Set a rectangular playing area with a hoop in each corner and beanbags in the centre of the area.
Divide the class into four teams, with each team being assigned a home base (one of the four hoops).
Give each student a developmentally-appropriate soccer ball.
One the teacher’s signal, students begin to dribble their soccer ball with their feet, move to the centre of the playing area, collect one beanbag, and bring that beanbag back to their home base.
Play continues until there are no beanbags left to be collected.
Build One: Space Dribbling
Have the class get into a scattered formation within the playing area and provide each student with a developmentally-appropriate soccer ball.
Using music as the start signal, have students begin to move in general space while dribbling their soccer ball.
Build Two: Musical Hoops
While the students are moving in general space, place hoops in a scattered formation throughout the playing area.
Now, when the music stops, students have to quickly dribble to an empty hoop while demonstrating control of their ball.
In between each round, introduce one of the critical elements of the skill and have students focus on demonstrating that critical element when the music starts back up. The critical elements of dribbling with feet are:
Build Three: Treasure Grab
During the last round of Musical Hoops, while the students are dribbling, remove all of the hoops except for one in each corner (so that there are only four hoops left).
When the music stops, students will move to the remaining hoop. When they do, you will have your teams for Treasure Grab.
Place beanbags in the middle of the playing area and play the full version of the game as described in the Quick Rules above.
Build Four: Mini-Coaching
For the last build, remove all but one soccer ball at each home base and assign a critical element of dribbling with feet to each team.
Teams now have to collect beanbags in a relay fashion. This means that only the player with the ball may go collect a beanbag. When they get back to their home base, they give the ball to the next teammate inline and move to the end of their line.
While the active player is dribbling their ball, the players waiting at home base will act as Mini-Coaches. Mini-Coaches look to see if the active player is demonstrating the critical element that was assigned to their team.
If the player is demonstrating that critical element, the Mini-Coaches give a thumbs up. If the active player is not demonstrating that critical element, the Mini-Coaches give a thumbs down. This is a simple system to help students stay focused on mastering the skill, one critical element at a time.
After each round, rotate the critical elements teams focus on so that, by the end of the game, each team has had a chance to focus on each critical element.
Students are not permitted to kick their ball at any time.
Students should move at speeds that are safe for a shared space.
Students should be mindful of others when dribbling their ball.
