Kicking Drills at Home: Fun Activities for Your Child

A ball, a little space, and ten happy minutes — that's all it takes to turn kicking into a daily win for your child's growing body and confidence.

In short

Kicking drills build leg strength, balance, coordination and the ability to plan a movement — all on one foot for a moment. Start with a still ball, keep sessions short and playful, and celebrate every attempt rather than every goal. Most toddlers begin kicking a ball forward around 18–24 months, so meet your child wherever they are today.

Easy kicking drills to try at home

Start simple, then add challenge:

• Still-ball tap — place a soft, lightweight ball right at your child's foot and cheer as they tap or push it. No run-up needed.
• Roll and kick — gently roll the ball towards them so they learn to time a kick to a moving target.
• Target game — set up a "goal" between two cushions or chairs and let them aim. Widen it so they succeed often.
• Stop-and-balance — after a kick, ask them to stand still like a statue for a second. This grows the single-leg balance kicking needs.
• Both feet — encourage a few kicks with the other foot too, so both sides develop.

To make it work:

• Use a soft, slightly under-inflated or foam ball — easier to control and gentler on little toes.
• Play barefoot or in grippy shoes on a non-slip surface.
• Keep it to 5–10 minutes, stop while it's still fun, and let them lead.
• Demonstrate slowly, then let them copy — and clap for the attempt, not just the result.

When to check in with someone

Every child finds their feet at their own pace. But if by around 2 years your child shows no interest in kicking, falls far more than other children their age, seems to find all coordinated movement effortful, or you simply feel something is different — a friendly developmental check is worthwhile. Early support is empowering, never alarming.

The Pinnacle way

At a Pinnacle Blooms Network centre, our therapists turn play like kicking drills into a structured, joyful path to stronger gross-motor skills, often alongside occupational therapy. Any clinical assessment and the AbilityScore® — a clinician-administered structured assessment — are completed only at a Pinnacle Blooms Network centre under qualified clinician care; this guidance does not diagnose. With 25 million+ therapy sessions and 4.95 lakh+ families served across 70+ centres, you are never doing this alone.

Trusted sources

Guidance here reflects child-development milestones from the CDC's "Learn the Signs. Act Early." programme and family resources from the American Academy of Pediatrics' HealthyChildren platform.

Next step — for a playful, personalised plan to grow your child's movement skills, book a developmental assessment with the Pinnacle team on WhatsApp: +91 91001 81181.

This is general information, not a diagnosis — individual assessment and diagnosis require an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.