Baseball Unit Study

When our fifth baby was born, my husband and I planned a baseball unit study for him to lead with our kids while I was recuperating for the first few weeks.

He loves baseball, especially the history, the team stories, the connections to different disciplines. So it made a great way to tie in lots of subject areas too!

I hope you enjoy using some of these ideas in your homeschool.

The Plan for our Baseball Unit Study

We planned out 4 weeks with 2-3 days of content planned around some enrichment center days. So if you do some of these activities with your kids, it might be less than 4 weeks.

First, we created a google sheet table to plan out what we’d be doing.

Then, we planned out the core topics: origins, history, teams, how to play, science, important figures.

And of course, some special bonus mini lessons about our favorite team (the Seattle Mariner’s).

Set-up

In our living room, my husband put up all the team pennants from stadiums he had visited as well as our United States map.

He made small laminated cards for each team for the kids to place on the map with fun tack. (This was a hit with the kids!)

We searched for videos and copied the URL into our google sheet for quick access.

For some of the paper worksheets and crafts, we printed and prepped materials ahead of time so they were easy to grab.

And I purchased some special foods for celebrations! (Celebrations are some of the most memorable parts of our unit studies)

Note on videos: Always preview the full video before showing it to your kids (unless you are really familiar with the video channel/creator). I have often been thankful for taking this time to weed out videos with inappropriate content, ones that were boring, or ones with an irritating AI bot voice narrating. 😉

The Daily Plan

1. Opener: Start with a song (national anthem) and/or a short video or story to grab attention
2. Lesson Intro: Go over what we would be learning about today.
3. History or Science Lesson:
   • Read Aloud book or article
   • Watch videos
4. Craft or Activity
5. Language Arts and Math Work

Baseball Connections Across Subject Areas

There is so much we can explore in each unit study!

Baseball has so many fun connections! Below are some of the connections we explored in each subject area.

Social Studies/History

• United States geography with team locations: We had the kids find the city and put the team symbol on the map. It was interesting to see where teams were located and where there were places without any teams nearby.
  • Fun video that shows how teams have moved over the years on the map: https://youtu.be/IM0PiNfSvvg?si=JzXpVC-MxbJrn36D
• History and Origins: We discussed the commonly known story of how baseball began. But we also watched History of Baseball which debunks the Cooperstown/Double Day narrative and discusses “rounders” origins. (My husband loves getting nerdy about baseball)
• Black History: The stories about greats like Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron are so impactful and really help younger kids understand the abstract topic of racism since most can understand the feeling of being excluded.
  • Jackie Robinson for kids, 4 mins: https://youtu.be/4x6D1jn50ok?feature=shared
  • Famous clip of Jackie Robinson stealing home, 1 min: https://youtu.be/6XY-XshGhMU?si=KlT4Wop3lui0p6Vz
• Cultural Connections: Common baseball references in everyday language, cultural moments in baseball history, legends/myths. (ex: “Who’s Baby Ruth?”- Sandlot movie)
• National Anthem study

Science

• Physics: Force, Movement
  • Science of ball hitting a bat Video: https://youtu.be/uxlIdMoAwbY?si=UpVIgzofT6QvhwmD
  • Major League hitters in slow motion video: https://youtu.be/Hhb6J9vG0gQ?feature=shared
• Materials and physics: Baseball bat power
  • wood vs aluminum
    • Scientific method: Question, Research, Hypothesis,Experiment, Analysis, Conclusion
      • Scientfic method video: https://youtu.be/qAJ8IF4HI20?feature=shared
    • This is one you could do in your backyard or at the park. The kids had fun doing this!

Language Arts

• Casey at the Bat story study
  • Disney cartoon: https://youtu.be/erfSed2MUsA?si=885l7NKKMkQnebG3
• Baseball Homophones
  • Education.com free worksheet: https://www.education.com/worksheet/article/baseball-homophones/
  • Fun wordplay and cultural reference, “Who’s on First” Abbott & Costello sketch: https://youtu.be/sYOUFGfK4bU?si=0heIvgvijyzSy8-9
• “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” song study

Math

• Batting Averages: how to calculate, what they mean, looking at baseball cards or player stats
• Angles in Baseball: pitching, hitting
• For younger kids: color by number baseball themed pictures

Arts and Crafts

• Design your own team pennant (The kids loved this! We displayed them for the whole unit)
• Draw your own baseball card (Self-portrait, fictional player, or favorite player)
• Design a uniform, stadium, or other ideas!
• Logo coloring pages

Fun Baseball Themed Activities and Materials

Here are some activities and products we have used during this unit or for other baseball themed nights. Some of the following are affiliate links. I am an amazon affiliate so if you purchase I may make a small commission but the cost to you does not change.

• MLB logos spot it game
• Baseball mad libs
• Cracker Jacks recipe with popcorn bags
• mini MLB baseball helmets (no longer sold, so you’ll have to find them used)
• Casey at the Bat book
• The Perfect Game (ages 7+)
• Rookie of the Year (ages 8+)
• Baseball by Ken Burns (ages 12+) Excellent documentary that weaves baseball history with American history
• Go to a baseball game together!

Local or Family Connections

You might have a local baseball team or one in your region that you can learn about or family members who have baseball stories they would love to share to make the unit study come to life even more.

In our unit, we sprinkled in a bit about Seattle Mariners. You can see our rough unit study plan here.