Oh, you want the
real basics? No worries, it's the world's game. You know - the world. where they're more left leaning and not so into freemarket capitalism and the like. Here in America we're rugged and believe in freedom that is why our national sports have roughly 8,328 rules that not even the coaches and referees know. Soccer/Football has just a few basic rules you need to know.
The game you see on tv is the adult game and we expect kids to grow into that. When they start we play small side (fewer players, smaller fields) so they'll get more touches on the ball and learn faster. You're league will have it's own quirks but expect 6-8 kids per team on the field. Substitutions are done whenever the coaches decide. You will not use the offside rule at this age.
1) No one but the goalie may use their hands at any time. Handball is called if they use any part between top of the shoulder and fingertip. Keepers can use their hands but only inside the goalie box(Penalty Area).
2) Players will try to move the ball from their end of the field to the opposing side and kick it into the Goal. They can dribble, pass, or just plain kick it hard and hope someone on their team gets it.
3) The ball is always in play unless a foul is committed or the ball goes out of bounds and they hear a whistle. No whistle, no stop. The ball must completely and totally pass over line before it is considered out. Players can run over and around the line, the ball is the only thing that matters.
-If the ball goes out on the side it is a throw-in for the other team. They must throw the ball in, two handed straight over their head while leaving both feet on the ground. This is a hard one for five year olds.
-If the ball goes out on the end it is either a goalkick (goalie kicks it back into play) or a corner kick (attacking team kicks it in from nearest corner)
4) A goal results in one point.
5) A foul will result in a free kick being awarded from that spot. The kick may be direct or indirect depending upon the foul - this will probably not be followed in Inch's league. Any kick will be directed toward the goal, most likely. At this age it is extremely unlikely that you will see any bookable offenses (yellow card/red card)so don't worry about that.
-Yellow Card - shown to a player after certain fouls, generally very harsh or malicious fouls. No big deal, it's just a warning. Opposing team gets a free kick. (later on they'll do last man, handball in the box, professional fouls, but don't worry yet)
-Red Card - Given for very very malicious tackles, poor sportsmanship or upon receipt of second yellow card in the same game. This results in a free kick and the penalized team has to play short one player. you will not see this happen so don't worry about it.
There is no shot clock, play clock, time out, or foul count. Play the game and run,run,run. That pretty much covers it.
If you feel the need to read
this is a more detailed version of stuff. You have exactly ZERO need to read the official Laws of the Game. Don't even bother.