Baseball is a great sport to practice with your students. There are many skills they can learn such as throwing and catching. To add a new spin on your usual activities, we’ve shared a few baseball game variations that use a variety of types of balls, bats, or rackets. These are great activities for your physical education or recreational program.
Items Needed
Alaskan Baseball
Start with 2 teams. One team is given a ball or throwable object, their team then forms a circle around them and that person throws the object. After he has thrown the object then he goes around the circle saying everyone’s name in order of the circle. Every time he makes it around the circle it counts as a run. Meanwhile the other team is chasing the object. Everyone forms a line behind the first person that has gotten the object. They then pass the object between their legs until it reaches the last person, where it is then passed overhead back to the first person in line. When the first person gets the object the team yells out, and the other team stops counting runs. The first person in line that retrieved the object now has a circle formed around him and he throws the object and the process reverses.
Balloon Baseball
Players are divided into two teams. Each team designates a pitcher who pitches to his own team. Each batter gets two pitches to hit a balloon with his fist. If the ball is hit, the fielding team tries to blow the balloon to the ground before the batter runs around the bases. If they do not, a run is scored. Play continues until everyone on the batting team has been “up to bat”. Then, the inning is over and teams switch places. The game continues for a specified number of innings.
NOTE: Depending on the age of the players, the distance between bases may be altered.
Crazy Softball
Set up the field with bases. Divide students into two teams. The fielding team gets distributed in their positions; everyone is in the field, even if you need to have more than 9 in the field. Give the batting team a batting order and line them up in a safe area to the side of the field. You are the pitcher (if no tee is available) with a bucket of balls next to your feet. Pitch the ball to the batter. After the batter hits the ball, s/he automatically runs the bases, without stopping at any one base. There are no fouls in this game. After rounding the bases, the runner returns to the end of the line. The fielding team gets the ball back to the pitcher as quickly as they can, passing the ball in through teammates. If the ball gets back to the pitcher before they score they are out. If they score first they get a run. Teams switch sides after everyone has had one chance to hit the ball and run bases. After everyone has had a hit, you can switch after 5 minutes.
Tennis Baseball
Set up a typical baseball field with bases. Divide students into two teams. The fielding team gets distributed in their positions; everyone is in the field, even if you need to have more than 9 in the field. Give the batting team a batting order and line them up in a safe area to the side of the field. This game is played following the softball & baseball rules; with the exception that pitcher allows the ball to bounce once before it reaches the batter. The batter hits with a racquet rather than a bat. You are the pitcher and control the play of the game. Play starts when you throw the ball underhand towards home plate. Play stops when the ball is returned back to you. Teams switch sides when either: after the full team batting rotation, a time limit is reached, 3 outs are achieved.
Wall Baseball
Set up an open area with a large wall. Split the students into two teams. The 1st team on offense has one person up to bat and everyone else on the sideline. The 2nd team on defense spreads all its players out around the playing area (should be about the size of the infield area for kickball) adjacent to the wall. Have students tell you where the boundaries are and be sure they know the object is to catch the ball in as few bounces as possible. The player on offense who is up to bat throws the tennis ball against the wall, it must go above a line on the wall of at least 6ft. (the higher the line the easier it is so for lower grades so 10 or 12 feet may be better). When the ball bounces off the wall the team on defense tries to catch it. If they catch it before it hits the ground that is an out. However, if the ball bounces once before someone catches it that’s a single, two bounces is a double, three bounces a triple, and four bounces is a home run. The hitter can then take their base. If there are no bases, it is crucial to remember where the “imaginary runners” are for scoring purposes. If a ball bounces beyond the boundary, those out-of-bounds bounces do not count.
Download the printable PDF Baseball Activity Guide here!
About the Author:
Jason Schaitz, MBA, CPRE, is a Parks and Recreation Director with over 15 years’ experience coordinating youth programs, camps, sports, and recreation activities. He also created and manages The Summer Camp Source with the goal of providing free high quality resources for any type of camp, youth recreation or childcare program. Take your program to the next level by visiting our website for free resources and education!
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