It was once said that there is “nothing more American than baseball and apple pie,” and for many this is still the case even though other pro sports have surpassed baseball in viewership. However, as a baseball fan and a blue blooded American, you still hold true to that way of thinking. You also want your children to have an appreciation for the sport as well.
Maybe you aren’t hoping they’ll hit the pros one day, but it sure would be fun to have an adult son or daughter to attend the games with, wouldn’t it? Here are some ways you can encourage your child’s love of baseball without shoving it down their throats. As all parents know, this could cause a rebellion and when it comes to baseball, you want anything but that!
Start Taking Your Kids to Live Games Early On
If you talk to most pros, you will often hear them say it was their father’s love of the sport that ignited an interest in them. In fact, there are pro players out there whose fathers also hit the big leagues and as we know it runs in families, why shouldn’t it be yours? Place your baseball betting lines and get watching big games with your family!
By taking kids to games even before they reach kindergarten, they begin to enjoy the thrill long before they understand the game. The crowd cheering along with “peanuts and Cracker Jacks” is enough to thrill any child, isn’t it? Once they’ve experienced the excitement of the live game, it might encourage them to play the sport themselves. If they do want to start playing the sport, it might be worth finding them one of the best youth baseball bats to help them achieve a better batting technique. Try and make the experience as fun as possible for them, increasing the chances of them wanting to continue learning how to play baseball.
Baseball Video Games
While young children can’t really handle controllers very well, as they reach elementary school you’d be amazed at what they can do! If you have a home gaming system, start your kids young with easy games and at the same time, let them stay in the room when you play online baseball simulation games. These will allow you to build teams with players dating back to the early days of the sport.
Your enthusiasm for players, many of whom are no longer on the field, will shine through and in time, your kids might just know as much about baseball as you do. Sometimes all it takes is seeing just how much mom and dad enjoy something to inspire them to learn what excites them so much. Baseball just happens to be one of those contagious addictions hard to resist.
From Apparel to Baseball Cards
Another way to encourage your child’s love of baseball is to keep them supplied in team and player t-shirts as well as collectible baseball cards. Some children never lost a card that came in a pack of bubble gum and those collectible baseball cards are worth huge sums of money on today’s market. Even so, it’s hard to part with a collection, so they may not be easily obtained!
Just don’t overdo it. Kids learn by example so keep that in mind. While you love sitting at the computer playing those online games, don’t let that consume you. Play them with the kids watching but always be talking about what you’re doing and why. Make the kids part of the action and once they’ve gone to bed, play to your heart’s content. What’s better than a cold beer and a game of baseball at the end of a long day?