How do you teach a child to tie their shoelaces? Our guide will give you tips and advice to help achieve this milestone task. Every child wants to learn it sooner or later and every child can learn it — with your help.
Children finally want to be tall and tie their shoes like adults. No problem: If mom and dad practice a little patience and skillful methods with the kids, it will soon work with their own bow.
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To help teach a child to tie their shoelaces: these are some important things below in brief
- The rabbit ear method is particularly simple.
- With the reef knot, children learn the common method of tying a bow.
- With our four tips, parents help their children effectively.
Ways to teach a child to tie their shoelaces
In order to teach a child to tie their shoelaces, two methods have proven themselves. The first is a bit simpler when tying; however, the loop is less easy to open later.The second shows the child how a classic bow works.
Tying shoes for beginners: the rabbit ear
With this method of lacing, the laces are first firmly connected with a knot. Now you make a big loop out of one shoelace; the first rabbit ear.
This rabbit ear is held with two fingers, while at the same time the other shoelace is formed into another rabbit ear and then both rabbit ears are knotted together.
This method of tying shoelaces is particularly easy for younger children; unfortunately, the knot is quite tight and cannot be opened as easily and quickly as with the classic method of tying shoes.
Reef knot
This method is common and the strap can be easily opened again. First the two laces are knotted together. Now the child forms a loop with the left laces.
The right band is then placed once around this loop. Now the right laces are also formed into a loop andpulled through the resulting loop below the first loop. Carefully pull tight and the loop is done.
4 tips that make learning easy
1. At what age?
The age at which children can learn to lace up depends on their interest and skill.
However, the wish should always come from the child himself, so that he is really motivated. If you as a parent find that the child is still too clumsy in terms of motor skills, you will find a compromise.
For example, you can lace up your own shoes with the child and let them put on their Velcro shoes alone.
2. Correct position, correct loop
If you want to practice the correct lacing with your child, it is better not to sit in front of the child, but closer behind. So you can embrace the child with both arms, explain from the same perspective and help quickly when in doubt.
3. Learn with two colors
An adult shoe is more suitable for practicing the lacing than a children’s shoe, since it is larger and allows more leeway.
But also a cardboard, which is cut out in the form of a shoe and has laces, can help you learn to tie shoes. Important tip: two different colored laces make it much easier to learn the loop.
4. Motivation is everything
Tying shoes is not easy for small children’s hands. Keeping motivation is therefore absolutely crucial. Parents should remain patient if the first attempts simply don’t work.
Perhaps you can help the child’s motivation with a little trick: let the child choose a new pair of shoes as a gift. On these it practices the loop until it works – only then can it put on the shoes. And the little ones prefer to carry such a well-deserved gift.
