Balance is one of the most important skills for a soccer player to have. This is really one of those skills that requires lots of practice in order to develop it, and it can be a LOT of fun! Practising balance at home will help your child to perform better on the field.
Here are four balance games that you can do with your child at home to help them get better on the field, and to make some fantastic memories!
Follow the Line
Grab some chalk and head outside for this one. Simply draw a squiggly line around on the pavement and then have your child walk toe to toe following it. This super simple but super-fun exercise can be done again and again! Try lots of shapes or hopping on one foot for variation. For a real challenge, have your child dribble their soccer ball along the line!
Tissue Soccer Dribbling
All you need for this game is a soccer ball and a tissue! (Yes, the kind your blow your nose with.) Have your child practise dribbling the ball with the clean tissue on their head. The goal is to keep that tissue up there for as long as possible. It’s harder than it sounds!
Air Ball
Blow up a balloon and have everyone get down on the ground. The more folks the more fun with this game. With their back to the floor, and pushing up on hands and knees, kids try to keep the balloon up in the air with only their feet! Great for balance and control.
Hands Behind You
This is a great activity to teach balance and soccer. Simply have your child play soccer in the yard – with their hands behind them! We use our arms a lot to help us balance, and learning to stay up without them is a big challenge. Don’t be tempted to tie their hands though, as they’ll need them to catch themselves if they fall.
Improving soccer balance can be fun! These activities are easy and fun, but powerfully effective for helping kids improve balance. That’s great on and off the field!
Photo credit: martha_chapa95 via Foter.com / CC BY
