Fun Hockey Games for Beginners

Small-area games for a youth practice or a gym class, with a puck on ice or a ball indoors.

Fun Hockey Games for Beginners

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  1. Sideline Hockey1. Split the class into two teams. Half of each team plays on the floor, and the other half stands along one sideline with sticks, spread from end to end.2. Sideline players may not step onto the floor, but they stop any ball that reaches them and pass it to a teammate.3. A goal counts only if a sideline player touched the ball in that attack.4. Swap floor and sideline players every two minutes.Drills: passing wide before shooting. Space: a gym floor. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 10 to 30. You need: a stick each, one soft ball and two goals.
  2. Gate Count1. Scatter ten gates around the zone, each one two cones a stick length apart.2. On go, carry your puck through as many gates as you can in one minute.3. You may not go through the same gate twice in a row, and two players may not use one gate at the same moment.4. Remember your count, and try to beat it in the next round.Drills: carrying the puck while looking for space. Space: one zone of the rink or half a gym. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 20. You need: a stick and a puck or ball each, and twenty cones.
  3. Race for the Loose Puck1. Two lines stand on either side of the coach, facing a small goal of two cones ten steps away.2. The coach slides a puck out, and the first player of each line races for it.3. Whoever gets it attacks the goal, and the other defends with a stick on the puck only, with no body contact.4. The turn ends with a goal, a puck out of the area, or a count of fifteen. Both players then join the back of the other line.Drills: winning a loose puck, then attacking or defending. Space: a corner of the rink or a quarter of a gym. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 4 to 14. You need: a stick each, a few pucks or balls and two cones.

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How it works

These fun hockey games for beginners keep every stick on a puck or a ball. Floor hockey is played on a dry, flat floor such as a gym, so all of them work in sneakers, and most on skates too.

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Two rules before the first whistle

Blades stay below the knee, and a stick touches the puck and never a player. Every shot in these games travels along the floor. In a gym, lightweight plastic sticks and a soft ball do the job.

Start with a puck each

Stickhandling games, a puck or ball each come first because nobody waits for a turn. Passing in pairs follows, then the small-area games, where two or three play against each other in a space a few steps across.

  • A goal of two cones needs no goalkeeper, so no beginner stands still in front of a shot.

Questions and answers

What are good hockey games for kids aged 5 and 6?

Glove Maze, Musical Pucks, One-Bottle Passing Duel, Bucket Hat Trick and Five Pucks in a Row. None has a defender or a goalkeeper, and every player has a puck or a turn within seconds.

Which hockey games can you play indoors?

Every game here works on a gym floor with a ball or a soft puck. The five under Indoor hockey games for a gym class are built for a class: Numbers Hockey, Two at a Time, and Sideline Hockey take up to thirty.

How do you stop beginners from crowding the puck?

Use games where spreading out is the way to score. Everyone Touches It counts a goal only after all three teammates have had the puck, Three-Zone Hockey keeps pairs in their own third, and Four-Goal Hockey gives each team two goals to attack.

What hockey games need no goal?

Gate Count, Gate Passes in Pairs, Keep-Away, Three Against One and Circle Chase need only cones. Stock the Net, despite its name, uses a hoop in each corner.

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All 33 games

Stickhandling games, a puck or ball each 6

  • Figure Eight Around Two Gloves 1. Each player sets two gloves on the floor or the ice, a stick length apart. 2. With feet still, stickhandle a puck in a figure eight around them, reaching wide to each side. 3. Count the figure eights in thirty seconds while a partner watches, and take one off the count for each touch of a glove. 4. Swap, then move the gloves farther apart. Drills: a wide reach on forehand and backhand. Space: a few steps of floor or ice each. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 20. You need: a stick each and one puck or ball for each pair, and two gloves.
  • Gate Count 1. Scatter ten gates around the zone, each one two cones a stick length apart. 2. On go, carry your puck through as many gates as you can in one minute. 3. You may not go through the same gate twice in a row, and two players may not use one gate at the same moment. 4. Remember your count, and try to beat it in the next round. Drills: carrying the puck while looking for space. Space: one zone of the rink or half a gym. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 20. You need: a stick and a puck or ball each, and twenty cones.
  • Glove Maze 1. Every player drops one glove, or a cone, somewhere inside the zone and keeps a stick and a puck or ball. 2. On the whistle, stickhandle around as many gloves as you can without touching one, or anyone else's puck. 3. Count your gloves for one minute. 4. In the second round, pass every glove on your backhand side. Drills: stickhandling with the head up. Space: one zone of the rink or half a gym. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 20. You need: a stick and a puck or ball each, and a glove or cone each.
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Stickhandling games, a puck or ball each, continued

  • Musical Pucks 1. Everyone stickhandles around the zone to music, or while the coach claps. 2. When the sound stops, leave your puck where it is and take control of a different one. 3. Before each round the coach takes one puck away. The player left without one does ten quick touches of the blade on either side of a line, and the coach slides the puck back in. 4. Nobody is out. Finish with a round played on the backhand only. Drills: finding and controlling a loose puck. Space: one zone of the rink or half a gym. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 4 to 20. You need: a stick and a puck or ball each.
  • The Narrow Bridge 1. Build a lane from two rows of cones that starts three stick lengths wide and narrows to one. 2. One at a time, carry the puck down the lane without touching a cone, then come back up the outside to the line. 3. A clean crossing scores a point for the group. 4. Each round the coach moves the last cones closer together. Count how many clean crossings the group makes before a cone is hit. Drills: close control in a tight space. Space: a lane ten steps long. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 16. You need: a stick and a puck or ball each, and twelve cones.
  • Through-the-Legs Freeze Tag 1. Two taggers carry no puck, and everyone else stickhandles inside the zone. 2. A tagger freezes you by touching your puck with their stick blade. 3. A frozen player stands with feet wide apart and the blade on the floor. 4. A free player sets you loose by sliding their own puck between your feet and collecting it on the other side. 5. Change the taggers every minute. Drills: protecting the puck and a short, straight pass. Space: one zone of the rink or half a gym. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 6 to 20. You need: a stick each, and a puck or ball for everyone but the taggers.

Passing games 6

  • Call a Name, Two Pucks 1. The group stands in a circle, about two stick lengths from each neighbor, with one puck. 2. Call a teammate's name, then pass to them along the floor. They stop it, call a name, and pass on. 3. Nobody passes to the player beside them. 4. When ten passes in a row arrive, the coach slides in a second puck. Count how long both stay in play. Drills: calling for a pass and looking up. Space: a circle about eight steps across. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 5 to 14. You need: a stick each and two pucks or balls.
  • Gate Passes in Pairs 1. Scatter ten gates of two cones around the zone. 2. In pairs with one puck, score a point each time one partner passes through a gate and the other receives it on the far side. 3. A pair may not score twice in a row at the same gate, and both partners keep moving. 4. Play for one minute, compare counts, and play again to beat your own. Drills: passing and receiving on the move. Space: one zone of the rink or half a gym. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 20. You need: a stick each and one puck or ball for each pair, and twenty cones.
  • Give-and-Go With the Wall 1. Stand a cone two steps out from the boards or a gym wall, as a defender. 2. Carry the puck toward the cone, pass it against the wall on one side of the cone, go around the other side and collect your own rebound. 3. Carry on to the end of the wall. 4. Players go one after another, then come back the other way so that the wall pass is on the backhand. Drills: a pass to space and a run to meet it. Space: along one wall or the boards. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a stick and a puck or ball each, a wall or boards and a cone.
  • One-Bottle Passing Duel 1. Pairs stand eight steps apart with an empty plastic bottle standing halfway between them. 2. Take turns passing along the floor to knock the bottle over. 3. A hit scores a point. The passer stands the bottle back up, and the partner collects the puck. 4. The first to five wins, then both move a step farther apart. Drills: aiming a pass. Space: a lane ten steps long. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 20. You need: a stick each and one puck or ball for each pair, and a plastic bottle.
  • Pass Through the Gate, Then Step Back 1. Pairs face each other across a gate of two cones a stick length apart, each player three steps back from it. 2. Pass the puck through the gate, and the receiver stops it dead before passing back. 3. After five passes through in a row, both take one step back. 4. A pass that hits a cone or misses the gate brings both one step in. See which pair ends farthest apart. Drills: an accurate pass along the floor. Space: a lane ten steps long. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 20. You need: a stick each and one puck or ball for each pair, and two cones.
  • Stop It, Send It 1. Pairs stand five steps apart with one puck. 2. Every pass must be stopped dead on the blade before it is sent back, and a pass hit back while it is still moving does not count. 3. Count the pair's passes in thirty seconds. 4. Rest while another pair goes, then try to beat your own number. Drills: receiving a pass under control. Space: a lane six steps long. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 20. You need: a stick each and one puck or ball for each pair.

Shooting games 5

  • Bottles on the Line 1. Stand six plastic bottles in a row on the goal line or along a wall, a stick length apart. 2. Two teams line up side by side at a mark and shoot in turn, one puck each, along the floor. 3. A bottle that falls stays down, and the team that hit it takes the point. 4. When all six are down, stand them up again and move the mark two steps back. Drills: an accurate shot along the floor. Space: in front of one wall or goal line. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 4 to 16. You need: a stick and a puck or ball each, and six plastic bottles.
  • Bucket Hat Trick 1. Lay a bucket on its side with the open end facing the shooters. 2. Pairs take turns from five steps away, sliding the puck or ball along the floor into the bucket. 3. Three in the bucket is a hat trick, and the pair moves its mark one step back. 4. See which pair is shooting from farthest away when the coach calls time. Drills: a soft, straight shot. Space: a lane eight steps long. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 16. You need: a stick each and one puck or ball for each pair, and a bucket.
  • Corner Targets 1. Mark a target in each bottom corner of the goal: a cone lying on its side, a paper plate, or a square of tape on a wall. 2. Shooters line up at a mark five steps out with a puck each. 3. A shot along the floor that hits a target scores a point, and nobody fetches a puck until the whole line has shot. 4. Then shoot from a mark off to one side. Drills: a shot along the floor into the corners. Space: in front of one goal. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a stick and a puck or ball each, a goal or a wall, and two targets.
  • Gaps in the Cone Wall 1. The coach stands three cones across the mouth of the goal, leaving gaps between them. 2. Shooters come one at a time from ten steps out, carry the puck in, and shoot along the floor before a line marked three steps from the goal. 3. A puck through a gap scores, and a puck that hits a cone does not. 4. After every shooter the coach moves one cone, so each player has to look up and find the gap. Drills: looking up before a shot. Space: in front of one goal. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a stick and a puck or ball each, a goal and three cones.
  • One Move, Then Shoot 1. Set a cone as a defender halfway between the start mark and the goal, and stand two cones in the middle of the goal mouth so that only the sides are open. 2. Each player carries the puck at the defender, pulls it to one side around the cone, and shoots along the floor. 3. Score a point for a goal. 4. Score a second point for going around the defender on the backhand side. Drills: a move around a defender and a shot. Space: in front of one goal. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a stick and a puck or ball each, a goal and three cones.

Small-area games, keep-away to two on two 6

  • Back-to-Back Goals, Two on Two 1. Set two small cone goals back to back in the middle of the area, a stick length apart and facing opposite ways. 2. Two play two, and each pair attacks one goal and defends the other. 3. Because the goals face away from each other, a pair has to carry or pass the puck around behind to score. 4. Play shifts of forty seconds. On the whistle, leave the puck and the next four come on. Drills: moving the puck around a crowd. Space: a corner of the rink or a quarter of a gym. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 4 to 16. You need: a stick each, one puck or ball and four cones.
  • Everyone Touches It 1. Three play three across the width of the zone, with a cone goal at each side and no goalkeepers. 2. A goal counts only if all three teammates have touched the puck since their team won it. 3. A goal scored before then gives the puck to the other team. 4. Change teams on the whistle every minute, and the coach keeps the score. Drills: passing to every teammate. Space: one zone of the rink or half a gym. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 6 to 18. You need: a stick each, one puck or ball and four cones.
  • Keep-Away, Three Against One 1. Mark a square about six steps across with four cones. 2. Three passers stay on the edges of the square, one to a side, and may slide along their own side. One chaser plays inside. 3. The passers score a point for five passes in a row. 4. A chaser who touches the puck with their stick swaps with the player who passed it. Blades stay below the knee. Drills: passing away from pressure. Space: a corner of the rink or a quarter of a gym. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 4 to 16. You need: a stick each, one puck or ball and four cones for each four.
  • One on One, Hit the Other Cone 1. Pairs mark an area eight steps long with one cone standing at each end and share one puck. 2. Each player defends the cone behind them and scores by hitting the other cone with the puck. 3. After a hit, the scorer backs off to their own cone and the other player starts with the puck. 4. Play for one minute, rest for one, and change partners. Drills: beating one defender. Space: a lane eight steps long. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 16. You need: a stick each and one puck or ball for each pair, and two cones.
  • Race for the Loose Puck 1. Two lines stand on either side of the coach, facing a small goal of two cones ten steps away. 2. The coach slides a puck out, and the first player of each line races for it. 3. Whoever gets it attacks the goal, and the other defends with a stick on the puck only, with no body contact. 4. The turn ends with a goal, a puck out of the area, or a count of fifteen. Both players then join the back of the other line. Drills: winning a loose puck, then attacking or defending. Space: a corner of the rink or a quarter of a gym. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 4 to 14. You need: a stick each, a few pucks or balls and two cones.
  • Shift Change 1. Two teams line up along the same side of an area with a cone goal at each end. Two players from each team start. 2. Play two on two. 3. On the whistle, the four players leave the puck exactly where it is and get off, and the next two from each line come on and play from there. 4. Blow the whistle every thirty seconds or so, at any moment, so players learn to change fast and find the puck. Drills: changing fast and finding the puck. Space: one zone of the rink or half a gym. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 8 to 20. You need: a stick each, one puck or ball and four cones.

Relays and races 5

  • Circle Chase 1. Two players start on opposite sides of a faceoff circle, or a ring of eight cones, each with a puck. 2. On the whistle, both carry their puck around the outside of the circle in the same direction. 3. A player wins by getting close enough to touch the other player's puck with their stick, or by not being caught for three laps. 4. Two new players step in. Run it in both directions. Drills: speed with the puck on a curve. Space: one circle. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 16. You need: a stick and a puck or ball each, and a circle or eight cones.
  • Five Pucks in a Row 1. Each team has five pucks at its start line and a taped line ten steps away. 2. The first player carries one puck to the taped line, leaves it sitting on the tape, comes back and tags the next. 3. Each new puck is left on the tape beside the others. 4. Once all five sit on the tape, the next player starts bringing them home again, one at a time. The first team with all five back wins. Drills: stopping the puck exactly where you want it. Space: lanes ten steps long. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 6 to 20. You need: a stick each, five pucks or balls for each team, and tape.
  • Slalom Relay, Pass It Home 1. Teams of three or four line up behind a start line, with five cones in a row in front of each team. 2. The first player weaves the puck through the cones to the last one and turns around it. 3. From there they pass the puck back along the floor to the next player, who must stop it behind the line before setting off. 4. The passer comes back down the side. The first team with everyone back in its starting order wins. Drills: stickhandling, then a long pass. Space: lanes the length of a zone. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 6 to 20. You need: a stick each, and a puck or ball and five cones for each team.
  • Stock the Net 1. Pile all the pucks or balls in the middle of the area. Each of four teams has a home in a corner, marked with a hoop or four cones. 2. On go, one player from each team goes out with a stick, brings one puck home under control, and tags the next player. 3. When the middle is empty, players may take pucks from other homes, one at a time, and nobody may guard. 4. Stop after two minutes and count each home. Drills: carrying a puck at speed. Space: one zone of the rink or half a gym. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 8 to 24. You need: a stick each, twenty pucks or balls and four hoops.
  • Two-Pass Pairs Relay 1. Teams line up in pairs. 2. The first pair sets off side by side, three steps apart, and must pass the puck across to each other at least twice before the far cone and twice more on the way back. 3. They leave the puck dead on the start line for the next pair. 4. A pair that loses the puck fetches it and carries on from where it got away. Drills: passing to a moving partner. Space: lanes the length of a zone. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 8 to 20. You need: a stick each, and a puck or ball and a cone for each team.

Indoor hockey games for a gym class 5

  • Four-Goal Hockey 1. Set a small cone goal in the middle of each of the four walls. 2. Two teams play with one ball. One team scores in the goals on two neighboring walls, and the other team scores in the other two. 3. With two goals to aim at, a team that finds one crowded turns and goes to the other. 4. Change players every two minutes. After a goal, the other team starts with the ball from the center. Drills: turning away from a crowd. Space: a gym floor. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 6 to 20. You need: a stick each, one soft ball and eight cones.
  • Numbers Hockey, Two at a Time 1. Two teams sit along opposite sidelines of the gym, and each player has a number that matches one on the other team. 2. Four sticks and one ball lie at the center, and each team has a cone goal at one end. 3. The teacher calls two numbers. Those four players run in, pick up a stick and play two on two. 4. A goal counts only after one pass between partners. 5. After a goal or a count of thirty, the four lay the sticks down at the center and sit, and two new numbers are called. Drills: a quick two on two with a pass. Space: a gym floor. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 8 to 30. You need: four sticks, one soft ball and four cones.
  • Pin Guard Hockey 1. Each team stands three plastic bottles or foam pins along its own end line, well spread out. 2. Play with a soft ball and no goalkeepers, and no player may stand within a stick length of their own pins. 3. A shot along the floor that knocks a pin over scores, and the pin stays down. 4. The game ends when one team has no pins standing, and then everyone sets them up again. Drills: shooting at a small target in a game. Space: a gym floor. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 6 to 20. You need: a stick each, one soft ball and six plastic bottles or foam pins.
  • Sideline Hockey 1. Split the class into two teams. Half of each team plays on the floor, and the other half stands along one sideline with sticks, spread from end to end. 2. Sideline players may not step onto the floor, but they stop any ball that reaches them and pass it to a teammate. 3. A goal counts only if a sideline player touched the ball in that attack. 4. Swap floor and sideline players every two minutes. Drills: passing wide before shooting. Space: a gym floor. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 10 to 30. You need: a stick each, one soft ball and two goals.
  • Three-Zone Hockey 1. Mark the gym into three zones with cones: a defending third, a middle third and an attacking third for each team. 2. Each team puts two players in each zone, and players may not leave their own zone. 3. The ball has to be passed from zone to zone to move up the floor, so everyone gets a touch. 4. After every goal, or every two minutes, each pair moves up one zone and the attackers drop back to defend. Drills: passing up the floor instead of chasing. Space: a gym floor. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 12 to 24. You need: a stick each, one soft ball, two goals and cones.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions, written for this site for a volunteer coach or a teacher with beginners, on ice or on a gym floor. The wording is ours, and the youngest ages and player counts are our estimates. In every game shots and passes stay on the floor, blades stay below the knee and there is no body contact; no league, team or player is named, and nothing here is coaching, training or injury advice. What floor hockey is and what it is played with were checked on 2026-10-08 against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floor_hockey, and the hat trick against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hat-trick. Licence: own work