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We are finally getting Baseball!! Opening Night for MLB is Thursday night and there are great matchups set for the entire opening weekend. While we can’t cheer on teams in person, we can enjoy the thrill and make some big memories at home! Take a few minutes and put together an Opening Night your kids will never forget!!
With a little creativity, you can make watching from your living room almost as fun as being in the stadium, and make some priceless memories.
How to Stream Opening Games
Before we get to the fun, you need to make sure you can watch the games. Most of the games this weekend will be on ESPN which you can watch even without cable through a few different streaming providers.
For free, head to SLING and sign up for a free 7-day trial. You’ll get all the opening games on the major channels and can cancel at any time. We use Sling throughout the fall as an inexpensive way to get all the football games.
ESPN Game Schedule
7/23 – Yankees vs. Nationals 7:08pm
7/23 – Giants vs. Dodgers 10:08 pm
7/24 – Braves vs. Mets 4:10 pm
7/24 – Brewers vs. Cubs 7:10 pm
7/24 – Angels vs Athletics, 10:10 pm
7/26 – Braves vs. Mets 7:08 pm
7/26 – Giants vs. Dodgers 10:08 pm
Fox Saturday Schedule
7/25 – Brewers vs Cubs 1:05 pm
7/25 – Giants vs. Dodgers 4:10 pm
7/25 – Yankees vs. Nationals 7:15 pm
There are a number of other games on smaller channels. See the full schedule here.
Make it feel like a stadium
Set up lawn chairs or stadium chairs around your TV, one for each member of the family. It might be less comfortable than the sofa, but it will feel more like you’re there in person! If you have a projector, you could even sit outside and watch the game on the garage door.
Sell and check tickets
Print out enough of these tickets for each member of the family. You can also make your own and personalize them (I used Canva to make ours). Either way, you’ll have something to remember the night by.
When the game is about to start, have someone collect the tickets before you come in the room. Kids will have a blast with this (ours always do)! As you pass out tickets you could even raid the Monopoly game and give the kids spending money to buy their snacks for the night!
Get stadium snacks
What’s a baseball game without the food? Buy some cotton candy, peanuts, frozen pretzels, or any other snacks your family loves to eat at a game. For even more DIY, pop a few bags of popcorn and boil some peanuts yourself. Why not call this dinner and you take the night off from cooking!
Snack Ideas:
Cotton Candy (sold in most grocery stores)
Dry Roasted or Boiled Peanuts
Chips
Candy
Popcorn
Soft Pretzels (SuperPretzels sold in freezer section)
Nachos
Seventh Inning Stretch
Let’s not forget to add some silly to the night. Have everyone head outside during commercial breaks and run “bases,” do dizzy bats, and more. Some other baseball-themed games you could try: Ring the Bat (like human horseshoes) or Strike Out Tag (tag, but using a ball to touch people). Lots of these can be found online. Or teach the younger members of your family how to play the actual game!
Ballpark dinner
Nobody wants to worry about dinner with a game to watch. To make it easy, cook hotdogs on the stove (or in the microwave), then let everyone doctor them with their favorite toppings. Then you can get back to the snacks!
Don’t forget to take lots of pictures. I guarantee your kids will talk about this night for years to come!
