Fun football games for kids: 5 drills they will love
The kids are complaining because they’re bored of relentlessly smashing the ball into an empty net.
We feel your pain. That’s why we’ve pulled together five simple football drills that’ll keep them entertained for hours.
Let them lace up their football boots, pull on their favourite kit, grab their little footballs and go for it.
1. Traffic Lights
Great for: Dribbling and ball control
Number of players: 1 or more
This is a quick and easy warm-up game to get kids moving, while they work on their close control skills.
The more advanced version (holding up red, yellow and green cones) is great for spatial awareness and teaching young players to pick up their head whilst dribbling.
How does it work?
- Place cones in a circle to create an ‘island’. Make the size appropriate for age / amount of players.
- All players must stay on the ‘island’ and out of the surrounding ‘sea’.
- Adult shouts (or holds up) a traffic light colour e.g. red = stop, orange = walk, green = run.
- Players must dribble the ball without bumping into other players, stepping into the ‘sea’ or losing their ball in the ‘sea’.
Game variations:
- One foot only: inside/outside (big toe, little toe)
- Both feet: inside/inside (big toe, big toe)
- Turns: (drag backs, inside/outside cuts, 360s etc.)
2. Ouch!
Great for: Awareness and shooting
Number of players: 1 or more
It’s important to make football fun and what’s more fun than kicking footballs at adults?! Not much.
This is a quick game that allows younger kids to practice their shooting skills and build the confidence they need to score goals.
How does it work?
- Place cones to mark out an appropriately-sized area.
- The adult stands in the middle of the coned-off area.
- Players must dribble around but stay within the cones.
- When they have a clear shot, players can try and hit the adult with their ball, while the adult dodges the shots.
- If the adult is hit by the ball, they shout ‘ouch!’ (feel free to roll around too!)
Game variations:
- Let two or more teams of kids compete against each other in the same way (i.e. classic dodgeball)
3. Knockout Wallie (H.O.R.S.E)
Great for: Close control, passing and accuracy
Number of players: 2 or more
This is a street and playground classic and promotes balance, touch and accuracy.
All you need is a large space to bounce the ball off - the side of a garage, house, or large building is perfect. Just make sure there are no windows close by!
You can make this game as competitive as you want, and there can be many variations on the rules.
How does it work?
- Find a suitable space with a flat wall and choose a five-letter word to use (e.g. H.O.R.S.E is the original game taken from basketball).
- Take it in turns to kick a ball against the wall.
- If someone misses the wall or target area on the wall, they are given the first letter of the word.
- The first person to receive every letter of the word is the loser.
Game variations:
- The ball can only bounce once before the player kicks it against the wall, two bounces and you receive a letter.
- More advanced players can use a football rebounder instead of a wall.
4. One v One
Great for: Control, problem-solving
Number of players: 2 or more
It’s the simplest of games and possibly the most effective. Great for primary school ages and even younger.
You’ll see this game played across the world’s parks, streets, beaches and gardens. The premise is straightforward, it’s child vs. parent or child vs. child.
How does it work?
- Set up two small goals at either end of a space with sidelines to make it narrow.
- Get one ball and attempt to dribble it past the other player into the goal.
- Try not to shoot from distance, the emphasis is to beat the opponent with skill.
Game variations:
- This game can be increased to 2v2 or 3v3, just make the area slightly wider to suit.
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5. Four Corners / Gates
Great for: Speed, dribbling, awareness and close control
Number of players: 1 or more
If you’ve been given the tiring task of hosting not one, but several children for a party, then first of all, we don’t envy you!
Secondly, you’re going to need to entertain them. This is a fun and simple game which promotes dribbling, spatial awareness and memory.
How does it work?
- Set up a square with enough room for all players to get around safely.
- Every child must have a ball each to dribble with during rounds.
- Set up small gates using different coloured cones in each four corners.
- Name the gates (colours / footballers’ names / countries / foods etc.)
- When the adult shouts the word, the children must dribble through the chosen gate.
- The last one to reach the gate each round is eliminated, like ‘Musical Chairs’.
More sessions / training drills for children
If your kids are a little more serious about improving their game, then it’s time for proper training drills!
YouTube is a goldmine of content for teaching children about the game and the England Football Learning channel has tons of great stuff.
There’s everything from understanding terms that are used in the game, to in depth training sessions and tactics walkthroughs.
You can get hold of useful information for footy mad kids aged from 5 to 17. Check it out and get your child on the path to stardom today.
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