Just for Kicks
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Celebrate your little soccer player — or the entire team — with this simple and sporty tailgate gathering
How to make it
Do-It-Yourself Pennant Banner
Make an awesome pennant banner for your party. Cut adhesive-backed felt into pennants, adhere color copies of your team jersey (reduced as needed), and trim them to shape. Punch holes in the top corners and slide them onto a ribbon for hanging.
Decorate Your Ride
Turn the car into a canvas with washable window markers (Crayola, $5.50).
Treat Them to Soccer Jack
This clever twist on classic Cracker Jack combines sweet and salty tidbits that share a shape or color with soccer balls. To make it, mix together plain popcorn and such nibbles as Quaker Oat Bran and Honeycomb cereals, Nabisco Oreo Thin Crisps, and black and white M&M's. Serve the snack mix in bags with a prize tucked inside. (For inexpensive trinkets to fit the theme of just about any celebration, try orientaltrading.com or partycity.com).
Feast on a Field
Score big with our Tex-Mex-inspired dip. Layer beans, shredded iceberg lettuce, diced tomatoes, and shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack in a casserole dish. Smooth your favorite guacamole over the top. Spoon sour cream into a ziplock bag, snip off one corner, and pipe on field markings. Add pretzel-square goals. Serve the dip with tortilla chips.
Balloon it Like Beckham
Give each kid a large inflated balloon. First, challenge them to do headers with the balloons. Whoever keeps the balloon in the air the longest is the winner. (Foot shots are OK, but most touches should be with the head — and no hands allowed!) Next, set up two cones and have players dribble their balloons around the cones in a figure eight pattern.
