Ben's soccer class

I know I know. I've been completely slacking on the blog. Truth be told, we haven't been doing many fun things lately! I think it's the lull before the holiday storm. Stay with me another week or so, and I promise it will get better!


Last month, I signed Ben up for a weekly Mommy and Me Soccer Class at a local community center. I really lucked out. This was the cheapest program I'd seen AND it fit perfectly into our schedule. I've had trouble taking pictures, since I'm a participant as well. But since we only have one class left, I figured I'd better get on the ball.



Every week the "Coach" has a story to tell and sets up the equipment accordingly. I think Ben's favorite was Halloween week when he made an obstacle coarse. Last week it was beach day. Coach told the kids that the cones were hiding seashells (smaller cones). The object was to kick over the cones and get the seashells! Ben LOVES kicking over cones! It's definitely in his top 3 of things to do at class :)

Here's a better picture. You can see Ben's knocked the purple cone down and the smaller "seashell" is inside it. At first I was a little confused what this had to do with soccer. Sometimes the instructions call to kick a ball over by something, but not to actually use the ball in the process. How is knocking over things learning about soccer, anyway? I think I had this vision of Ben running little sprints and learning to dribble when I signed him up. Haha! But you know, this class is really doing a great job of teaching him multiple step instructions, LISTENING, taking turns, and kicking the ball. All great things!



A rogue Ben moment. He ran off to get some birds. Sometimes we play out in the larger portion of the field, and other times we're more confined to small kick areas. Just depends on what the coach has in store for us.

I am not bragging here, but Ben really is the best kicker in his class. At the obstacle coarse, he was able to kick the ball through a nylon tube the first time. His coach said no one else had been able to do it even once all week and Ben got it on the first try!

Another kid early on did this to his ball while he was listening to the coach. Now, Ben sits on his ball listening (sort of) to the instructions. I think it's so darn cute!



At the end of class, Coach sets up a goal and the kids get to kick their balls into it. This is by far Ben's favorite part!! He ends up kicking most the balls in by himself. Honestly, I think if he could do this the entire time he would...and he'd love every minute of it.