Shoe Tying Tips

There are two different methods of shoe tying.

Single Loop

·         Begin by making an x and then tell the child, “The squirrel needs to go under the bridge.”

·         Next tell the child that now you need to “make a tall tree” and create a large loop holding the loop at the bottom.

·         Next tell the child, “The squirrel runs around the tree and then jumps into the hole.”   

·         And then pull both loops tight.

Double Loop

·         Begin by making an x and then tell the child, “The bunny hops under the bridge to hide.”

·         Say, "The bunny is trying to hide, but what is peeking out from under the bridge?  His ears.” and make a large loop in each lace to represent the bunny’s ears.  Next say, “His ears are peeking out because they are loose and falling off.”

·         Tell the child “Oh no… we need to help the bunny by making the bunny ears tight so they don't fall off." Then make another x using the "bunny ears", slide one "ear" under the x and pull tightly.

·         This method often works well because you are doing the same motion twice of making an x and going under the x which may help children that have difficulty with motor planning.

Helpful hints for teaching.

Start with the shoe off of the child’s foot.

·         It is often easier for the child to learn without having to lean down to tie their shoe while it is on their foot.

·         Let them practice with a shoe in front of them on the tabletop.

·         Make sure that the shoe is still facing the direction that it would be if it were on their foot.

Use a training shoe with two different colored shoe laces.

·         Tie two different colored shoe laces together and lace a training shoe with 1 lace color on each side of the shoe.

·         This will help the child with identification of which shoe lace they are holding and makes directions easier (i.e. put the black lace under the x etc.)

·         After the child can tie the shoe with two different colors without difficulty, transition to regular laces and practice a few times before moving to shoes on the child’s feet.

Practice with pipe cleaners or wax covered strings (wikki stix)

·         By using something that holds its shape, the child will be able to see what they are doing more easily.

·         After the child can complete the task without difficulty using pipe cleaners or wax covered strings, transition the child to shoe laces and practice until they can complete this without difficulty too.

·         When the child can complete this using regular shoe laces without difficulty, move on to tying on shoes that the child is wearing.

If the child has difficulty with fine motor activities … turn shoe tying into a gross motor task.

·         Have the child put a jump rope around their waist and practice tying the jump rope into a bow around their waist using either shoe tying method.

·         Sometimes children have an easier time doing big movements and have increased difficulty as the movements become smaller.  By practicing on a large scale, they can master the steps involved before they need to do it on actual shoe laces.

Try teaching the last step first.

·         After you have completed all of the steps up to pulling the loops tight, teach them to just pull the loops at the end of the task (the last step).

·         Once pulling the loops is mastered, then have put the loop in the hole and pull the loops tight (the last two steps).  Once that is mastered, then have them do the last three steps, etc.

·         By having them “finish” the task, they get a sense of accomplishment that they will not get by doing just the first step only to have you complete the task for them.