Summer sports and outdoor activities are a great way to keep the kids busy during the summer. Crab soccer is a fun twist to a popular sport. Not only is it a great workout, but it's a versatile sport and activity. Parents may choose to use crab soccer as a tournament event between family and friends. It also can be used as a birthday party game or even a way to entertain the kids during barbecues, family reunions, or other events. Some schools use this in gyms instead of on traditional soccer fields.

Crab soccer follows all the rules of traditional soccer, but there's a few exceptions. First, the kids cannot stand. In some versions, if a player stands, that causes their team to lose a point. "How are they going to play soccer without standing" is likely your question. Crab soccer is played in the crab walking position.

For those who don't know, here's how to do the crab walk. First, lie flat on your back with palms down. Now, use both the arms and the legs to hold up the body, so that you'll be up on all fours, but with the stomach facing up. When you move around like this, you'll look similar to a crab, which is where the name came from.

Back to crab soccer, in addition to not being able to stand, there are a few more things that differentiate crab soccer from traditional soccer. The entire game must be played in the crab position by everyone except the goalies. In some versions, the goalies also are in crab position, but for safety, since kids are playing here, the crab soccer goalies probably should stand. Be sure the kids have appropriate footwear to wear during crab soccer.

Because the kids will have to move around in a different way than they're used to, they will be working muscles that they may not have worked before. This can help increase strength. But to the kids it will be fun, so they probably won't look at it as exercise, but instead as a fun summer outdoor game. For rainy days, a slightly varied version can be played in a gymnasium, using gym scooters to maneuver in the game.