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Start the 7-Day ChallengeWhat Equipment Do You Really Need for the 7-Day Challenge in a Small Space?
Play Plans & Challenges
The 7-Day Challenge only ever needed one thing: a ball.
This page checks that claim rather than talking you into buying more. Below is the real kit list broken into what's essential and what's genuinely optional. It's a straight table with real UK prices for the two optional extras, space markers and a target, sitting right next to their free household alternatives, and an honest verdict on what to skip entirely. It's scoped specifically to a small space: a patio, a driveway or a modest garden, not a full training setup.
One thing is non-negotiable, the rest is optional
The Real List: What the Challenge Actually Needs
The 7-Day Challenge's own page already says the equipment side of this is short: a ball, and everything else the week asks for gets made from whatever is already lying about the garden or the front room. This page checks that claim rather than quietly contradicting it once real money might get spent. You need a ball. That's the whole non-negotiable list.
Two genuinely optional extras exist beyond that: space markers, and something to aim at. Neither is required to run a single day of the challenge, but "really need" deserves more than one reassuring sentence when a parent is stood in a shop deciding whether to buy anything at all. Both get a straight look with real prices before you decide either way.
Bought and free, on the same table
The Kit List, Side by Side
Four things came up while working out what a small-space week actually requires, and here they are on one table: what each one is, whether you need it, the free or DIY version, and a real UK bought price if you'd rather not improvise.
| Item | Do You Need It? | Free/DIY Option | Bought Option (UK price, 2026) | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Football (size 3, ages 5-9) | Essential | Any ball already in the house; a softer one suits a very tight space | Roughly £4-£12 | The one non-negotiable item. If you own any ball at all, you're covered. |
| Space markers (gates, lanes, zones) | Optional, genuinely useful | Garden canes, plant pots, rolled towels, odd shoes | Around £6; a 50-cone set around £24, about £21.60 with a promotion | Makes a gate obvious at a glance in a small space. Never worth buying before Day 1. |
| A target (for aiming days) | Optional | Chalk mark or tape on a fence or wall; a gap between two plant pots | Around £18, about £14.40 with a promotion | A fun later-week upgrade if you don't already have a wall or fence worth aiming at. |
| Everything else (shin pads, bibs, marker poles, a full-size goal, a kit bag) | Not needed | Skip entirely | Skip entirely | Organised training kit built for a coached season, not a small-space family week. |
The football is the only row that matters before tonight. Decathlon's size 3 kids' footballs currently list from around £4 up to about £12, so almost any ball already in the house, or the cheapest one on the shelf, does the job.
Space markers are the row worth actually weighing up. A basic six-pack of training cones runs about £6, while a full 50-cone set costs around £24, or about £21.60 with a promotion. Both are aimed at organised training with several children, not one family's week, and garden canes or plant pots mark a gate just as clearly for nothing.
A target follows the same pattern. A pop-up target goal costs around £18, or about £14.40 with a promotion, and it's a genuine upgrade if you don't already have a fence or wall worth aiming at. A chalk mark or a gap between two pots does the same job for the aiming days in the challenge.
Everything in the last row is organised training kit for a coached season with a squad of children, not one family running five minutes a day in a small space. Skip it without a second thought.
A note on the prices themselves: these are UK bands checked in early August 2026, not live guarantees. Retailers change prices and promotions often, so treat every figure above as a fair sense of cost rather than today's exact penny, and check the retailer's own listing before buying anything.
The training-kit stuff a family week doesn't need
What You Can Skip Completely
A small-space, five-minutes-a-day week genuinely does not need shin pads, bibs, marker poles, a full-size or netted portable goal, or a kit bag. None of it. That's organised-training kit built for a coached season with a squad of children, not a single family's week in the garden or on the drive.
Naming this plainly is useful in its own right: it lets you stop researching and stop wondering whether you're missing something before Day 1. "Shall we just grab the ball and see how far we get before we need anything else?" is a fine way to start the first night, and it's usually all that's needed.
So what should you actually buy tonight?
The Honest Verdict
Most families don't need to buy anything before Day 1 beyond a ball they probably already own. That's the honest answer, not a hedge before an upsell.
Any spend on markers or a target is a genuine convenience choice for a small space specifically, a clearer gate, an easier surface to aim at, never a requirement. Buy either one later in the week if you decide the convenience is worth it, not before you've even started.
This page has deliberately kept its own ball coverage brief, because the specific question of which ball is safest and quietest indoors deserves its own answer. For that, the safest indoor ball comparison covers foam, socks, balloons and futsal balls in proper depth.
This isn't a niche problem
Why "Small Space" Covers More Families Than You'd Think
This page assumes a patio, a driveway or a modest garden, not a proper pitch, and that's not an edge case. One in eight households in Great Britain, 12%, have no access to a private or shared garden at all, rising to more than one in five in London, 21%, per the ONS analysis of garden access in Great Britain.
That's a 2020 analysis of garden access, not a claim about football equipment or play itself. It's used here honestly as background on why a low-kit, small-space approach matters to a lot of families, rather than overclaimed as evidence about what to buy. It's grounding, not proof, for the choice this whole page is built around.
See how Our Kickabout researches its pages.
Quick answers
Common Questions About Equipment for the Challenge
Do I need to buy anything before starting the 7-Day Challenge?
No. A ball is the only real requirement, and most families already have one. Everything else on this page is optional.
Are cones or space markers worth buying for a small garden?
They can help make a gate or lane obvious at a glance in a tight space, but garden canes, plant pots or a rolled towel do the same job for free. Worth buying only if you want the convenience later, not before Day 1.
What football equipment should I skip for a family challenge like this?
Shin pads, bibs, marker poles, a full-size goal and a kit bag. That's organised training kit for a coached season, not a five-minute-a-day week in a small space.
Keep going
Where to Go From Here
Pick the next step: start the challenge tonight, dig into ball safety properly, or ease in from scratch if you haven't started at all.
Want the deeper comparison of which ball is safest indoors?
Foam, socks, balloons and futsal balls compared properly, not just summarised.
Read the safest ball comparisonNew to all this?
Start with pressure-free basics before worrying about any kit at all.
Read Confident BeginnersTonight's five minutes
Grab the ball you've already got and start Day 1 tonight.
Nothing on this list is required before your first go. Sign up, get Day 1, and decide about markers or a target later in the week if you still want them.