How to Teach Your Child to Tie a Double Knot

School-aged kids have a lot to deal with in a day. Some things get done and some fall by the wayside in their hurry to get to the fun. Fun has a nasty habit of being interrupted by accidents when kids don’t take the proper precautions.

Having been a soccer referee for quite some time, I have seen too many kids (even teenagers) almost kill themselves with a loose shoe lace in the heat of competition. When you have completed this lesson, you will teach your child how to tie a safe, tight double knot for him or herself.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Assuming your child knows right from left, have him pull both laces to snug them in the eyelets. Them have him/her cross the right lace over the left, and let the laces hang over the sides of the shoes.

2. Explain that your right lace has now become your left lace, and needs a place to rest. Lift the left lace over the right lace and place the end down into the hole created by the crossed laces.

3. Have your child pull the right lace to the right as she pulls the left lace through the hole and to the left. Make sure that the knot that forms is not loose. A loose knot will make it difficult to continue.

4. Have your child place a thumb on the knot to hold it tight, then make a loop with the left lace end by wrapping the lace half way around the extended index (pointer) finger.

5. Wrap the right over the left. Have your child keep the left loop tight with the left thumb and pointer. Then have him wrap the right lace over the left loop, holding that lace firmly with thumb and pointer of the right hand.

6. Poke your pointer through your thumb space. Have your child point straight through the right lace into the left thumb, then push the lace through the hole made by the right lace over the left loop.

7. Pull both loops tight, and now you’ve got one! Have your child grab the newly formed left loop with the left thumb and pointer as she releases that loop and grabs the right loop with the right thumb and pointer. When she pulls both loops tight, they will form a nice, tight knot.

8. Repeat step 1 and step 2 using both newly created loops. Pull tight.

Tips & Warnings

• You might see quicker results if you allow the child to choose which thumb to use. Solving this little problem within the context of the task helps to embed the learning.
• Show each step on your own shoe as you go. Kneel next to your child so he/she does not get confused and perform the task backward.
• For left handers, reverse the words left and right in the rhyme. It loses a bit in translation, but the end result should still be a properly tied shoe.
• The test: If your child did this properly, he will always be able to untie the double knot simply by PULLING the LEFT LACE END.

[marian1936]

on 1/8/2009 "For left handers, reverse the words left and right in the rhyme. It loses a bit in translation, but the end result should still be a properly tied shoe."

I missed the rhyme. Would love to read it. This is a difficult concept to teach; isn't it? I think I put a pair of shoes on a table to teach it (50 years ago), rather than squatting to the floor. It's a little easier for both teacher and student. Easier still, to put the shoelaces through two holes in a small piece of wood or chip board. When I taught special ed., back in the dark ages, I had the experienced students teach the younger ones.

[marian1936]

on 1/8/2009 1. Snug the laces.
2. Wrap one around the other and pull tight.
3. One way I've see people tie their shoes is to make a loop on each side and wrap one loop around the other, to make a secure knot. However, the way I learned was to form a loop on only one side, wrap the other strand around it, with my right thumb inside the wrap, and use my right index finger to push the working strand through the hole where the thumb is. Then grasp both loops and tighten, with an effort to make the loops somewhat equal in size.
4. To make it more secure, repeat that last part, to tie the loops. (Good for athletes and toddlers.)

[marian1936]

on 1/8/2009 "Assuming your child knows right from left, have him pull both laces to snug them in the eyelets. Them have him/her cross the right lace over the left,"

This would put both laces on the left side. Change "them" to "then".

I tried your procedure and found it confusing.