Events and Projects

   
 

Tips for Weekly Activity Leaders

 
  Are you signed up to lead soon? Not sure what to do?
   
  Here are some ideas that parents have successfully initiated so far. Repetition of these activities is great because kids get excited when they can master and excel at it! Feel free to add new ideas.
   
 
Arrival Activities
  Have an unstructured activity (such as goal kicking) for kids and parents to do together while waiting for everyone to arrive.
   
 
Opening Circle & Warm-Up
 
• Names - Have everyone say their name and something interesting about themselves (favorite food, favorite animal, favorite book, etc)
• Stretches
• Jumping Jacks
• Foot on Ball - put one foot on the ball and then hop to the other foot on the ball. See how fast you can do this.
• Parachute –Get a small parachute to have kids shake up and down. A good stretching exercise too!
• Race - Have a parent stand at a tree and everyone races back and forth.
• Ball hopping - Put all of the soccer balls in a line and each person jumps over them all and then goes back to the end of the line.
   
 
Group Activities
  Keep activities simple and short.
When kids appear to be losing interest, transition to a new activity.
Use the whistle to get everyone's attention.
   
  • Red Light - Green Light (and yellow light) - Try this without balls a couple of times. Then try adding a round where kids have to kick their balls while playing. If there are lots of kids, have the goal be the volleyball net (instead of the person being the light).
 

• "Clean the Yard" - This is best played in the volleyball court. Kids get on one side of the net and parents on the other. Each side tries to "clean their yard" by kicking all of the balls to the other side. A few parents are often needed to get stray balls.
• Frog King - Using a small slightly blown up frog kiddie pool (…parent who has this?), have one or two kids be the "Frog King/Queen" (goal keeper). Kids get in line to try and kick their ball into the pool.
• Obstacle course - Use cones or flags for kids and parents to kick around and then kick a goal. Parents help the child then go back to the end of the line.

  • Snake Line - One parent leads and everyone else gets in line. The leader is the head of the snake and kicks the ball around the park. The snake line follows behind. Eventually kids can take turns being the head.
• Kicking Race - Have kids race to a destination while kicking their balls. The destination could be between two trees or the volleyball net.
  • Crazy Goals - Have a couple of fun and goofy parents stand between two trees as goal keepers. All the kids try to kick goals past the parents at the same time. Fun and Chaotic!
  • Tag - Play without balls as a fun warm-up activity.
• Simon Says - Play with or without balls.
• Duck-Duck Goose - The "it" person walks with the soccer ball (the "goose egg") around the group sitting in a circle saying "duck, duck, duck" and puts the egg behind the person who he/she calls "goose". The goose picks up the ball and chases after the "it" person before he/she can take her space in the circle.
  • Egg Hunt - Kids line up on one end of the "field" with a goal at the other end. Spread out all of the balls in the middle. Blow the whistle and everyone has to find their ball and get it into the "basket" (goal). No one can take away another person's ball. Time how long it takes to get all of the balls into the basket. Play it again to see if they can beat their own time.
 
• Sharks & Minnows - Split the kids into two groups (sharks and minnows). The minnows each have a ball. The sharks don't have balls and line up along the volleyball net. The minnows try to kick their ball past the volleyball net while the sharks keep the balls away.
• Distance Kicking - Kids stand in a row with their ball and parents stand in a row facing the kids. Kids kick the ball as far as they can to their parent. Parents kick back to the kids.
   
 

Individual Parent - Child Activities
   
 
If your child seems uninterested in the particular activity, feel free to try these until a new activity is started.
• Keep Away -One person runs and kicks the ball while the other tries to take it from them.
• Goal kicking - practice kicking goals together using the nets or two trees.
• Back and forth kicking - practice kicking the ball back and forth.
   
 

Hints for Leaders

   
  • Use the whistle to get everyone's attention to transition from one activity to another.
• Have a list of the activities you'd like to do so you can quickly transition activities.
• Assign tasks to parents so they know how to help.
  • If kids are still enjoying an activity, do it some more. For instance, kids often will want to race 2-3 times. If, however, an activity seems to be losing everyone, blow the whistle and try something new.
• Keep it Fun! Be Silly! Cheer Everyone On!
   
 

How to Handle a Huge Group
   
  Some Saturdays we have a huge group of kids and parents. This can be great fun, but makes organizing a challenge. When this happens to you, try these tips:

• Split the group into two smaller groups and assign a couple of parents to help lead the other group in the same activity.
• Stick with activities where everyone is playing all at once (ex. Red Light - Green Light, Clean the Yard) and less of the activities where kids have to stand in line and wait (ex. Frog King).
• Repeat activities that everyone is already familiar with.
   
 
 
 
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