Baseball is back, and it is big in my home. We are huge baseball fans, and my eldest plays the sport, too, so we are a baseball family through and through! If you love baseball as much as we do, or even if you enjoy watching the occasional game from time to time, baseball is an excellent way to engage your kids in hands-on learning!
Sports, not just baseball, are terrific teaching tools for young kids. They teach mathematics, teamwork, patience, handling disappointment, hand-eye coordination, gross motor skills, problem-solving, spatial awareness, logic, and more!
With baseball season off to a flying start, I thought exploring ways to engage your little ones in baseball-themed learning would be fun!
Baseball and Learning: Activities for toddlers and preschoolers
Read Baseball Books
Reading is excellent for any age, but little kids especially love to have stories read to them! We Are Teachers has compiled a list of 22 recommended baseball books for kids. Check them out of your local library, or if you love baseball in your house, purchase a few to keep on the shelf!
Get Physical!
A baseball-themed doorway toss game is perfect for honing your little one’s hand-eye coordination and gross motor skills. Adjust the height for your kiddo and encourage them to toss balls through the catcher’s mitt. Older kids will enjoy this, too; make sure nothing is breakable nearby! If you don’t feel like shelling out money for a prefab doorway toss, create your own with a large piece of cardboard and markers! You can use soft foam balls or bean bags.
Take the games outside with cornhole, ladder golf, or a base and wiffle bat and ball set. And, of course, don’t underestimate a good, old-fashioned game of catch.
Baseball Spelling Game
Little Family Fun has this adorable DIY baseball spelling game you can print at home. It’s perfect for practicing beginning sounds, letter recognition, and rhyming! The best part is you can add letters and words as your kid grows and learns, providing endless letter-learning fun!
Use a Tee
A baseball tee and foam bat are an inexpensive and fun way to combine baseball and learning! Your little one can practice hand-eye coordination while having fun whacking a foam ball! Or, if they’re ready, try softly lobbing a pitch underhand from a few feet away to see if they can make contact!
For little sluggers, use a broad plastic bat and a larger ball to increase their contact chances. Learning and practicing to connect a bat with a ball will also develop patience and perseverance. Plus, they’ll get a considerable boost of self-confidence once they’re successful!
Baseball Rice Krispy Treats
Rice Krispy treats are delicious any time of year, but why not try out this adorable recipe from Domestically Speaking and make Baseball-shaped goodies? Baking is a great math and science activity that develops fine motor control; plus, you get to eat the finished product! If you’re not a fan of Rice Kripsy treats, you could apply the same decorating technique to sugar cookies or cupcakes!
Babesball and Learning: Activities for Kindergarten and Early Elementary
Any of the activities above for toddlers and preschoolers can be modified and advanced for older kids, but here are a few more ideas explicitly geared for slightly older kids.
Books and Magazines
If you have a reluctant reader who loves sports, finding books about their favorite team, players, or sport is one way to engage their interest. Another option is a subscription to Sports Illustrated Kids. Magazines with lots of glossy pictures and fun facts might feel less intimidating to a child who doesn’t enjoy reading books.
Another is a sports-themed subscription box like the Sports Card Box from Crate Joy. Reading sports cards is still reading, and it engages their memory and recall as they learn and recite the facts learned about players and teams.
Baseball Dice Game
My son received a customized version of a baseball dice game for Christmas last year, and it is a lot of fun! It’s kind of like Yatzhee meets a board game. It’s fun for older kids and teens to play and will challenge younger kids to practice their addition math facts.
Watch a Game
Sit down and watch a game with your kid! Even if you don’t have a favorite team or follow the sport, you can still pick a team to root for together. Watching baseball allows you to teach your child the rules and how the game works. Some of my best childhood memories are from attending baseball games with my family.
Minor league games are a great way to introduce your child to the sport. Tickets can be easily obtained at the last minute, the seats are inexpensive, and you can usually get pretty close to the field.
Or if you know someone who plays in a baseball league at the little league, travel, or high school level, see a live game and show your support!
MLB Coloring Pages
MLB.com has a series of coloring pages and links to kids’ activities for the baseball season! Links include baseball-themed mad-libs, crosswords, word searches, word scrambles, spot the difference, and more! Support your favorite team by checking out their kid activity offerings!
Baseball Bingo
Enhance your baseball watching by playing Baseball Bingo! It will help your child focus on the game and learn to recognize plays and terms associated with the sport. Team Colors by Carrie has free printable Baseball Bingo cards.
Baseball Scavenger Hunt
A baseball scavenger hunt is a fun way to entertain kids when heading to a game, but you can also play while watching a game on TV! Create a list of items to search for, like the number 27, a blue hat, a person eating a hotdog, or use a pre-made printable online. A fun twist on a scavenger hunt to practice reading and reasoning is available from Glitter Ink Design. Place the clue cards around the house and have a prize for your kids when they reach the end!
Play a Game of Catch
Playing catch is an excellent way to develop your child’s gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination. If you don’t own baseball or mitts, that’s okay; use a larger, softer ball to toss back and forth and catch barehanded. The Velcro pad and ball combos are also great for kids to practice hand-eye coordination. In addition to enhancing your child’s physical development, playing catch is terrific bonding time!
Whether you’re a baseball fanatic or enjoy watching a good game occasionally, baseball provides plenty of learning opportunities for kids! The excitement of playoff season is a great time to teach your kid about one of the most popular sports in the country and sneak in some meaningful learning through play!
Updated April 5, 2024, by L. Elizabeth Forry
