Indoor Baseball Party Games

Whether you're hosting a baseball-themed party indoors because you prefer to confine the activities to the house or because you're facing the threat of inclement weather, you can organize an assortment of engaging party games to keep elementary school-aged children entertained throughout the festivities. By creating contests that test the kids' baseball skills, speed and luck, you'll ensure that guests won't even miss the outdoors. Push furniture out of the way and remove fragile items from the area for the safety of both the children and the items in the room.

Set up an indoor relay race by dividing the kids into two or three teams. For each team, provide a baseball uniform, cleats, a baseball hat and glove. Consider using adult-size uniforms to make the game funnier and to accommodate larger children who may have a difficult time getting in and out of child-size clothing quickly.

Pile the gear for each team across the room on the floor. The first player from each team must race across the room, dress in the outfit over his own clothing and strike a pose so one of the adults can take a digital photo. The player must then remove all of the gear and run back across the room so the next player on his team can go. Give prizes to the team that completes the race first.

Organize a catching, pitching and batting contest in your living room using a foam rubber ball and a foam rubber bat or a quick version created from a rolled-up magazine or newspaper. See which guest can successfully catch the most balls thrown by an adult in 30 seconds, hit the most balls over a party streamer hung between two lamps in one minute and pitch the most balls into laundry baskets positioned around the room in two minutes.

Divide the guests into two teams for a game of baseball-themed charades. Create a scoreboard for the indoor game by drawing a vertical line down the center of a piece of paper. Let each group devise a team name. Write one team's name across the top of the left side of the paper and the other team name across the right.

Have an adult act out a simple baseball charade to get the kids to say a baseball-themed answer such as the name of a professional baseball team, the title of a baseball movie or an umpire's call such as "strike," "safe" or "you're out." Give the first team to shout the correct answer a point. The first team to reach 10 points is the winner.

Create an indoor baseball-inspired game inspired by "pin the tail on the donkey." Enlarge a clip art image of a baseball diamond on a color copy machine and affix it to a wall with temporary adhesive. Blindfold the first player and give him a baseball-shaped sticker with his initials written on it. Spin him around three times and point him toward the poster, instructing him to place his sticker as close to home plate as possible. Give prizes to the three kids who place their stickers the closest to home plate.