Most parents understand the importance of physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle, and football for three year olds is a brilliant way to establish good habits at a young age.
We understand that not everyone has a pitch-sized garden their little one can charge around, and sport isn’t always part of the school curriculum, so what better excuse to make new friends than with a 45-minute run-around at one of SoccerDays’ sessions?
There’s so much more on offer than just good times with good friends too, and while the kids don’t need to know that, we’ll explore the many benefits of our toddler football classes, and how they can give your child skills that will last a lifetime.
Most parents understand the importance of physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle, and football for three year olds is a brilliant way to establish good habits at a young age.
We understand that not everyone has a pitch-sized garden their little one can charge around, and sport isn’t always part of the school curriculum, so what better excuse to make new friends than with a 45-minute run-around at one of SoccerDays’ sessions? There’s so much more on offer than just good times with good friends too, and while the kids don’t need to know that, we’ll explore the many benefits of our toddler football classes, and how they can give your child skills that will last a lifetime.
A fun session for the development of each age group
Our classes have been specifically designed to support the development of three important ages, and each is a tailored environment to ensure every child gets the most from their sports session week after week.
The sessions are always lots of fun, but also include plenty of encouragement to build up the childrens’ confidence across the ages. Let’s take a brief look at each one:
Yellow Class
Aimed at children aged between two and 3½ years, this group helps with the development of a foundation of social skills and exercise using various body movements. It also helps kids get used to the ball and learn how to kick with confidence.
Essential football skills will begin to take shape: dribbling, changing direction, stopping the ball.
Orange Class
This group covers children aged from 3½ to five, and reflects their increased awareness of their surroundings.
They are more confident using different body movements, learn more skills and gain an understanding of basic team play. They also develop better control: running with and stopping the ball, while striking skills for passing and shooting get stronger.
Red Class
Our final group is aimed at children aged five to seven, and helps them understand how to kick and control the ball with different parts of the foot.
Their improved concentration and understanding enables kids to learn a wider range of skills. More time is spent playing matches, so they become more confident practising within a game situation and increase their awareness of positional play.
A focus on three year olds
So, we’ve looked at how our football classes support the development of each age group they cover and teach some essential skills.
Now let’s take a particular look at three year olds, and why this age is such an important time in child development.
Parents can be bombarded with information from healthcare professionals and schools about what their child ‘should’ be capable of doing at any particular age, often known as development milestones.
While it can be a bit intimidating, it’s all to do with making sure their co ordination and motor skills are fully developed, and this is where our football classes can be a real benefit.
Helping kids develop essential skills
It’s always wonderful to watch the little ones who join our classes at a really young age as they progress, sometimes at lightning speed!
Boys and girls who attend our sports sessions get to have a great time with our amazing coaches, but they also learn really important physical skills that can be passed on to schools, without even realising it. It’s the ultimate sneaking in of the veggies!
Let’s take a closer look at some of the physical skills they will get to grips with and hone as they get older and how they support development at all ages.
Using both feet
We encourage the little ones who join our football sessions to use both their feet when dashing around at this stage, building up the strength on whichever is their weaker side.
As well as improving their dribbling, shooting and skills, it can also help bolster their agility balance.
Greater motor control
Some youngsters can struggle with their gross motor skills and co ordination, so our football classes are a brilliant way to help them improve before moving on to their respective schools.
Without getting too sciency, our football classes also help children get to grips with their full body control mechanisms, so they can hold positions while moving or standing still. All this can help with concentration, and will eventually lead to increased body awareness, better co ordination and muscle growth (but we’re not looking to develop any mini Arnold Schwarzenegger’s at this stage!)
How our football classes teach children social skills
The structured environment offered by our football classes also has a part to play in helping the children develop essential skills which, even if their love of sport takes them in a different direction from soccer, will still stand them in good stead at a later stage.
Listening
Parents and teachers both know that getting kids – particularly younger children – to listen and pay attention at home and in schools can be tricky, but clubs like ours can actually help improve some little ones’ attention spans, all while having fun.
The coaches in our football classes, no matter the age group, gently underscore the importance of discipline at all ages.
As one of the most important social skills, if children can learn this concept through sports and play, then it can reap rewards later when they start school.
Taking turns
Of course, discipline means many things, that includes waiting your turn! Our football classes help teach children patience, even among the most excitable girls and boys who we know “just wanna score a goal”.
Our coaches’ experience means they’re able to help children wait for their moment to compete and show them the rewards and benefits are worth the wait.
Team work
Football is a team sport, and our classes provide the ideal foundational environment for girls and boys to learn about the importance of each child working together.
Our coaches work hard to develop the children’s social skills through play across the classes and age groups.
Being able to forge connections with other kids, creating mini teams and encouraging group participation among children is a crucial stage in a toddlers’ development, because they suddenly realise there’s more going on in the world than what affects them!
Using their imagination
Kids of all ages love using their imagination, and our football classes are a brilliant place to feed that enthusiasm, boost the development of their brains and watch their confidence fly!
While a parent might watch their child dribbling a ball around some markers, in actual fact they’re navigating a perilous pathway, where one false move spells doom…
Our football sessions are a chance for children to forget whatever is going on in the outside world and play in a safe, nurturing environment among a team of friends.
Problem solving
So: you’ve got the ball and all that stands between you and victory for your team is the three-and-a-half year-old girl in front of you who looks like she means business. What do you do?
Where do I put my foot to get the football around this cone? How hard do I have to hit it to get the ball to my friend? What happens if I shoot and miss?
Many kids of all ages love a good puzzle, and our football sessions can be as much of a work-out for the childrens’ minds as it is their bodies.
School teachers have said they see the benefits for children who do sports that have had a go at problem solving during play. Who thought football was just shoot and score?
The long-term benefits of SoccerDays’ football classes
Physical activity
Many children have energy to spare and football is a brilliant way to burn some of that excess, all under the eagle eye of our expert coaches.
Getting your child interested in sport at an early age not only fires up their bodies and minds, it can establish a life-long love of sports and exercise, and the physical benefits of that are almost limitless.
Sports, children and community
Participating in a physical sport at an early age helps children form friendships, learn social skills and boost self-confidence in a way that is fun, educational and enjoyable.
But joining teams and taking part in our football classes can also help create a sense of community, both among kids and parents.
Football is a fun, warm and inviting club, and anyone jumping into the game even as a child, can make long-lasting friendships with our coaches, the kids on their team and anyone else they play against.
Positive thinking for children
Our football classes are a balance of great fun and conscious effort: they are created to help kids’ physical, social and educational development, and delivered by coaches who understand the power of lifting up children.
Professional sports people know a positive mindset can be hugely important, and even among kids who just want to play sport, we ensure children are taught in an environment that helps them listen and learn, and encourages and rewards participation across all the ages.
The value of sports for children
We encourage positive parental participation during our football sessions – cheering the children on from the sidelines is all part of the fun – but we’re also proud of the values our coaches try to foster.
Our football sessions focus on fun for three-year-olds, and our sports coaches will pull out all the stops to ensure each child is supported and encouraged in a way that will help their development, giving them skills they can transfer to school and beyond.
The amazing achievements of every child in our games, at every stage of their development, are celebrated in a warm and uplifting way, allowing parents to see their confidence grow with each sports session.
Football = fun for all ages
That’s because our end goal is a positive one: we want children who come to our football sessions to have the most fun it’s possible to have in 45 minutes.
We want these girls and boys who love sports to meet and interact with other children in a safe, warm environment where taking part is everything, and fun is the name of the game.
We want each and every child that joins our football sessions to go home with a huge smile on their faces, ready to play more sport, either at home or school, and eager to come back for more sessions with our coaches and other children.
Book a free trial for your 3 year old
Try us with no obligation, and see how much fun your child has – we have a sneaky feeling they’ll love it. Get your free trial while places last at https://www.soccerdays.co.uk/Find-a-Class/?booking.
