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Practice games

Penguin Valley Adventure

Story-based warm-up for close control, stopping and changing direction around obstacles.

Warm-up 10 min 4 to 12 players Cage Half pitch Hall 2018 to 2021

Me and My Ball Be brave

At a glance

  • A 20 m by 15 m valley with a 3 m nest at each end and 10 disc icebergs between. Penguins start in one nest with a ball each.
  • Dribble to the far nest without touching an iceberg, then turn and come back.
  • Coach calls: Snowstorm! tiny touches. Slippery ice! sole of the foot only. Polar bear! turn back to the nest you just left.
  • Progress 1: Call two in a row, like Slippery ice! then Polar bear! straight away.
  • Progress 2: Add Penguin feet!: practice foot only until the next call.

If it's not working: Use fewer icebergs, just 5.

Penguin Valley Adventure: set-upnestnest121 weave past the icebergs, 2 Polar bear! turn back.15 m by 20 m
  • penguins
  • dribble
  • 1in this order

Every penguin crosses at once with their own ball, shown as four. A 3 m nest at each end and iceberg discs across the valley (ten in the set-up, seven drawn). One penguin weaves past the icebergs for the far nest. Another hears Polar bear! and turns back to the nest it just left.

Full details: set up, how to play, tips and age tweaks

Set up

  • Mark the rectangle with a cone on each corner.
  • Put 2 cones on each side, 3 m in from each short end, to make a 3 m deep nest at both ends.
  • Scatter the 10 disc icebergs through the middle 14 m.
  • All children start in one nest with a ball, facing the other nest.

A valley 20 m long by 15 m wide; 8 cones (4 corners and 2 on each nest line, 3 m in from each short end); 10 flat discs as icebergs; 1 ball per child.

How to play

  • The penguins dribble across the valley to the far nest without touching an iceberg, then turn and come back.
  • The coach calls Snowstorm! (tiny touches), Slippery ice! (sole of the foot only) and Polar bear! (turn and head back to the nest you just left).
  • Ask the children to invent a new call and use their idea for the next round.

Keeping everyone moving

Every penguin crosses at once with their own ball. No waiting in the nest.

Make it easier

  • Use fewer icebergs (5).
  • Let penguins walk.

Make it harder, step by step

  1. Call two in a row, like Slippery ice! then Polar bear! straight away.
  2. Add a fourth call, Penguin feet!, which means practice foot only until the next call.
  3. Add more icebergs (15).

Three things to say

  • Keep the ball so close you could tickle it.
  • Try every call, even the tricky ones.
  • Cheer your friends into the nest.

Colts habit

Be brave: try every call, even the tricky ones.

Both feet

Penguin feet! means practice foot only until the next call.

Heads up

Look up for icebergs and for the call.

For your birth year

Pick a birth year to show the tweak for that group.

2020
One or two calls at a time.
2021
Keep the story simple with only one call at a time.
2018 to 2019
Call two actions quickly after each other, for example Slippery ice, polar bear!

A young leader can run this one, with an adult coach beside them.

Safety: Flat discs only as icebergs. Keep 3 m nests clear so penguins can turn.

Keeping score: Each child counts their own clean crossings with no iceberg touched.