Sometimes, the weather simply doesn’t cooperate for outdoor soccer. Whether it’s too cold, snowy, or rainy, there are days when your Tiny Trooper can’t play outside. But don’t worry, you can still keep them active and engaged with indoor soccer. In this post, we’ll show you how to set up an indoor Soccer Island, provide fun warm-up activities, teach essential skills, and share simple games to play indoors.

Setting Up Your Space

First, find a spacious area in your home that can serve as Soccer Island, such as the living room, playroom, basement, or garage. It needs to be big enough to move around and dribble a ball. Clear away any furniture and fragile items to create a safe environment. Ensure the playing surface is non-slip to prevent falls. Ideally, use a soft ball for safety. If one isn’t available, a size 3 soccer ball will do. Additionally, set up a mini goal (a laundry basket works perfectly!) and use cones or other objects like stuffed animals as markers.

Warm-Up Activities

It’s time to warm up our bodies! It’s important to stretch out muscles before using them. Warming up muscles helps prevent injuries and build excitement in your child to play. For today’s warm-up, lead your Tiny Trooper in a parade around the edges of the room to explore Soccer Island. March along the beach and bend over to pick up seashells. Point to birds in the trees and pretend to fly with your arms. Hop around the island like the bunnies you might see. Reach up high and pretend to pick coconuts from the trees. These are just some examples of movement activities that can be done.

Skills

Once the warm-up is complete, move into skills activities. Start by reviewing dribbling and trapping skills. This Parent Playbook post has great instructions and a video if you need to review these skills. Dribbling involves using the inside, outside, and top of the foot to move the ball using little kicks. Remember not to use the big toe because it makes big kicks. Trapping the ball is how little ones learn to stop the ball. To trap, place one foot on top of the ball to hold it in place. Together, dribble around the play space, calling out to your Tiny Trooper to trap the ball every now and then.

After practicing these skills, take a quick water break before moving on to toe taps. Show your Tiny Trooper how to place the ball in front of them and alternate tapping the top of the ball with each foot. If you need a refresher, this post provides excellent instructions and a video. Challenge them to increase their speed. For older players, set a timer to see how many toe taps they can complete in a set time, such as 10 seconds, 30 seconds, or even a minute.

Simple Games

It’s time to put our skills to work and play a few games!

Sneaky Goal:

• Objective: Practice shooting accuracy and strength.
• Instructions:
  1. Use a mini goal, laundry basket, or hula hoop for this activity. Place it in one area of the play space.
  2. Have your Tiny Trooper stand on the opposite side of the room, dribble the ball towards the goal, and shoot it in. Repeat this several times to build confidence.
  3. Once your child is comfortable with dribbling and shooting, introduce the concept of the “sneaky goal.” Explain that the goal will now move around the room after each shot.
  4. Vary the speed and location of the goal after your Tiny Trooper scores, keeping them engaged and challenged.
  5. To add more fun, let your Tiny Trooper move the goal around while you practice dribbling and shooting.

Pass the Potato!

• Objective: Practice passing skills, accuracy, and teamwork.
• Instructions:
  1. Use 2 cones, stuffed animals, or other other items to mark a space about 3-4 feet in distance. Have your Tiny Trooper stand at one marker while you stand at the other. You’ll also need your phone or other device to set a timer.
  2. Focus on using the inside of the foot to pass the ball. Demonstrate to your Tiny Trooper to use the inside of the foot to pass the ball across to the other person. The person receiving the ball should trap it first, and then use the inside of their foot to pass it back.
  3. Practice passing with the shorter distance. To create a challenge, increase the distance between the two of you.
  4. Once your Tiny Trooper has built up their confidence, it’s time to try Pass the Potato! For this game, the ball is now a potato that is hot. Each player needs to pass the ball and get rid of the hot potato before the timer runs out!
  5. Start with shorter times and gradually increase the interval to make the game more challenging.

Wrap-Up

Wind down your play session by coming together. Ask your Tiny Trooper what their favorite part of indoor soccer was. Talk to them about all the great things they did during the activities. Finish up by giving each other a high five and hug, and then clean up the play space, putting everything back to order.

Keeping your toddler active during the colder months doesn’t have to be a challenge. With these indoor soccer activities, you can transform your home into a fun and engaging Soccer Island. By setting up a safe play space, incorporating warm-up exercises, practicing essential soccer skills, and playing simple games like Sneaky Goal and Pass the Potato, you ensure that your little one stays active, improves their soccer skills, and has a blast despite the weather outside.