How to Make Shoe Tying Fun for Your Child
When it comes to tying shoes this can be a real daunting task for kids.
When it comes to tying shoes this can be a real daunting task for kids. Not only can it be stressful for young kids, but it can stressful on the parent as well. There are however a few creative techniques that you can try in order to make shoe tying less stressful and enjoyable for kids.
The first thing you will need is a large shoe for your child to practice on. I have found that by using one of your old shoes, or someone with larger feet will be a good idea. If everyone has small feet than you can always make your own fake shoe for your child to practice on. All you will need is one square piece of cardboard. You can take an old cereal box and open it up completely. Be sure to lay it out flat on the floor. After you have laid it flat on the floor, you will need to use a marker to create the holes for the shoe string. Visit your local shoe store and pick up some shoe string that you can use for this project. I would recommend that you get shoe strings that are different colors. This will help your child with the entire tying process, especially when it comes to making the loops.
Once you have all of the supplies that you need, you can draw the circles on the front of the cardboard box. You will also need to draw the shoe outline as well. This is pretty simple to do, and you can just use a ruler to make sure the holes are properly spaced. Use a regular shoe as your guide to make sure that the holes are placed in the right spot. When you are all done making your circles, you can then lace it and, stand up your fake shoe. Place it over one of your shoes and use tape to secure it to your shoe, so that it stands up nicely. When they are all done and standing up you can put the shoe strings into the cardboard. Have your child help you with this step so that they can learn how to lace up their shoes.
Once the shoes are all laced up you can then help your child to practice tying them all together. Remember to be patient and allow your child to take their time. They are learning, and it is a slow going process when it comes to shoe tying. Remember to not push it, but allow them to take their time. When they get tired of practicing allow them to take a break. Remember that when children are young, their little hands are still developing those fine motor skills. It will usually take several months for children to master this type of skill. It can also be fun to have your child decorate the sneaker with stickers, or to draw some pictures on it. This will keep them interested in tying their shoes, and they will be proud of their accomplishments once they have reached them.