Tying
your shoes is something that most people do almost every day, often
without even thinking about it, but with the invention of Velcro shoes
some parents are putting off teaching their children how to tie their
shoes. However tying shoes is a necessary lesson that can be taught
when a child is young. If your child can handle a pair of scissors and
successfully cut paper then she has the dexterity to tie her own shoes.
Kids should have the ability to tie their shoes between the ages of 3
and 6.
The easiest way to start teaching your child to tie her shoes is to
get a couple of adult shoes out to practice on, one for you and one for
her. On her shoe it might make the teaching process easier if you
re-lace her shoe with a white lace in which you have taken a marker and
colored half of the lace. That way you can refer to the white lace and
to the colored lace instead of trying to explain right and left to her.
If your child’s dominant hand is the same as yours, sit side by side
with her to teach her. If your child has the opposite dominant hand,
then sit across from her. This will ensure that you are not teaching
her backwards.
Step 1: Cross the laces and tuck one lace underneath the other lace and pull both laces tight to the shoe.
Step 2: Make a loop out of one of the laces. While
holding that loop tightly in one hand, use the other hand to wrap the
straight lace around the loop. Show her how to tuck the straight lace
through the hole beneath the loop that she is holding. Let go of the
loop.
Step 3: Take a loop in each hand and pull tight. Adjust the loops until they are about the same.
Step 4: Take a loop in each hand and cross them,
just like she did at the beginning with the laces. She will tuck one
loop under the other and pull tight. Now she has double tied her shoes
and they shouldn’t come untied.
Step 5: Practice, practice, practice!
Allow your child to practice with you and patiently help her perfect
her skills. This lesson could take as little as 45 minutes or it could
take several days, depending on how quickly your child picks up on the
technique. Make the process fun and your child will want to keep
practicing. If you get upset with her then she won’t want to continue
practicing because it will no longer be fun.
Once she has mastered tying the big shoe let her practice on her own
little shoe. This will be harder because the laces will be much
shorter. After she has gotten good at tying her shoe with it off her
foot, show her how to loosen the laces and put her shoe on and then
tighten up the laces and tie her shoe. She can sit and practice this
skill on her own at this point. Make sure that you lavish her with
praise every step of the way. Soon you will be able to have her put her
own shoes on and tie them herself. This is a huge accomplishment for
her and one she should be proud of.
P.S. This post was proposed to me for publication by Meghan Welker. I'm therefore publishing it by her invitation and
under her permission. See also the link below fore more information:
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