I'm debating whether or not to enroll my 3 year old in a soccer program. The price is pretty cheap, and she loves sports and interacting with anyone, but I'm just not sure if it is a good idea yet. We already have her in swim lessons, which she loves, so I am not sure if that is enough activity for now. We do want her to play sports later on but I don't want to push it too soon. Advice?
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It's fun to get them out there and get some exercise. I wouldn't expect her to understand the full concept, but it's at least getting her running up and down a field, and kicking a soccer ball is a ton of fun at that age. I say go for it!
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We did soccer at 3.5 and LO loved it! The program did a great job teaching some basic skills in a fun way. They did practices only - no games.
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We did the Soccer Shots program when they did a session at out daycare my 3yr old had a blast its like 1/2 hour each week and the coach does basic skills and good sportsmanship... very basic
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We did soccer when our DD was 3. There were no games and it was more for social interaction. They played games, like red light/green light and simon says. It was nice to have her play with other kids and learn about taking instruction from others, waiting in line, and taking turns. I can't say that she really learned much "soccer" besides practicing to kick the ball, but we were perfectly fine with that.
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We did a program called Sportball when my son was almost 3 - it was a different sport every week and one of them was soccer. They weren't actually playing soccer, just learning skills - kicking the ball, etc - but he had a great time.
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DS did soccer when he was 3, and it was really cute - they practiced kicking and stopping the ball, kicking the ball in the net, not using their hands, etc. I think the kids all enjoyed running around. At the end of the season they played games for 10 minutes or so at a time, and it was adorable.
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Thanks for all the responses! It seems like it will be good for her, so I am going to go ahead and sign her up!
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@Mrs. Cereal: just another YAY for soccer. We've had my son enrolled off & on since he was 2.5... he loves it, and even so much more now that he's 4! We've done a mix of indoor soccer in the winter and outdoor in the spring/summer.
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We did soccer at 3, 4 and now starting again at 6. It was cute at 3!!LO would sit on the coach's lap when he would kneel to have his huddle. She ran off the field to chase a butterfly and the team followed her, like something out of a movie. Hilarious. I liked the parent camaraderie too.
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We did soccer at 3, and it was not great. He was barely 3, and not good at following directions. It was all skills, so there was very little running around, and not much socialization. I don't think he had a great time. He had a lot more fun playing on the playground with the other kids after soccer practice.
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I didn't do soccer, but did do gymnastics right when DD turned three. If you don't mind paying money to have your kid run around and not listen to the teacher (although it did improve towards the end of the 10 classes), I'd say go for it. My kid did have fun, but it made me craaaaazy.
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We had a similar experience as @mdf106. DS1 was 3.5. He loves to play soccer at home and with his friends. But when we got out there on the field with all the other kids, he HATED it. He didn't want to follow directions because it was basically all drills and not actually playing soccer. He was also super overwhelmed by the amount of people on the field. We ended up quitting, because he would cry so hard. We just told him it ended (he didn't know we quit).
I think it just depends on your childs personality. There were 12 kids on his team, and 3 had similar experiences to my son.
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We did soccer last summer and DD didn't turn 3 until August! She loved it and had a blast. She actually learned quite a few skills. We will do it again this summer too.
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@ValentineMommy: Our DS had a similar experience, except we didn't quit. We made him keep going every week and he would just sit in our lap on the sidelines. It was the weirdest thing ever, as he LOVES soccer and would talk about how much he loved the class during the week (would even role play it on his own accord). I think it was the huge arena (it was during the winter so in a crossfit type arena) and that he was the youngest in the class (it was 2 and 3 year olds, he was newly 2 and by far the youngest).
We don't regret it, though. It wasn't expensive and we got to work on helping him get comfortable in a new situation.
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