The best soccer camps for kids and all their benefits

Soccer is a sport, but also a passion that unites many people of all ages and cultures around the world. Did you know that it also provides multiple benefits for children and young people?

From physical development to emotional and social growth, soccer provides children with an enriching experience that goes beyond the playing field. In addition to being fun and entertaining , this sport helps children reach their full potential and develop holistically.

If you or your child is interested in soccer, we invite you to explore the benefits this sport has to offer.

Benefits of soccer for children and youth

Soccer is an excellent activity for children and young people, providing multiple benefits for their integral development. First of all, it promotes the development of soccer skills, helping children to improve their technique, coordination and sport-specific skills.

In addition, soccer also stimulates the mind, increasing the ability to make quick decisions and the capacity for analysis. Teamwork is another fundamental aspect, which favors both cooperation and emotional development, teaching children to manage their emotions and work together for a common goal.

In terms of health, soccer provides regular physical activity, helping to establish healthy habits that can last a lifetime. Finally, soccer is a source of fun, allowing children and young people to enjoy a playful activity that keeps them active and engaged.

Development of soccer skills

Soccer is not only about running, chasing and kicking the ball, it requires a series of technical skills that contribute to children’s development.

Not only do they improve physical fitness, but they also promote coordination, agility and endurance in a fun and dynamic way.by playing soccer, children must learn to control the ball so they can then perfect their passing and shooting.

As with every aspect of the sport, it requires practice, patience and dedication. It entails a learning process that, in addition to improving their performance and skills, will teach them the value of effort, persistence and self-improvement.

Mental stimulation

Soccer skills are not everything; this sport awakens and stimulates children’s minds, it requires intelligence and creativity.

Beyond the technical aspects, soccer teaches them to think strategically, to make quick decisions, to read the game, to anticipate plays and to find creative solutions to situations that arise during the match.

This constant decision making exercises their mental agility and promotes the development of skills such as perseverance and the ability to overcome disappointment.

Through situations such as making mistakes during a game or facing defeat, they learn to deal with frustration, stay calm, bounce back and move on.

In each match and training, children learn to overcome challenges, which not only strengthens their problem-solving skills, but also provides them with tools and lessons to face difficult situations in other areas of their lives.

Teamwork and emotional development

Soccer is a collective sport, as it is played together it encourages teamwork and collaboration. Children learn to communicate, to trust their teammates and to coordinate with each other to achieve a common goal: to score goals and win the game.

They must play together with other team members and learn that everyone has a position and a role. Through interaction with their teammates, teachers and coaches they develop social and emotional skills. Empathy, respect, tolerance and solidarity are some of them and are fundamental both on and off the playing field.

However, as any game involves victories and defeats, it will be essential not only to celebrate achievements as a team, but also to support each other in difficult moments and develop a tolerance for failure.

Soccer is a source of connection between children of different origins, cultures and histories, it does not understand borders, the only thing that matters is passion and companionship .

Physical activity and healthy habits

Soccer as a summer or after-school activity offers children and youth the opportunity to stay active while having fun and interacting with other children. By participating in regular training sessions and games, they improve their cardiovascular endurance, coordination and strengthen their muscles.

At the same time, it is a physical activity, so by practicing it they release endorphin, the hormone that helps reduce stress, prevent anxiety, raise self-esteem and improve sleep. It is extremely important to instill and promote healthy habits in children from an early age, as it will be easier for them to maintain them throughout their lives.

Fun

Above all, soccer is an inexhaustible source of fun and joy for children and young people. From the moment they step onto the field until they celebrate a goal with their teammates, every moment is filled with excitement, adrenaline and camaraderie.

In addition, soccer is a sport that children can learn from a very young age and enjoy for the rest of their lives. Beyond the results and competitions, the most important thing is that they enjoy the sport.

Whether playing in the park, attending weekly classes, competing or at summer camp, soccer allows them to have fun, make friends and create unforgettable memories that will stay with them for a lifetime.

As a player, spectator or fan, soccer transcends barriers and generates bonds, it is a symbol of fun and shared passion. It is one of the most popular sports around the world that unites so many people.

Soccer will accompany them from the first moment they touch the ball from the time they are small, to adult matches, even watching exciting rivals on television or in well-known playing fields.

The best soccer summer camps and schools

At toddl.co, we are passionate about helping parents find the best experiences for their children. That’s why we recommend the best soccer schools and summer camps for your little ones.

Little Kickers Barcelona

Little Kickers was started in England in 2002 by Christine Stanschus in search of a soccer program for her 3-year-old son. Her priority was to build a brand based on the “fun first” philosophy, making sure to work with both child development experts and qualified coaches from the English soccer association. Today, with a team of 2250 coaches and 300 franchises in 32 countries, it is the largest and most successful children’s soccer program in the world.

In 2022 Little Kickers arrived in Barcelona thanks to Daniel García. Dani, with whom we had the pleasure to talk, is passionate about sports, but mainly about soccer, he started playing it from a very young age, at 5 or 6 years old, and it has been with him throughout his life.

After 24 years playing it, he had to quit because he started to travel and, after living in the United States and Latin America, he settled in London. Looking for a change in his life and combining his passion for sports and his experience in the business world, he studied a Master’s Degree in Sports Management.

In London she worked in the Physical Education Department of a secondary school, also for a Sports Charity doing camps for children with autism, and then, she met Little Kickers.

He started working as a coach on weekends and ended up falling in love with the project: “It’s something very new, it’s an introduction to soccer-based sports project for children in English. I love the project because it follows a philosophy, a methodology, a know-how, which is very appropriate for children of such a young age. Above all, what I love the most is that apart from giving them an introduction to the sport in a fun way, it helps them develop their motor skills“.

Dani highlights the importance of practicing sports from an early age, focusing on improving skills such as balance, coordination, but mentioning that it not only improves physical health, but also mental and emotional health. At the same time, he highlights the values that soccer teaches, from teamwork to respect, sharing, respecting turns.

Upon returning to Barcelona, and noticing that Little Kickers did not exist there, he decided to open a franchise to bring the project he fell in love with to his hometown. On September 17, 2022, the first Little Kickers class began in Barcelona.

One of the main mottos of Little Kickers, which differentiates it from other soccer schools for children, is “Learning Through Play”, the focus is on fun for the children, while they play, have fun and have a good time, they are learning both English and soccer. Dani comments that they usually do color recognition games, or every week they do a different theme, adapting the classes to this particular theme. But the main differential of Little Kickers is that it combines the learning of the English language with sports and fun.

Little Kickers Barcelona Summer Camp

Little Kickers Barcelona offers a very varied program, on the one hand it has weekend sessions, for children from 18 months to 8 years old, in which families have the opportunity to go with their little ones and enjoy an activity together.

On the other hand, it has extracurricular activities in schools, anniversary parties and numerous camps, from winter camps, to spring camps, half term camps and summer camps.

Little Kickerssummer camps are a great opportunity to share and interact with children of different ages (3 to 8 years old), learning from each other. This summer Little Kickers Barcelona brings an innovative proposal of 4 weeks of fun and learning!

As Dani comments “for many it is their first experience and it is highly recommended because it is an opportunity for the kids to have fun outside the school environment. We do games related to the Little Kickers methodology, introduction to sports, goals, every day we do a different craft activity, then we do water games, water games, a day in the pool”.

Discover all the options Little Kickers has for your children and experience its innovative methodology.

Penya Barcelonista Barcino

The Penya Barcelonista Barcino is a non-profit organization, dedicated to train, both sporting and socially to their players, using sport as a link and key to overcoming, respect and friendship. Tomás Desembre is the current president of the club, who has been at the helm since 1991, more than 33 years ago.

Tomás has been linked to soccer all his life. At the age of 17 he made his debut in the first territorial division and was on the verge of signing in the first division, but a serious injury prevented him from doing so. At the age of 21 he stopped playing professionally and dedicated himself to the business world, although he continued playing at amateur level until he was 33 years old.

At that time he started as a soccer coach, until he started in PB Barcino with Alevines for three years. Motivated by the philosophy of the club and the atmosphere, after the request of several parents and carried by the illusion and the desire, at 50 years old, he began to preside the club to date.

Tomás has a great interest in sports, especially soccer training and mentions that the club has always been formative. Currently PB Barcino has more than a thousand children every year, of which a little more than 10% end up in clubs or entities with the philosophy of competing.

In turn, Tomás mentions “If someone says he plays a sport or soccer and does not compete, he is lying. Everyone competes, we compete every moment of the day, be it at work, be it in individual or non-individual sports. What comes with team sports is that it socializes you and you don’t play alone. But we have a phrase that I think defines it all very quickly, which is, if we win, we have a party and if we lose, we have a party too.”

Unlike other clubs, PB Barcino is characterized by training, it is dedicated to the children learning, knowing what a team is, leaving aside selfishness, installing the philosophy that they do not win alone, but that the whole team wins. Tomás comments: “We compare a team to an orchestra. Each musician plays his part in the piece of music and in a soccer game, in a soccer team, there are those who stop, those who defend, those who create, those who steal and those who score goals. Everyone is important. So, that’s the main thing, what we want to do, to believe and teach the children”.

At the same time, Penya Barcelonista Barcino is not only soccer, it works with associations, mental health centers, homeless people, people with disabilities, social assistance, and for more than 21 years it has been working for the inclusion of foreign children in soccer. In the same vein, Tomás recommends a film entitled Juego Bonito (Beautiful Game), which is about the world championship for homeless people, and comments that it is a life lesson.

Campus d’Estiu PB Barcino

PB Barcino, is a club dedicated to children from 4 years old. Tomás comments that they group them by age, given that, in his experience, when older children are put together with younger children, normally the younger child tends to get scared and this fear will accompany him throughout the years, in simple aspects, and even without realizing it, such as the fear of not hitting the ball head first.

They have different categories of teams ranging from pre-benjamin, benjamin and alevín to infantile, school, cadet, juvenile and amateur.

He recommends PB Barcino and the Casales de Verano, highlighting that they make small groups of eight children for each monitor, which allows special attention for each one. Training in small groups allows them to work and improve the individual technique of the players.

At the same time, they seek to teach soccer from what the alphabet would say and focusing on the qualities of each child in particular, so that they can make the most of it.

Get to know the variety of options that Penya Barcelonista Barcino offers for your children. Tell us about your experience!

How to choose the ideal summer camp for your children

Soccer is a great sport and activity to do in the summer. Among its countless benefits, described above, it not only promotes physical activity, but also encourages teamwork, socialization, discipline and self-confidence, but above all it will allow them to have fun while developing all the skills mentioned above.

Summer soccer camps offer a unique experience, here are some recommendations for your child to have an unforgettable summer:

1. Consider needs and interests: Evaluate your children’s goals, interests, preferences, personalities and abilities to find a camp that suits their individual needs. While some camps focus primarily on soccer skills and technique, others focus on other outdoor activities and tasks, offering more variety. You will also find camps with different levels, intensity and demands. Look at what your child needs and prioritize his or her interests, in the end the important thing is to have an unforgettable summer.
2. Research the options: Research different soccer camps, review their programs, locations, teachers and modalities, read reviews from other parents and children who have participated, to make an informed decision.
3. Visit the camp and meet the teachers: If possible, schedule a visit to the camp to see the facilities, talk to the coaches and make sure it is the right environment for your children.

At toddl.co, we are passionate about helping parents find the best experiences for their children. That’s why we recommend the best soccer camps for this summer.

Make your summer unforgettable with soccer as your ally!