KickZone

Soccer Drills for 4-Year-Olds: 8 Games (With Diagrams)

By Peter D. · Published November 4, 2026

Illustrated kids dribbling their own soccer balls along a winding path of orange cones toward a small flag

Soccer drills for 4-year-olds work best as short, playful games, not drills in a line: a ball in every activity, lots of short breaks and short, simple instructions. That’s what U.S. Soccer’s guide to coaching U5s asks for, along with small games of 1v1, 2v1 and 2v2 and no set positions or team tactics. Below are 8 games, each with a story, setup, time, an easier and a harder version, and a safety note.

New to coaching? Start with the first-time coach guide. When your group is ready for more, the drills for 5-year-olds are the next step.

What age group is a 4-year-old in?

It depends on the birthday and on your league. US Youth Soccer, AYSO and US Club Soccer now group players from August 1 to July 31, so for 2026-27:

That’s a label, not a promise that your league has a team for it. AYSO’s fall 2026 chart starts at 6U and has no row for younger kids, so ask your local region. US Youth Soccer’s youngest group is 6U, “6 years of age and under,” and Cal South’s 2026-27 matrix starts at 5U. North Texas still uses December 31, and its 6U row says a child “must be a minimum of three (3) years of age to play soccer.” Check your league’s registration page, or let the age group calculator do the August 1 math.

These games are for practice. Game-day formats are your league’s call: Cal South’s 5U, for example, plays 4v4 with no goalkeepers.

Should 4-year-olds be doing soccer drills at all?

The American Academy of Pediatrics’ general advice, on its HealthyChildren.org site (2024), is: “Wait to start organized sports until about age 6, when kids are fully ready. Younger kids should enjoy free play every day to help bones, muscles and balance develop and give them a chance to exercise social skills, too—all without pressure to perform.”

That’s a general recommendation, not a verdict on families whose 4-year-old loves rec soccer. For the kids who do play, U.S. Soccer’s guide to coaching U5s points the same way: “Encourage learning through play,” “Focus on enjoyment” and “Fun games focused on play.”

My take: that’s why these games are short, built around a story, with no eliminations, no lines and a grown-up close by. If you have questions about your child’s readiness, your pediatrician is the person to ask.

What safety rules apply to every game?

Body games: the ball in your hands and at your feet

U.S. Soccer’s U5 guide asks kids to “Move the ball with both hands and feet” and lists movement skills like “jumping and landing” and “throwing and catching,” so the first three games start with the hands. The times in every game are suggestions: stop while kids are still having fun, and sooner if they’re tired or it’s hot.

Treasure Hunt

Goal: moving the ball with the hands, then the feet, with heads up. Setup: a 15×15-yard square. Spread the “treasure” (size-3 balls, at least one per kid) apart in a zone of about 8×8 yards in the middle. Around it, 2-3 yards in from the edge, put one “treasure chest” per kid: a hoop or 4 flat cones. Duration: 4-5 minutes of short rounds, each one over when the middle is empty. How to play: on “Go!”, kids fetch one treasure at a time to their chest: carried at a walk in round 1, rolled by hand in round 2, dribbled in round 3. A grown-up spreads the treasure out again between rounds. Easier: hands only, with the chests closer in. Harder: stop it inside the chest with the sole, or use only the foot you call. Safety: walk in the hands rounds; keep the treasure spread out so heads don’t bump; nobody raids another kid’s chest.

A coned square with balls scattered in a shaded middle zone, a ring of hoops around it, and three paths to three hoops labeled carry, roll and dribble Treasure Hunt: carry it, roll it, then dribble it back to your chest.

Zoo Day

Goal: the guide’s movement skills (jumping and landing, short steps, running) with a ball. Setup: a 15×15-yard square of flat cones, one ball per kid. Duration: 4-5 minutes, 20-30 seconds per animal. How to play: call out an animal, and everyone copies it:

Easier: penguin and elephant only. Harder: a kid invents the next animal. The guide asks coaches to “Provide opportunity for players to choose their own activity/ challenge.” Safety: play on grass; land softly on both feet; never step or jump on the ball; no running with the ball in your hands; if kids bump, make the square bigger.

A coned square with six kids, each with a ball and an animal label: bunny hops, a frog jump, penguin steps, elephant pushes, a cheetah dribbling to a flat cone and one kid's own pick Zoo Day: call an animal and everyone copies it, ball and all.

Egg Catch

Goal: throwing, catching and stopping the ball with the sole (“receiving” is on the guide’s list of soccer skills). Setup: pairs of one kid and one grown-up 2-3 yards apart, one ball per pair, 4-5 yards between pairs. Short on grown-ups? One can roll to two or three kids standing in a small arc, in turn. Duration: 4 minutes, with a new challenge every minute. How to play: the grown-up rolls the “egg” for the kid to catch; next, the kid stops it with the sole “without breaking it”; then the grown-up tosses it underhand, soft, at tummy height. The kid rolls or passes it back each time. Easier: rolling and catching only, closer together. Harder: stop it with the sole and pass it back from 3-4 yards. Safety: tosses are always underhand, soft and to the tummy, never at the face; start with rolling; nothing with the head.

Three pairs, each a grown-up and a kid: one with a ball rolled along the ground, one with the ball stopped under the sole, and one with a low underhand toss Egg Catch: roll it, stop it with the sole, then a soft toss to the tummy.

Ball games: dribbling and stopping

The U5 guide’s soccer skills are “dribbling, running with the ball, receiving, shooting,” with a ball in every activity. My take: one ball per kid most of the time, so nobody waits for a turn.

Space Bubbles

Goal: dribbling among other kids without bumping, head up. Setup: a 20×20-yard area for 8-10 kids (smaller with fewer), one ball per kid. Duration: 4 minutes, in 45-second rounds with a pause. How to play: each kid dribbles inside an invisible “bubble.” If two bubbles touch, it’s “Pop!”: both kids stop, walk once around their own ball and carry on. Easier: walk with the ball in a bigger area. Harder: a smaller area, or call “Big bubble!” (get away from everyone) and “Tiny bubble!” (tiny touches). Safety: lots of pops means the area is too small; nobody dribbles backward.

A square with kids dribbling, each inside a dashed circle, and two circles touching with a Pop! label Space Bubbles: keep your bubble clear. If two bubbles touch, it’s “Pop!”

Park the Car

Goal: dribbling to a spot and stopping the ball with the sole, choosing where to go (“Encourage player choice,” in the guide’s words). Setup: a 20×20-yard area with more “garages” than kids (hoops or small squares of flat cones), and one ball (“car”) per kid. Duration: 5 minutes, in rounds of 45-60 seconds. How to play: kids drive anywhere. On “Park!”, each one drives into an empty garage and stops the car with the sole; on “Beep beep!”, back on the road. Take a garage away now and then, always keeping more garages than kids. Easier: big garages; a hand stop is fine at first. Harder: park with the foot you call, or pull the car in with the sole. Safety: one car per garage; if it’s taken, find another; no racing for the last one.

A square with ten scattered hoops, kids dribbling between them, and one kid stopping the ball with the sole inside a hoop Park the Car: drive anywhere, then park in an empty garage on “Park!”

Kicking games

“Shooting” closes the guide’s list of soccer skills. In both games, every kick goes the same way and stays low, and nobody kicks toward another kid.

Knock Down the Castle

Goal: kicking at a close target with the inside of the foot or the laces. Setup: a “castle wall” of 6-8 tall cones in a line. Kids stand on a start line 3-4 yards away, 2 yards apart and all on the same side, each with a ball; spare balls go in a bag behind them. Duration: 4-5 minutes. How to play: kick to knock down a cone, then take a spare from the bag. On “Collect!”, everyone walks around the ends of the wall and brings a ball back. A grown-up rebuilds the wall, everyone lines up, and you go again. Easier: 2 yards away and bigger cones. Harder: 5 yards away, or dribble 2-3 yards and kick before a line. Safety: everyone kicks the same way; nobody stands behind or beside the wall; nobody goes for a ball until “Collect!”; kicks stay low.

A line of tall cones across the middle, six kids on a start line kicking toward it, and the area beyond the wall marked as empty until Collect Knock Down the Castle: everyone kicks the same way, and nobody crosses until “Collect!”

Through the Tunnels

Goal: first passes to a target, with grown-ups as the tunnels. Setup: a 15×15-yard area with 3-4 grown-ups standing still with their feet wide apart (“tunnels”), about 5 yards apart, or 1-yard cone gates instead. One ball per kid. Duration: 4-5 minutes, in 60-second rounds. How to play: dribble to a tunnel, pass the ball under it from 1-2 yards, run around the grown-up, collect the ball and find another tunnel. Count the tunnels in 60 seconds. Easier: wide cone gates, passing from very close. Harder: pass from 3 yards, use the other foot, or go only when the grown-up says “Open!” Safety: the ball goes through and the kid goes around, never crawling between the legs. Grown-ups stand still and face the kid; one kid per tunnel; soft passes along the ground.

Four grown-ups standing with feet apart, a kid with a ball in front of each one, a solid arrow for the ball going between the feet and a dashed arrow for the kid running around Through the Tunnels: the ball goes through, the kid goes around.

Small games: 1v1, 2v1 and 2v2

U.S. Soccer’s U5 guide lists “Small-sided games 1v1; 2v1; 2v2,” and its format chart adds that “Training games at all age groups should include unbalanced teams (2v1, 3v2 etc).”

Mini Match

Goal: a tiny game with lots of goals and “No set playing positions.” Setup: mini-fields of 12×8 yards (10×6 for 1v1) with a 3-yard cone goal at each end, 5 yards between fields, and a grown-up at each field with 2-3 spare balls. Duration: 2-minute games with water after each one; 3-4 games, switching opponents. How to play: 1v1, 2v1 or 2v2, with no goalkeepers. After a goal or when the ball goes out, the grown-up rolls a new ball to the team that didn’t have it. Easier: 2v1, or a grown-up on the smaller team who only walks and passes; 4-yard goals. Harder: 2-yard goals, or 2v2. Safety: feet to the ball; no pushing, holding or going to the ground. If anyone falls or kids pile up, stop play and roll in a new ball. Grown-ups who join in only walk.

Two small fields side by side with cone goals at each end: a 2v2 game in one and a 1v1 game in the other, and a grown-up with spare balls beside each field Mini Match: no goalkeepers, and a new ball goes in after every goal.

How do you put these games into a practice?

Three or four games make a session, with water in between: a Body game while kids arrive, one or two Ball or Kicking games, and Mini Match to finish. To sketch your own session on paper, print a blank practice plan template.

No rule sets practice length for 4-year-olds. AYSO’s Kickstart program for 5- and 6-year-olds caps a session at “1 hour maximum, includes organizing time and breaks,” and says to “Adjust play time and breaks as needed to suit your players.” U.S. Soccer’s U5 guide only says “Use lots of short breaks.” Some coaching sites suggest 30 to 45 minutes; we couldn’t find an official number for this age. My take: shorter beats longer.

Keep the groups small, too: the Kickstart manual’s “Group Size Guidelines” give 4-6 players for ages 3-4. It also explains why every game here has a story: “This age group needs to be entertained, so create colorful images, vivid landscapes to stimulate imaginations…and get into character for the activity!”

FAQ

How long should soccer practice be for 4-year-olds?

We couldn’t find an official number. AYSO’s Kickstart, for 5- and 6-year-olds, caps sessions at one hour, organizing time and breaks included. For 4-year-olds, my take is shorter, with lots of short breaks.

Do these work as U5 soccer drills?

Yes. They’re built on U.S. Soccer’s guide to coaching U5s: small games up to 2v2, a ball in every activity, and hands as well as feet.

What about a mixed group of 4- and 5-year-olds?

Use each game’s easier and harder versions, group by size for anything with chasing, and move the older kids on to the drills for 5-year-olds when they’re ready.

What size ball does a 4-year-old use?

Size 3 in the rulebooks we checked for the youngest groups: US Youth Soccer’s 6U (“#3”), Cal South’s 5U and AYSO’s Kickstart (“a size 3 soccer ball”). You may see “size 3 or 4” online, but none of these puts a 4-year-old on a size 4. Check your league. More in soccer ball size by age.

Should 4-year-olds play goalkeeper?

None of these games uses one. U.S. Soccer’s U5 guide says “No set playing positions” and that all players should get a chance in goal “(if a GK is used).” If kids want to try, roll the ball and skip the diving.

What if my 4-year-old won’t join in?

Let them watch for a while next to their grown-up, with no pressure, and invite them into the next game. The AAP’s advice for kids this age is play “without pressure to perform.” If soccer has stopped being fun, see my child wants to quit soccer.

Sources

Peter D.

Peter D. — Peter D. is KickZone’s editor. Based in Spain and closely involved in grassroots youth soccer there, Peter turns the way Spanish kids learn the game into practical help for US parents and volunteer coaches. Rules always come straight from the official rulebooks, cited.