Weak-Foot Mini Soccer
4-on-4 soccer where every player wears a ribbon on the ankle of their weaker leg and goals scored with that leg count triple. Students work on passing, receiving and shooting with both feet and deciding which foot to use.
How to play
- Each student ties a ribbon around the ankle of the leg they don't usually kick with. Check: "Touch the ball with your ribbon foot" (2 min).
- Partners 5 yards apart: 10 passes with the inside of the ribbon foot, 10 with the outside and 10 sole traps (5 min).
- Set up 3 fields of 20 x 12 yards with 3-yard cone goals. Teams of 4 in pinnies; the extra student is a neutral who plays with the attacking team (2 min).
- 4-minute games: a ribbon-foot goal is worth 3 points, any other goal 1. No set goalies (12 min, three games).
- After each game, winners move up a field and losers move down.
- Wrap-up: each student counts weaker-foot passes and goals and sets a goal (4 min).
Rules
- No tackling from behind and no slide tackles.
- Balls above the waist don't count; restart with a kick-in.
- The team must make at least one ribbon-foot pass before scoring.
Variations
Easier
Any touch counts, and every ribbon-foot pass earns 1 point.
Standard
3-point and 1-point goals with one required weaker-foot pass.
Harder
Goals only with the ribbon foot and three touches in a row at most.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: a student using a wheelchair strikes with the hand on the weaker side or with the side of the chair, and scores 3.
- Autism or shyness: same team all lesson and advance notice of each field change.
- Skill level: club players may only use the ribbon foot; beginners use both.
Learning goals
- Improve passing, receiving and shooting with the weaker foot.
- Decide which foot to use based on the ball and defender.
- Follow safe-play rules in contact situations.
Equipment for a class of 25
- soccer balls: 6
- cones: 24
- pinnies: 13
- colored ribbons: 25
Teacher tip
At first hardly anyone dares to use the weaker foot: praise every attempt, not just goals. Check the ribbons, since many kids tie them on the strong leg out of habit.
PatioLab has "Weak-Foot Mini Soccer" and 3999 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More activities like this
More main activities for Elementary
1-on-1 Mini Volleyball Up and Down the River
One-on-one mini volleyball duels on 3 x 3 m courts under a rope 2 m high, using a receive, self-set and send rule.
1-on-1 Side-Step Square Duels
In pairs, inside 5 x 5 m squares, an attacker holding a football tries to get from the starting side to the far side without the defender pulling a flag.
1v1 Four-Gate Soccer Duels
In a square with a gate on each side, two players go head to head and score by dribbling through any of the four gates.
2-on-2 Mini Volleyball with a Neutral Setter
Two-on-two mini volleyball with a neutral setter under the rope who always plays for the team with the ball.
2v1 Attack Waves to Mini Goals
Two attackers take on one defender and try to score on a small goal in under 10 seconds.
2v2 Alley Mini-Volleyball
A 2v2 mini-volleyball game on a very long, narrow court, about 33×10 feet, where the only way to win a point is by playing for depth: short near the net or deep to the…