull the canon and reveal the sex to you, too.

You can buy them here at Amazon.

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Gender reveal balloon boxes have become quite trendy recently – it's no surprise seeing as they look so fun!

A large box will need to be filled with either pink or blue helium balloons, so when you open the lid of the box, the balloons fly out and reveal the sex.

Got some pent up pregnancy hormones raging around inside of you? Let all your feelings out on a gender reveal piñata!

In the same way as a balloon, any shape piñata can be filled with coloured confetti specific to whether you're having a boy or a girl. You can then whack it until it breaks and the confetti falls out.

You can buy a piñata here at Amazon.

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Gender reveal party poppers are like a cannon, but on a slightly smaller scale if you prefer less mess to clear up after the revelation.

Specific party poppers are filled with streamers of just one colour to announce the news of your baby's sex. You and your guests can all pull the poppers together to see what's in store.

You can buy party poppers, here at Amazon.

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Sometimes, you can't beat a classic card to send the message to everyone. This is especially ideal if you can't get together with your loved ones to celebrate.

There are loads of gender reveal cards online or try making your own, finished with a personal message in each.

You can buy scratch-off gender reveal cards here at Amazon.

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If you love a bit of drama, gender reveal smoke bombs are a great idea.

Smoke grenades, cannons or bombs can be bought in all kinds of colours, so when you're ready to make the announcement, let the coloured smoke do the talking for you.

A poem is a good choice for a more intimate gender revelation.

You could have a crack at writing one yourself (rhyming dictionary will be your best friend), or find one online that's been done for you.

Making gender reveal cupcakes is a bit more personal than one big cake, as each guest can have their own.

The middle can be filled with blue or pink icing, so when each guest takes a bite of their cupcake at the same time, they'll find out whether you're having a son or a daughter.

Check out our cupcake recipe here.

Everyone's lucky in this game of scratch cards!

You could send them out in the post or have everyone scratch their cards at the same time, if they're gathered together.

Whatever sex is on the three that match is what you're having.

It's simple – you wear a blue T-shirt if you think the baby is a boy, or pink if you think it's a girl. When the announcement is made, everyone wearing the right colour T-shirt could win a prize, or could just gloat!

You can also get specific gender reveal T-shirts online that have slogans on them, like 'staches or lashes'.

Yes, you really can do a gender reveal with eggs, but you probably won't want to eat them afterwards.

Leave one of the eggs raw and have it painted pink if you're expecting a girl or blue for a boy. Cook the others so they're solid and paint them a mixture of blue and pink.

The game is to smash all of the eggs (against your head if you're willing!) and the colour of the raw one that smashes reveals the sex of the baby.

A gender reveal photoshoot can be styled however you like.

You could use a sign surrounded by coloured props, pose with a pink or blue onesie, hold a baby girl's or boy's shoes over your bump, paint your bump a specific colour, hold balloons or blow pink or blue bubblegum.

Take a snap, then send or share it with whoever you want to. Plus, it's a treasured memory you can keep forever.

Another way to capture a photo memory is by making painted handprints on your baby bump, in a colour representing your baby's sex.

Or, you could fill a spray can with a particular colour paint and get into a messy paint war! You and your guests will clearly see whether you're having a girl or boy.

Silly string can also be bought in particular colours, so if you're having a gender reveal party, each guest can have a can and spray it over each other at the same time to find out.

Similar to the gender reveal poem, you could have a go at making up a riddle to reveal your baby's sex or just find one on the internet.

Others will rack their brains trying to figure it out and those who crack it first will be SO smug.

Everyone loves a fortune cookie, right?

These special ones will be filled with a piece of paper revealing your baby's sex – much more believable than the usual fortunes inside.

If you're feeling adventurous, you could have someone who knows the sex of your baby dye your hair a specific colour to represent whether you're having a son or daughter.

You could opt for just the ends to be coloured, go bold with it all over or have just one layer of hair in the colour.

There are specific colour sparklers available to buy online and in shops, so select the right colour for your baby and light them up to make the revelation.

Calling all science enthusiasts – this one's for you. It's also particularly good if you're breaking the news to children.

Make your own erupting volcano with a little help from some baking soda and vinegar. Use pink or blue food colouring in the experiment, so when the volcano erupts, the 'lava' will be the right colour to reveal the sex.

Getting baby boots for your little one is a sweet way to let others know whether they'll be a boy or a girl.

You could even give them as a gift to your partner to surprise them, or vice versa.

Lining the baby boots up with your family's shoes and sharing a photo of them is another nice way to capture the reveal.

Is there about to be a big brother or sister about the house?

Get your child or children to hold up a sign that says whether they're getting a little sister or brother.

Pets are part of the family, after all.

Using paint that's safe for animals, your pets can add their painted paw prints to a sign to include them in the announcement.

For a gender reveal party, it could be fun to hire an ice cream van or soft serve dispenser filled whichever colour ice cream is representative of your baby's sex.

On a smaller scale, simply serve cute cones filled with coloured ice cream to guests.

Another perfect party game would be to get each guest to guess the sex of the baby by writing it on a piece of paper or putting a score on a chalk board.

Whoever guessed correctly before the revelation is made could win a prize.

Candyfloss is another food that can easily incorporate colour, especially blue or pink.

Serve it for your guests in the colour that's best suited for your baby. To make it into a game, 'right' could be written on the wooden stick before covering it in candyfloss of the correct colour, while 'wrong' could be written on the other stick and colour.

So, when people have finished eating their coloured candy floss, they'll know if they chose the right sex.

Ideal for a hot day – fill blue and pink water balloons with water, coloured to represent the baby's sex. When you start playing, the bursts of colour will be clear to everyone.

If you don't have water balloons, water guns could be filled with the coloured water and squirted over each other instead.

Having twins means double of everything, including a gender reveal!

Any of the above ideas could be adapted for two. For example, a cake could be made of two sponges, each sponge coloured according to the sex of each baby.