A football (soccer ball) is a perfect drawing for learning how flat shapes wrap around a sphere. This tutorial shows kids how to draw a classic black-and-white football step by step, with its famous pattern of pentagons and hexagons that fit neatly together.

A football looks simple but it teaches a surprisingly clever idea: how flat shapes wrap around a ball. The black pentagons and white hexagons are really flat panels stitched onto a sphere, so to make your drawing look round rather than like a flat circle, you squash and shrink the panels as they near the edge. Mastering this little trick of perspective will help you draw all sorts of round objects later, from planets to basketballs to gobstoppers. If the pattern feels fiddly, just remember the simple rule: every black pentagon is completely surrounded by white hexagons, and never touches another black shape. Keep checking that rule as you go and the whole pattern will click neatly into place.

🖍️ What You Need

  • Pencil
  • Compass or round object to trace (optional)
  • Eraser
  • Black fine-liner
  • Black coloured pencil
  • White paper

How to Draw a Football Step by Step

  1. Draw a large circle — trace round a cup or lid if you want it perfectly round.
  2. In the centre, draw a five-sided pentagon shape.
  3. Around that centre pentagon, draw more pentagons spaced evenly near the edges.
  4. Connect the pentagons with straight lines to form the white hexagon shapes between them.
  5. Toward the edge of the circle, make the shapes smaller and slightly curved to show the ball is round.
  6. Check that each black pentagon is surrounded by white hexagons.
  7. Outline everything in fine-liner and erase your pencil guides.
  8. Colour the pentagons solid black and leave the hexagons white.
💡 Parikshet's Tip: Make the panels near the edge of the ball smaller and slightly squashed — keeping them all the same size makes the football look like a flat circle instead of a round ball.

🌟 Did You Know?

The classic black-and-white football pattern has 12 black pentagons and 20 white hexagons. The black patches were originally added so the ball showed up clearly on old black-and-white television sets during matches.

Tips for a Convincing Football

  • Start with the centre pentagon and work outward for even spacing.
  • Curve the panel lines near the edges to show the ball is round.
  • Make the panels smaller as they get closer to the outline.
  • Add a soft shadow under the ball so it sits on the ground.
  • Leave a small white highlight where the light hits the top.

🎯 Try This: A Football in Action

  1. Draw your football.
  2. Add motion lines behind it to show it flying.
  3. Draw a goal net in the background.
  4. Add a little grass and a boot kicking it.