Drills for 5 year old team

Do a lot of 1v1's drills, then move to 2v1's, 2v2's but constantly send balls onto the field so that their is little downtime. At this age they have to stay engaged by running around.

At that age it's all about keeping their attention and having fun. Drills need to incorporate the passing and dribbling but overall be about having fun. Sharks and minnows is a fun one. Res light green light, freeze tag, earthquake.

There's a ton of material online for youth drills.

Keep it fun, the moment it becomes work for them they'll lose interest.

Oh yeah and most important, encouragement and building confidence is huge. If a player shoots the ball and misses you should cheer them on for taking the shot. Too many times I see parents and coaches make it a negative thing to miss the goal or shoot it right at the keeper.

quote:

---

i'd suggest playing a 6-3-1

---

Only four players on the field at a time and no formations, but don't worry, as we move up, I'm taking notes from Jose's master tactics Kids won't have any problems parking a bus, that's for sure.

Thanks everyone for the replies so far. Maybe incorporating some games (freeze tag, red light, etc.) would be a good idea. Most of them love little competitions and this could bring out a good side of them - especially some who recognize they are behind in ball skills and have a hard time in the game/scrimmage because they know they are behind.

And I am highly encouraging - I never yell or tell them they did something wrong - only point out how to do it differently or what would work better. And I try to tell each one of them something positive about their work each practice and game.

Here's a sample practice I used for my U-6 team this past season.

1. Free Play - 5 minutes
This just lets the kids run around, dribble, shoot, or just have fun for the first 5 minutes while you wait for the entire team to arrive. I do this because it seems a kid or 2 is always running a few minutes behind.

2. Rules/Stretching - 5 to 10 minutes
I go over basic rules with the kids getting to answer the questions as to what is allowed/not allowed. They love yelling out potential rules (no punching, biting, etc.; you will laugh at what they come up with).
Then I do basic stretching just to warm them up. Something like:
- toe touches/reach for the sky (sometimes fast, sometimes slow)
- jumping jacks (5-10 quick ones, I ask them how many they want to do)
- dance crazy
- toe taps
- make circles with one foot on the ball; then switch to other foot (I call this petting the dog, they get to name their ball anything they want)
- dribble around soccer island then come back to the middle (I'll explain soccer island next)

3. Skills/Drills - 20 minutes
- Soccer island with fun house - set up a big area in a circular or odd shape with cones. The kids have to dribble around anywhere inside the island. The fun house is a square area made out of cones, and when I blow the whistle, each kid has to shoot the ball into the goal and then run there. They can act crazy in the fun house and wait for further instruction. I like to add different things such as only dribbling with left foot, or only dribbling with right foot. Advanced skills could be using the bottoms of their feet to roll the ball forward or backwards. If I say, "I'm open" to a kid, he/she has to pass the ball to me and then tell me they're open before I pass back to them. You can change up the skills each practice.

- Jake and the Pirates - this is a play on sharks and minnows. The pirates are in the middle and are the sharks. Jake and his friends are the minnows and have to dribble to the other side of the field where there are cones set up. The players have to pass/shoot their ball at the cone and knock it over. I put disks under each cone, and this is their treasure. Keep playing until only one pirate is left.
- Hit the coach with the ball - all inside soccer island, the kids try to hit me with the ball. If they hit me, they get to tell me what kind of animal I have to impersonate. I act like that animal for about 15 seconds then they try again.

4. Game play - 10 minutes
This is a quick 4 v 4 scrimmage to simulate a game.

5. Team circle - 5 minutes
Closing remarks and team chant.

Hopefully this can give you some ideas. I have plenty other drills.