Swing into the 2023 baseball season with Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum this Saturday, April 29, as they present a special Baseball Family Festival highlighting a recently opened exhibition!
Baseball: America’s Home Run explores our national pastime through a unique, postal lens. Using material from the National Postal Museum’s collection; original stamp art from the United States Postal Service; and artifacts loaned by other Smithsonian museums, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and private collectors, this exhibition explores the surprising ways that baseball and postal history have been deeply intertwined since the early twentieth century.
The Baseball Family Festival will offer fun for all ages with activity stations, crafts, music, and virtual author readings. In-person American Sign Language interpretation will be provided for the author readings.
- Baseball Bingo: Check off the activities you complete on a bingo card in the event program. and claim a prize (while supplies last) for completing any row of three!
- Play Ball: Practice pitching, batting, and running the bases in the Historic Lobby using plastic bats and beach balls.
- Baseball Stamp Puzzles: Flex your puzzles skills with postage stamp puzzles of famous baseball players.
- Baseball Sewing Activity: Craft a baseball by sewing together two small paper plates with yarn.
- Make Your Own Pennant/Stamp: Design your own postage stamp and sports pennant.
- Tattoos & Trivia: Display your baseball pride with a temporary tattoo and test your baseball knowledge.
- Book Corner: Explore baseball history with a wide variety of baseball-themed children’s books.
- Virtual author readings and Q&A: At 1pm, Barb Rosenstock will read her book The Streak: How Joe DiMaggio Became America’s Hero and at 3pm, Rob Skead will read his book Something to Prove: The Great Satchel Paige vs. Rookie Joe DiMaggio. These will take place on Zoo, and both will answer questions afterwards.
There will also be activities from the museum partners, the National Museum of American History and National Portrait Gallery. Explore the role that Latinos have played in the history of baseball with hands-on crafts and real objects from the American History’s exhibit Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues/En los barrios y las grandes ligas. And guests can try on baseball uniform pieces and pose like a baseball player for an instant portrait to use for making a baseball trading card.
Of course, be sure to visit the Baseball: America’s Home Run exhibit and tour the rest of the National Postal Museum, a KFDC favorite for all ages — read more about it here and here!
Baseball Family Festival
Where: National Postal Museum | 2 Massachusetts Ave NE, DC
When: Saturday, April 29, 11am – 4pm
Admission: Free, but reserve a spot!
