Goal Gate Kicks

A kicking game where the child kicks a still ball through a gate made of two markers, building an accurate, balanced kick.

  1. Make a “goal gate” with two shoes, water bottles, or cones about 1.5 meters apart, ideally in front of a wall or fence so the ball comes back.
  2. Place the ball on a kicking spot about 3 meters in front of the gate.
  3. Your child starts two or three steps behind the ball, walks or jogs up, plants the non-kicking foot beside the ball, and kicks it through the gate.
  4. Teach two cues: “Step next to it” (the standing foot) and “Use your laces” (the top of the foot, not the toes).
  5. Five kicks, then count the goals. After a good round, narrow the gate by one shoe-length or move the kicking spot one step back.
  6. Finish with a few kicks using the other foot — just for fun and balance.

Variation: set up three gates of different widths and let your child choose which to aim for, or lay a row of empty plastic bottles in the gate to knock over.

Requirements

  • Space: About 5 × 3 meters of open space outdoors; a long hallway with a soft ball indoors
  • Surface: Short grass or flat ground; avoid wet grass and loose gravel
  • Materials: A soft or slightly deflated ball about 20 cm across; two markers for the gate
  • Participants: 1 child; an adult or sibling can be the ball returner
  • Supervision: Light — an adult demonstrates the foot placement, then watches

Rationale & Objective

Kicking asks for something no other ball skill does: the child must balance on one leg while the other swings and meet the ball at the right moment. Kicking a ball is assessed in the PDMS-2 Object Manipulation subtest, and the TGMD-3 scores a continuous approach to the ball, the non-kicking foot placed close to the ball, and contact with the instep or inside of the foot rather than the toes. Starting with a stationary ball and a wide gate lets the child concentrate on the approach and foot placement; narrowing the gate later adds the aiming demand described in the UK EYFS guidance for Reception (“throwing, catching, kicking, passing, batting, and aiming”). Longitudinal research (Barnett et al., 2009) found that children with better object-control skills — kicking, catching, throwing — were more active as adolescents, which is a good reason to make these skills feel easy and fun early.

Progress Indicators

  • Early: stands still beside the ball and pokes it with the toes; loses balance after kicking; ball rolls slowly or off to the side
  • Developing: takes a step or two up to the ball; kicks with more force; ball goes roughly forward and through a wide gate some of the time
  • Proficient: approaches smoothly, plants the standing foot beside the ball, and kicks through a 1.5-meter gate from 3 meters on most tries
  • Advanced: kicks through a 1-meter gate from 4–5 meters; chooses between a gentle and a hard kick; can kick with the non-preferred foot; begins kicking a slowly rolling ball

Safety Notes

  • Wear closed shoes — kicking barefoot or in sandals invites stubbed toes, especially on hard ground
  • Use a soft or slightly deflated ball; a hard football is heavy for a small foot and hurts if it rebounds into the face
  • Check the ground for holes, stones, and wet patches where the standing foot will land — slipping on the plant foot is the commonest fall
  • Keep other children out of the line of the kick and away from the wall where the ball rebounds
  • Play well away from roads; a kicked ball travels farther than a thrown one and children chase it without looking

Hints

  • Playfulness: you are the over-excited commentator — “She steps up… she shoots… GOOOAL!” Let your child choose a goal celebration
  • Sustain interest: turn the gate into a castle door, a tunnel for a train, or the mouth of a cardboard-box monster; keep a best-out-of-five score to beat
  • Common mistake: toe-poking. Put a sticker on the shoelaces and a matching sticker on the ball and ask your child to make the stickers “kiss”
  • Limited space: in a hallway, use a rolled pair of socks or a soft foam ball and a gate made of two slippers; gentle kicks only
  • Cross-domain: label gates with numbers or colors and call out which one to hit (listening, numeracy); keep a tally of goals and misses and talk about which is more (comparison)
  • Progression: wide gate at 2 m → 1.5 m gate at 3 m → narrower gate → farther back → kick a ball rolled slowly toward the child → run up and kick for distance

Sources

  • PDMS-2 Object Manipulation subtest — kicking items
  • Ulrich, D.A. (2019), TGMD-3 — kick performance criteria (continuous approach, non-kicking foot beside the ball, contact with instep or inside of foot)
  • UK EYFS Development Matters — Reception: refine ball skills including throwing, catching, kicking, passing, batting, and aiming
  • Gallahue, D.L. & Ozmun, J.C. — Understanding Motor Development (developmental stages of kicking)
  • Barnett, L.M. et al. (2009), “Childhood motor skill proficiency as a predictor of adolescent physical activity,” Journal of Adolescent Health
  • SHAPE America (2020), Active Start: A Statement of Physical Activity Guidelines for Children From Birth to Age 5, 3rd ed. — daily physical activity that promotes movement skillfulness