How To Teach A Child To Tie Shoelaces?
Many moms, teachers, and babysitters wonder how to teach a child to tie shoelaces. They are tying shoes all day, but transmitting this technique is not easy.
Most children lack the coordination to effectively tie their own shoes until they are at least 5 or 6 years old. By then, your fine motor skills will develop sufficiently to remind you of this multi-step process.
As a mother, you should have your own way of teaching your child how to tie shoelaces. Possibly, you use the same method by which you were taught. Keep in mind that even though you want to apply the same method with your child, it may not be effective for him at times.
How to teach a child to tie shoelaces?
If you still haven’t found the right method to teach a child to tie shoelaces, here are some techniques to help you:
1.- Teach him to move his fingers
Several factors contribute to the difficulties children have in learning to tie their shoes. First, it requires refined finger dexterity and coordination of your movements.
In this sense, we recommend that, before teaching a child to tie the laces, you show him how to move his fingers to ensure that the cord is held and that he can pass it from one side to the other.
To do this, your child has to use their small lobster claw fingers (thumb and forefinger) to securely grasp the laces. In the meantime, you must keep the rest hidden behind so they don’t interfere. If you help him to hold the cord first and then guide his hand with yours, he will see how to do it.
2.- Use of two-color laces
Another tip that we suggest is that you use two different colored cords so that your child can easily distinguish the right cord from the left when the two are intertwined.
In the event that you do not have colored cords at your disposal, you can use a marker to color a white cord. The use of colors helps most children understand and memorize the procedure.
Once you have the laces in place, you must put the shoes on your child. At that point, we suggest that you stop right next to him and show him the gestures slowly so that he can compare his procedure with yours. You will have to repeat the action over and over again until you understand how to do it.
3.- The rabbit ears technique
Probably one of the easiest and most fun techniques when it comes to teaching a child to tie shoelaces is “bunny ears.”
To practice it, you must tie the cords so that the child imagines that you are making the ears of a rabbit. To make the ears, always use the two different colored cords and start with a knot. Next, you must fold each bow on itself to make the rabbit ears.
It is important that you show the little one how to hold the knot between the thumb and forefinger to make another knot with the bunny ears. Lastly, show him how to balance the size of the rabbit’s ears by pulling one or the other.
4.- The cardboard shoe technique
It is also possible to use a craft to facilitate joint learning. This last activity consists of creating a cardboard template in the shape of a slipper so that the child can try again and again to pass the laces through the holes and practice making the knot and the loop.
You should not worry, since its preparation is very simple. All you have to do is draw the shoes on the cardboard and the holes with a marker. With an awl, you will make the holes on the points that you have marked. Once you have the cardboard ready, you can insert the laces, step by step, as if you were doing it in real shoes.
Finally, it is necessary to remember that the fundamental process in learning for all children is repetition. However, children sometimes have a hard time learning and parents find it difficult to find effective ways to teach them.
In order to help your child, you must arm yourself with patience. Most children need to repeat the movements several times until they become familiar with the procedure and it becomes automatic.
