Healthy Kids: Soccer Activities For Kids

This post is part of a Nuffnang native advertising series.

October is Doc-Tober for Disney Junior! Your preschooler can see Doc McStuffins and her toy friends in new episodes on the Disney Junior TV channel and enjoy brand new Doc games and activities on DisneyJunior.com.au.

I knew absolutely nothing about soccer… then I became a mum. Our boys started playing soccer almost two years ago. Now, I understand just how fun playing soccer is. It’s a social, fun way to get kids moving about, to build up their fitness and encourage a healthy lifestyle.

I am a parent who has never played soccer before – and it was a bit overwhelming / intimidating to figure out. However, it is possible, and simple to just have some fun with a soccer ball in the backyard with your kids.

Five Soccer Activities For Healthy Kids

Here are some ball activities that are simple and fun; some ideas to get you playing soccer with your kids:

BUBBLES
Randomly place a few cones around your backyard. Each child needs a soccer ball. Dribble your ball (“bubble”) around the backyard. Use only the inside of your feet. Don’t let your bubble touch another bubble or cone; otherwise your bubble will pop. If your bubble pops, you have to do ten star jumps before rejoining the game.

TREASURE
You will need a few soccer balls (about 3 to each child) and a hoop for each child. Place the hoops randomly on the ground, with the soccer balls outside the hoops. On your signal, children have to collect treasure by dribbling the soccer balls into their hoops. Stealing balls from other people’s hoops is not allowed. The player with the most treasure wins.

PIN BALL SOCCER
To start the game, place a row of cones (bowling pins) across the middle of the backyard. Each child , stands at edges of the backyard, with the row of cones between them. Players should have about three balls each. The player that knocks down the most pins is the winner. When all the pins are knocked down, reset them and start again.

PIRATES
Choose someone to be a pirate. The pirate does not have a ball. Everyone else dribbles a ball around the backyard. Pirates try to tackle the ball away from the dribblers. If the pirate tackles the ball away from a player, that player becomes the new pirate.

ONE-ON-ONE SOCCER
Even in our postage stamp sized garden, we just simply play a game of one-on-one soccer. We place the ball in the middle of the backyard to start. The players then have to try and kick the ball to their goal area to score a point. We take turns, and tag-team to play each other.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.