Backyard Skill-Building Games
Do you know that a kid who has 200-300 touches on the ball at each practice will improve his or her skills? These games generate tons of touches. Teach skills and field awareness. Oh, and they're really fun.
Freeze Tag
Kids learn:
- Dribbling
- Passing
- How to keep the ball away from a defender
- How to take advantage of a defender's decisions
How the game works:
- Set up boundaries.
- Give each kid a ball except one—he's "It."
- "It" tries to freeze the other kids by touching their ball (not kicking it away) with his foot.
- Kids who are frozen have to lift their ball above their head and spread their legs to create a "goal."
- A kid is "un-frozen" when another kid kicks a ball through his legs.
- Play until all the kids are frozen or "It" is exhausted.
Red Light, Green Light
Kids learn:
- Changing speed
- Control dribbling
How the game works:
- Give each kid a ball except one—she's the "Stoplight."
- The "Stoplight" is on one side of the yard; the rest of the kids form a line on the other.
- The "Stoplight" faces away from the line and yells, "Green light!"
- The kids dribble their ball toward the "Stoplight."
- At any point, the "Spotlight" can say, "Red Light!" and turn around.
- The kids should be standing still with their foot on their ball. If any kid is moving or without her ball, she is out.
- Play resumes when the "Stoplight" turns back around and says, "Green light!"
- The "Stoplight" wins if all the kids are out before anyone is able to touch her.
- Otherwise, the first kid to touch the "Stoplight" wins.
Tip: If the kids aren't moving very fast, a parent can join in, and the kids can try to beat the parent.
Kickball
Kids learn:
- Trapping
- One-Touch Passing
- Working as a team
- Moving without the ball to receive a pass
How the game works:
- Set this up like a kickball game with cones as the bases.
- All the kids are in the "field" except for the kid who is up to bat, uh, kick.
- The "pitcher" passes the ball to the kicker who kicks it as far as he can and starts to circle the bases.
- Each kid in the "field" must touch or trap the ball and pass it to another kid until everyone has touched it OR the kicker reaches home.
- If the kicker doesn't reach home before all the kids have touched the ball, he's out. If he does, well "YAY!"
Monkey in the Middle
Kids learn:
- How to pass under pressure
- How to receive a ball and get rid of it quickly
- How to move around to get open
How the game works:
- Three kids form a triangle, and a fourth kid stands in the middle.
- The three kids in the triangle pass the ball around while the middle kid tries to get it.
- When she gets it, the player who passed the ball goes to the middle.
Source: www.WeCoachKids.com