Mirror Mirror
Your child fakes, then dashes to a shoe while you mirror them. Get there first and the ball is theirs.
Your child dashes to a shoe while you mirror them across the rope; beat you there and you pass.
Set up
- Lay a rope or towel on the ground as a line between you.
- Put two shoes on your child's side of the line, four big steps apart.
- Stand facing each other across the line. You hold the ball.
Garden or park. A space about six big steps wide.
How to play
- Your child moves side to side. You copy them like a mirror.
- When they are ready, they fake one way and dash to a shoe.
- If they get there before you are opposite them, they shout Free!
- Roll or pass the ball to them at the shoe. They stop it and pass it back.
- After five goes, swap: you lead and your child is the mirror.
Make it easier
- You walk while your child runs.
- Put the shoes closer together, three big steps apart.
Make it harder, step by step
- You mirror at full speed, staying on your side of the line.
- Full speed, and your child's first touch must take the ball past the shoe, away from you.
Three things to say
- Fake one way, then go the other.
- Slow, slow, then fast!
- Shout Free! and show where you want the ball.
Words that work: "You lost me!", "Brilliant fake!", "Great shout!"
Colts habit
Be brave: try a new fake every go.
Both feet
Stop the ball with the foot nearest the shoe, then pass back with the other.
Heads up
Watch the mirror's feet, then go the way they are not.
For your birth year
Pick a birth year to show the tweak for that group.
- 2020 to 2021
- Play copycat first with no ball, then add the dash to a shoe.
- 2018 to 2019
- Shoes four big steps apart, and you roll the ball with your hands.
- 2016 to 2017
- Shoes four big steps apart, and you pass the ball with your foot.
Safety: Stay on your own side of the line so nobody bumps. Clear the space first.
My best
Free! shouts out of 10 goes. Last time and this time. Only ever compared with your own earlier go, never with anyone else. Saved on this device only.