DIY Pom Pom Soccer Game
“Let’s play soccer!”
It really doesn’t get any simpler than this! We put this fun game together in just minutes, yet it provided us with an entire afternoon of giggles!
We all had SO much fun and believe it or not, blowing through a straw is an important skill for kids to master. The clever use of mouth control is essential for speech development and word pronunciation. We’ve used straws before in a fun art activity with really beautiful results.
HOW TO MAKE A POM POM SOCCER GAME
- On a large piece of paper or card stock, draw a line down the center to represent the mid-field point on your soccer field.
- Next, draw a semi circle at each end of your soccer field, to represent the goal areas.
- Take a small cardboard box (a shoebox is ideal) and cut it in half. Place one half of the box at each end of the soccer field as goal nets.
- Place a pom pom (your soccer ball!) in the center of the field.
- Each player takes a straw and blows through it to move the pom pom into their goal area.
We added some toys to our sidelines to cheer us on when we scored a goal!
This game is fun for kids of all ages and even the grown ups playing along with us had just as much fun as my 3 year old son!
You could easily adapt this game for more than two players. Why not create teams of players?
To add MATH to your play, keep a tally of how many goals have been scored.
To extend the math learning opportunities, assign a different number of points to each goal depending on where the pom pom lands within the goal area. For example, you could assign double points if the pom pom hits the back of the shoebox.
So simple but so much fun! Here are some more simple activities for kids that also use straws:
Looks a lot like Disney Family Fun’s Tabletop Soccer.
Hi Jenn, I have been following Ness for some time now. She has this amazing series on connecting with kids and I love her positive parenting style. Her writing and activities have always been done with integrity. I know that she takes citing sources extremely seriously. I have to say that she could not have possibly known that Disney published a tabletop activity similar to the one she published, otherwise she would have addressed it in her post. Ness is very approachable. You should reach out to her on her blog.
Thanks for sharing that link Jenn! I haven’t actually seen that before. Of course if I had, I would most certainly have cited it. I actually came up with this game last weekend when it was pouring with rain (it’s winter now in my neck of the woods!) and we needed some quick indoor fun. It certainly took away the winter blues for a while! The catalyst for this idea actually came from the fact that 2 years ago my son underwent speech therapy. One of the exercises he was given by his therapist was to blow a cotton ball across our dining table using a straw. That’s why, in the opening paragraph of my post, I referred to the benefits of blowing through a straw in speech and language development. Two years later, my son still loves this activity long after his therapy has ended, so I decided to take it to a whole new level for him. He really liked the results!
I know all of the Quirky Mommas take citing sources VERY seriously. We are all here to share, not steal ideas. Someone at Family Fun could have found that idea on someone’s blog for all we know! I love the idea and I know Ness is a creative Momma. She doesn’t need to copy an idea and not give credit! It looks like two great minds had similar ideas to share. For what it’s worth, she doesn’t live in the US and Disney isn’t something she even thinks about.
If you think someone might have copied an idea, please consider next time that it could just be two people coming up with an idea that are alike (as in this case). Suggesting that an activity is similar is appropriate, but accusing someone of doing that isn’t fair.
This is a great idea. I never would have thought of using a straw to move the “ball”.
I am passing on the Versatile Blogger Award to you. You can pick it up at http://jazzyallergyrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/06/versatile-blogger-award.html.
I love this – my kids love soccer, so this is a fun way to play on a different scale! Thanks for sharing!
Oh, I love this sort of game! Takes me waaayy back to playing “football” at our kitchen table with my brother and sister many moons ago. My 3 year old would LOVE this idea! The extension activities are really great, too. My favorite part, though, is how you incorporated the Lego fan stand into the activity. My 3 year old would have a blast making that piece all on his own, a whole other activity on its own. Nice, clean activity. Thanks so much for sharing with us!
Very cool! Love the lego idea.
this looks like fun! takes me back to my jr high days when we used to play football across the table with a folded up piece of paper… i love love love the lego fans in the stands!
WOWZA this project rocks. I was cracking up at the little Lego people cheering on their team. We’ve blown pom pom around with straws but never thought of doing it on a soccer field. I’m pinning your fun idea!
My son would love this! What a great idea! Any activity that incorporates legos and pom poms is a hit in our house too.
Cute game! I can imagine the giggles with little kids playing this. Can’t wait to make it for my kiddos 🙂
My kids would absolutely love this game – and it’s perfect timing because we recently bought a bunch of Lego Duplo people. It reminds me of your beautiful Blow Painting art activity. We have yet to do anything with straw blowing, but I am now compiling a list of your fab ideas 🙂
Love this idea! My son is 2 and has jaw weakness which is affecting his speech. One of his activities to strengthen his jaws is to blow through a straw. He’s gonna love this activity. Thanks for sharing 🙂
This is SO adorable! my kids are going to love it! Thanks!! 🙂
I love this idea!!! I think the cutest part is the audience- hahaha:). Thanks for sharing in our link-up!:)
Great idea! Going to make this with my 3 little guys tomorrow. They have a snow day. So hopefully I can get some work done while they are playing. Thanks!