How to Play Basketball for Kids

Teach your beginner players basketball's two main passes: the chest pass and the bounce pass. In a chest pass, players hold the ball at chest level and push it out to the other player without bouncing it. When using the bounce pass, the player bounces the ball one time to get the ball to their teammate. Practice passing skills by pairing children up. Have them face each other and pass the ball back and forth, using both chest passes and bounce passes.

Utilize drills to develop ball handling skills, which can be complicated for young children. According to Breakthrough Basketball, the rules of the game state that a player can only dribble with one hand at a time, although he can switch back and forth. If a player dribbles with two hands, or stops dribbling and starts again, that is a violation that will turn the ball over to the other team. A player can only move when dribbling, and once he stops he will need to plant a foot, which he can pivot on, and either pass the ball or shoot it.

To practice dribbling, arrange kids in two teams and do dribbling relays to a specified location and back. Practice relays with left and right hands, regardless of hand dominance. As the players improve, add in cones to dribble around. Children younger than 8 should be told the rules, but some lenience on dribbling standards should be given because coordination is not developed in all children to the point where they can do this. At that age, the focus should be on fun and learning, not on strict enforcement of rules.

Allow children to have some free time to just shoot baskets, which is a favorite part of basketball for youngsters. Then line them up and have them practice layups, where they run up to the side of the basket while dribbling and shoot at close range. Also practice some jump shots farther out. Children under 8 should have access to shorter baskets, if possible, to increase their success and enjoyment.

Divide children into two teams. Ideally, there should be five children on each team, but work with whatever number you have. Assign each child another player to guard on the other team. Give each team a different color practice jersey so they can easily know who is on their team. Explain that if they are offense, that means their team has the ball and the goal is to make a basket. If they are defense, the other team has the ball and they should guard the player they are assigned to in order to keep him from making a shot.

Focus on the fun of the game and developing skills rather than strictly enforcing rules. As the game goes along, coaches can occasionally stop the game and remind the players of rules that are consistently being broken, or give them things to work on. According to Basketball for Kids, children learn basketball skills best just by playing and having fun doing it.