for optimal strength and coordination.” She suggests that parents have children also note some non-action elements of the sport, such as the communication oc- curring on the soccer field. Even when people in the stands are loudly shouting encouragement, play- ers are talking with each other and using body language to enhance their team play. “Point out to kids the positive emo- tions and energy expressed when things don’t go well. Even though the game can be frustrating at times, learn from how the players stay poised and focused through- out the match.”


For more information, also visit USSoccer.com and nbcOlympics.com.


Randy Kambic, who played soccer in school, is a freelance writer and editor in Estero, FL, and a copyeditor for Natural Awakenings.


SOCCER AS A FAMILY AFFAIR


Here are some ways small groups of two or more soccer neophytes can join in the fun.


n Start by using the sides of the feet at a 90-degree angle to the path of the ball and tap it back and forth.


n Soon, start using more of the in- step in kicking the ball to lift it into the air a little. Also, when “trapping” (controlling) the ball, pull a foot or leg back slightly upon contact, so that it settles closer.


n With three people, arrange everyone in a triangle. Later, slightly changing positions can further improve ball passing and controlling abilities.


n Play “keep away,” with a third person in-between the other two.


n Eventually, start juggling—keep- ing the ball aloft and glancing off the feet, thighs, chest and head (no hands)—thus expanding basic skills and providing a progressive number of hits without drops for each player to keep trying to surpass.


inspiration to Your Senses Come Back


A Childlike Spirit Shows the Way by Clint Kelly


C


hildren know that the wonders of creation may be comprehended through the five senses; for what


are the senses really, but five portals, or ways, of knowing? Watching any group of children for a time brings a distinct sense that they are closer to understand- ing all that the senses have to teach us. They don’t just smell a flower;


they inhale it. An ant is best observed not from a standing position, but on one’s belly. They do not simply taste something good and move on, they roll it around the tongue, lick it gradu- ally and make it last. Children savor their senses, patiently waiting for the full story to emerge. A child’s imagination is embel-


lished by the senses to the point of celebration. Children are teachable because they are hitting on all cylinders of human sensory perception and can never get enough. A child at play is a child with portals wide open. If adults lived that way—hilari-


ously, at full speed, unencum- bered—how much more


might they perceive and how much more might others perceive in them? To that child at play, there is something of God that is also in the rain, the mud and the untethered laughter that rings out from the puddle-splasher. So, how do we come back to our


senses? Revel in the little things. Cook together and discuss how every sense comes into play. One of many people’s favorite activities is to make organic popcorn, a wonderful object lesson in how all the senses work together to yield a pleasurable result. Hear it pop, smell its mouthwatering goodness, see how the kernels expand, taste the yummy results and feel the difference between popped and unpopped corn, lightly topped with natural salt. “Feely” bags are fun. Place a fruit


or vegetable in a small sack or clean sock and have kids guess what’s inside by listening to the sound it makes when shaken, what it smells like, what it feels like and with eyes closed, what a small bite tastes like. Lastly, let them look inside. We do well to keep our eyes peeled too, like children, and be amazed by all the ways life is continu- ously communicating with us.


Clint Kelly is the author of the Sensa-


tion series


of thrillers, based on the human senses. He


lives with his wife in the high-touch beauty of Washington State.


natural awakenings August 2012 19


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