Football Drills for 5 to 7 Year Olds

By FootieSkills · Published 19 September 2026

Children of this age do not learn football by standing in a line waiting for a turn. They learn by playing, and by touching the ball as often as possible. The best "drills" for five to seven year olds are really games with a story attached. This guide gives you six you can run with a handful of markers and one ball each.

What this age group needs

A ball each. Touches are how young children learn. Sharing one ball means most of them are watching most of the time.
Short activities. Attention lasts a few minutes. Change the game every four to six minutes.
Stories and silly rules. The cones are sharks, the grass is lava. Children will repeat a boring drill for ten seconds and a game with a story for ten minutes.
No queues. A child waiting for a turn is a child not playing. Split into smaller groups rather than lengthening a line.
No knock-outs. The child who is out first is the one who needed the practice most.

Six games that build real skills

1. Red light, green light

Everyone dribbles around a marked square. Call "green" to go, "amber" to go slowly and "red" to stop the ball dead under the sole of the foot. It trains stopping and close control, which are the foundations of everything else.

2. Sharks and minnows

The children are minnows and dribble across the grid. A grown-up shark tries to kick their balls out. If your ball is kicked out, do five toe taps to "heal" it and swim back in. Nobody is ever out, and they all practise dribbling with their head up.

3. Body-part stop

Dribble freely. Shout a body part, such as sole, thigh or bottom, and everyone stops the ball with it. The stopping is the skill, so praise the child who stops it dead rather than the one who runs fastest.

4. Treasure hunt

Put all the balls in a square in the middle. Each child has a home marker. On "go" they dribble one ball at a time back to their home, then return for another. The rule of one ball per trip is what makes them dribble instead of carrying.

5. Follow the leader

One child dribbles and the rest copy every turn and change of pace. Swap the leader every 45 seconds so nobody waits long. Leaders look up to choose where to go, which is exactly the habit you want.

6. Bulldozer maze

Scatter markers across the grid. Children push the ball through the gaps without knocking one over, arms out like a bulldozer. Small touches beat big kicks, and you can point to whoever is already doing it.

Skills from the roller that suit this age

Set the roller to Junior and pick from the easier skills: toe taps, sole rolls, a simple figure-8 weave around two markers and target passing from five yards. For keepy-ups, start with "drop the ball, kick it once, catch it". Turn the timer into part of the game by challenging them to beat the clock.

How to talk to them

Keep every explanation under 15 seconds. Show it, then let them go.
Praise bravery and trying again, not just the result.
Give one tip at a time: small touches, head up, or use both feet.
Lose on purpose sometimes. Confidence is what you are building.

What to skip at this age

Partner passing drills often end in frustration, because passing depends on children noticing each other, which many do not do yet. Skip elimination games, fixed positions, long talks and any heading practice. Dribbling, stopping and striking the ball are what transfers.

A 30-minute mini session

Arrival game (8 minutes): follow the leader or red light, green light as children arrive.
Skill games (10 minutes): sharks and minnows, then body-part stop.
Play (10 minutes): a small game to cone goals with no goalkeepers and no rules to remember.
Favourite (2 minutes): let them choose one game to end on, then a high five.

When they lose interest

Change the game rather than raising your voice. Add a story, shrink the group, take a drink break or go back to a game they already love. You can expect to abandon one planned activity because they are enjoying another too much, and that is a good sign.