• young soccer player tries to manuever the ball image by Robert Young from Fotolia.com
  
  Kids and soccer are a perfect match---but only if soccer games and practices are fun. Playing games as the primary method of teaching soccer skills and techniques is the best way to ensure the kids will be having fun and that your team will also be winning games.
  
  

Driving School

• Tell the kids that instead of driving cars, they will be dribbling the ball around a course the coach has set up. The coach calls out instructions---"go," "stop," "turn left," "turn right"---and cautions the kids not to have any wrecks.
  
  

Musical Chairs

• Place cones scattered within a given area and assign each player a "home" cone. Each player dribbles within the entire area. After a signal from the coach, he must rush back to the "home" cone while trying not to trip over or knock down other players.
  
  

Hit the Coach

• Players stand in a row, each with a ball. The coach stands 5 feet in front and begins to run away slowly, zigging and zagging. The players kick their balls and try to hit the coach, getting one point for each hit. Prizes are given for the most hits.
  
  

Snake in the Grass

• Separate the team into snakes, who wiggle around on the grass, and players, who each have a ball. The snakes slither to try and touch the players, and the players dribble and cut to try and avoid being touched. A player who is touched becomes a snake. The game is played until all players have been touched.