Take me out to a birthday party, take me out to the crowd. Sorry, I just can’t help but think that baseball and birthday parties make a pretty good combination. After all, even though baseball is considered America’s favorite pastime, I’d guess that for most kids, birthday parties rank right up there, too. Luckily, there’s no need to compete, because when you pair them together to throw a baseball theme party, everyone wins.
Invitations
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When it comes to sports themed parties, my personal favorite idea for invitations is to create ones that look like actual stadium tickets. You can cut the tickets from cardstock and fill in the details by hand, use a template and let your printer do the work or order them from a printing company that offers custom ticket-style invitations. On the face of the ticket, the event heading may read something like, “Admit One to Jacob’s All Star Birthday.” Add the date and time of the party in the traditional spot where you would find the date and time of the baseball game. On the back of the ticket, you can rewrite the specific party details and RSVP information for clarity. Of course, this is just one of many ideas for baseball themed party invitations. Additional suggestions include:
- Baseball themed invitations from a party supply store.
- Printable baseball invitations.
- A box of cracker jacks with an invitation tucked inside as the “prize.”
- A baseball scrawled with the message “you’re invited,” and autographed by the birthday child.
- A postcard invitation that features a photo of the birthday child, sporting a baseball uniform and equipment.
Decorations
Color Scheme:Let the colors of your little slugger’s favorite team be the inspiration for your decorating scheme. Items that may be combined to create this color scheme include:
- Tablecloths
- Paper plates
- Cups
- Napkins
- Balloons
- Streamers
- Pennant Banners
- Set the table with an artificial turf cover.
- Place a pack of baseball cards at each place setting.
- Set a miniature, platic batting helmet on each plate.
- Use sports wristbands (with favortie team logos, if desired) as napkin rings.
- A bowl or vase filled with baseballs.
- Bunches of balloons that feature your team’s logo or colors, tied to a baseball, a baseball mitt or a box of cracker jacks.
- A large bucket filled with popcorn.
- A vase filled with a “bouquet” of pennant flags.
Games and Activities
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- Baseball Cards
One fun activity is to have kids pose for their very own baseball card portraits. You can supply props such as a baseball uniform, bat or glove and take the photos with a digital camera. Print them while the party is in progress and hand them to kids as a cool party memento. - Baseball Game
What better activity for a baseball party than an actual game of baseball (or wiffle ball for the little ones)? Head into the yard, choose teams and play a couple of innings. Or stay inside and play baseball on the television, with the help of a video gaming system. - Baseball Toss
Place a few overturned baseball caps on the ground. Lay a baseball bat a few feet away from the caps. Have kids stand behind the bat and attempt to toss baseballs into the caps. - Hot Baseball
Play the traditional game of hot potato, substituting a baseball for the potato. - Musical Bases
Cut the shapes of bases out of cardboard and tape them to the floor to use in place of chairs in the game of musical chairs. Use the song Take me out to the Ballgame as the music for this game.
Food
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For a baseball party menu think of foods you would find at a concession stand. Hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream bars and lemonade come to mind. You could even ask a few friends to dress as walking vendors and serve the food the way they do in the stands at a game.
Favors
These baseball treat favors make a fitting parting gift for a baseball party. Additional suggestions for baseball party favors:
- Baseballs, baseball bats or baseball mitts. Make theme extra special by having the guests sign one another’s during the party.
- Baseball cards.
- Baseball caps.
- Baseball jerseys.
- Foam fingers.
- Baseball pennant flags.
