Coaching tools › Practice plans › U6
Free practice plan · Ages 5–6 · Kindergarten · 4v4 and 3v3A U6 soccer practice plan:
Soccer Island, 60 minutes
This is Kindergarten, week 1 of the Full Season Intramural Curriculum, minute by minute. Sixty minutes, six to ten players, one ball each, and exactly two coaching points for the whole night: head up, keep the ball close. Every activity has an easier and a harder version and a fix for when it turns to chaos.
- Head up.
- Keep the ball close. That is all you coach today.
Bring: 1 ball per player, 20 cones, 4 cone goals, pinnies in 2 colors.
Your job: Play along, be silly, and use every kid's name.
The session, minute by minute
Free play on the island
ArrivalEvery player gets a ball the moment they arrive and explores inside the cones however they like. Meet each child, learn names, and start telling the shark story so Activity 1 begins itself. Played before? Swap this for 2v2 or 3v3 to cone goals as players arrive.
Soccer Island
Every weekEveryone dribbles inside the island. Sharks wait in the water outside the cones to steal any ball that floats away. Get in there and play along. You will open with this game every week.
EasierCarry the ball in your hands first.
HarderCoach becomes a shark on the island.
If it stallsBalls flying out? Shrink the island; walk only.
Space Man
PracticePlayers dribble anywhere in the grid. When you yell FREEZE, everyone stops with a foot on the ball. Whoever is in the most space wins 100 points.
EasierNo ball: run, freeze, find space.
HarderBonus points for first foot on the ball.
If it stallsAll in one clump? Freeze more often and point to the open space.
Water break
WaterThree minutes. Balls stay on the island.
3 Speeds
PracticeTeach three speeds: Turtle (slow), Dog (medium), Cheetah (fast). Players dribble around while you call out speeds. Switch often and keep them guessing.
EasierJust turtle and cheetah.
HarderAdd STATUE: stop the ball with your sole.
If it stallsCheetah turning into kickball? New rule: keep the ball close enough to pet.
See Ya Later, Coach!
PracticePlayers dribble at you. Just before they reach you they drag the ball back with the sole, shout “See ya later, Coach!” and speed away into space. Points for every good one.
EasierStop the ball with your sole, turn, go.
HarderCoach pokes a foot out to steal the ball.
If it stallsCrashing into you? Add a parent as a second coach; demo it in slow motion.
3v3 on two small fields
The game3v3 on two small fields with cone goals. Walk each team to the goal they score in before you start. Expect a swarm around the ball; that is normal. Coach only today's two points.
Before you pack up
Ask the last question in the huddle and let three or four children answer. Then tell the parents the two coaching points, so they hear the same words at home. Next week the island returns with a new skill: 3 Speeds becomes the thing the sharks chase.
Questions coaches ask
How many players can one coach handle at U6?
Six to ten with one adult. Above ten, add a parent as a second shark and split the island in two. The session shape does not change; only the number of cones does.
What if some children will not join in?
Let them watch from the edge of the island with a ball at their feet. The story usually pulls them in by the second week. Never make joining in a condition of anything.
Do we need goals and keepers?
Cone goals, no keepers. Nobody specializes at this age, nobody heads the ball, and the game at the end is three against three so every child touches the ball every minute.
Is 60 minutes too long for five-year-olds?
Not with four changes of game and a water break. Pre-K runs 45 minutes with one fewer activity; the Pre-K first practice guide has that version minute by minute.
More free practice plans
Thirty-six sessions like this one, Pre-K to 2nd grade
The Full Season Intramural Curriculum is one page per session for four grades, eight weeks each, with an easier and a harder version of every activity, a fix for when it turns to chaos, and an animated video of all 112 activities. Built so a professional trainer and a parent who volunteered last week run the same session.