Children view drills for exactly what they are, boring and monotonous. If you keep running drills not only will you lose your player’s interest, ultimately, you will lose your players. No child is going to come to your sessions week after week if they are not having fun. So how do you overcome this? The answer is simple, play games.

What can Fun Soccer Games for 5 to 8 Year Olds do for your players?

– Teach basic soccer skills. Games are the best way to teach a range of skills. All of the basics such as passing, shooting, dribbling, heading are covered.

– Let them have fun. At this age, above all else, children want to have fun. That’s why the soccer authorities in the UK and United States back the idea of fun games.Games are fun which is why we continue to play them well into adulthood. Top soccer matches are still games, they’ve just developed a more competitive, and commercial, edge.

– Engage young children. How do you get a child to buy into your games? Make them engaging.

– Educate. Games can educate your players beyond the learning of basic skills. These games are based on simple rules and educate players in simple ideas such as right and wrong. They are introduced with achievable, desirable objectives.

– Promote teamwork. Young children can be selfish, they’re not always keen to share their toys and they strive to achieve objectives independently. The games introduce teamwork in a variety of ways, working independently, in pairs, and in a group. The majority of games require one ball per player so that everyone can be involved even though the games are all team based.

– Fire their creativity. These games work, but you should never be afraid to make changes, to the rules, the playing area, or even the premise of the game. If your kids would rather be a fighter pilot than a spaceman, go for it. You can even let them change the rules. It’s a case of how would they like to play the game as much as how should they play the game.

– Keep them coming back. If young children play a game and enjoy it you can be sure they’ll want to keep on playing – ever played peek-a-boo with a baby? Ever seen a baby get bored of it? Your children are going to latch on to these games and want to play them over and over again. At a very young age you don’t need to introduce endless variety. Ask the children what game they want to play and off you go. They’ll be back week after week, there’s a big difference between consistent fun and monotony.