How to Teach a Child to Tie Shoes With This Nifty Rhyme

Young kids need a few tips to remember how to tie their shoes - This Rhyme will help.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Shoes with shoelaces.
• A little patience.

1. Get the child sitting in front of you, on the ground, shoes on, laces laying out to the sides. Coach them to pick up the laces then say and do the following steps:

2. "Over, Under, Pull it tight." (This forms the cross-over foundation for the bow).

3. "Make a bow" (Make one bow and picnh it at the base).

4. "Round the bow" (Encircle the base of the first bow with the second lace, gently pulling it close. At the end, you will have encircled the base of the first bow about 280 degrees, and will be ready to push that tail of the loose lace under the baseline encirclement you just made - this is the hardest part because of the dexterity and coordination! As you push, make sure you are pushing through a loop that is following the shape of your finger and leaving enough of a tail that you can later pull it without pulling the whole lace through, in other words, leaving a tail. Only one finger pushes it through.)

5. "Pull it through to do it right." (This step brings closer and if enough tail is left from the encircling lace, the second lace, you will have a perfect little bow!)

6. "And then, do it again!" (Repeat it on the other shoe.)

Tips & Warnings

• Patience. Go slowly through the encircling and pushing phase, teach them to look carefully at whether they need to adjust the length before that push.
• Stop if they get frustrated. THere is always another day!