Sorted on size?
Here's which material suits indoors.
Choose the materialWhat Size Football Does Your Child Actually Need?
Kit, Rules & Safety
For younger children in this site's 5 to 9 age band, size 3 is the answer. By around age 8 or 9, size 4 becomes the standard for most children in club or school football.
Size 4 is the next step up, usually from around age 8 or 9 onward, and only worth checking early if a child is tall for their age or already playing in a squad using size 4 balls. I bought a size 4 once because it was the only one left on the shelf, and spent a fortnight wondering why every session ended in a sulk before I worked out the ball was simply too big for him to control.
Football size for kids by age
Football Size for Kids by Age, in One Look
Size 3. Roughly ages 5 to 7, the right ball for the younger end of this site's age band.
Size 4. Roughly ages 8 to 13 or 14, the standard from around age 8 or 9 onward.
Size 5. Adult size, from around 13 or 14 upwards, not relevant to this site's age band.
A birthday is a starting point, not a rule.
Moving up early is the thing worth checking
The Size 3-to-4 Move, Handled Honestly
By age 8 or 9, size 4 becomes the standard size for most children moving into club or school football, so this isn't a rare exception, it's the normal next step for most of the older half of this site's age band. Moving up earlier than that, before age 8, is the one worth checking rather than assuming: it applies mainly to a child who is tall for their age, confident on the ball, or already training in a squad using size 4 balls. The practical test: does the size 3 look too small for them now, does it move too easily with barely a touch, or is there no real weight left to control? If so, it may already be outgrown regardless of age. A size 3 is inexpensive enough that getting the choice between size 3 and size 4 wrong is a cheap mistake to fix, not a reason to agonise.
See how Our Kickabout researches its pages.
Buying it once
Buying Once, Not Twice
A size 3 is inexpensive enough that buying the right one now rarely means wasting money, and there is no real saving in buying a size 4 "to grow into" early since an ill-fitting ball makes practice harder, not more efficient. A simple line settles it: "Shall we see how this one feels first, before we decide it's too small?" Sorted on the ball, the next buy is usually boots, and there is a page on choosing a child's first football boots.
What's next
Size Sorted. Material Is the Next Decision.
This page answers the size number, not what the ball is made of or how it behaves indoors. That decision, foam, a proper stitched ball, or a low-bounce futsal ball, belongs to rainy day safest ball, which this page names and links rather than repeating.
Quick answers
Common Questions About Football Sizes for Kids
What size football does a 6 year old need?
A size 3. It's the standard size for children at the younger end of the 5 to 9 age band, light and small enough to control confidently.
Is size 3 or size 4 better for an 8 year old?
Many 8 year olds are ready to move up to size 4 as they join club or school football, but a size 3 still suits a child who isn't there yet. If in doubt, try the smaller one first and check the practical test above.
Can a child use an adult size football?
Not comfortably. An adult size 5 ball is heavier and harder to control for a young child, and makes clean contact and confidence harder to build, not easier.
Keep going
Where to Go From Here
Three places to go next, depending on what's left to sort. Once you have the right size, how to inflate a football for a child gives the pressure to pump it to. Buying for a toddler? football games for 3 year olds start with a soft ball. And what makes a football puncture proof tells you which ball will last. And on hard ground, a low bounce football for kids bounces less.
New to all this?
Start with the whole Confident Beginners collection.
See the collectionWant the wider seven-day kit list?
Everything else worth having for the week ahead.
See the kit listTonight's five minutes
Check the size before the next kickabout
One quick look at the age-to-size guide, and you'll know exactly what to reach for tonight.