How to Teach a Child to Tie Shoes

Are you tired of always tying your child's shoes. Are you ready for your little tyke to tie his own shoes? Here is a catchy set of directions to teach the time-honored skill of tied shoes.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• child
• pair of shoes with laces for your child
• pair of shoes with laces for you

1. The best way to teach a child to tie shoes is for the child to have the shoes on their feet. So, start by both you and your child putting on your shoes. Help your child to tighten the laces if needed before starting the tying lesson.

2. Seat yourself next to your child so you can model each step. Now model each step in isolation while allowing your child to practice with their own shoelaces.

3. "Criss-cross, applesauce" - Cross your laces to form an X-shape.

4. "Through the hole" - Put one lace through the space formed by the bottom of the X-shape.

5. "Now show who's boss" - Take the two ends of the shoelaces and pull them tightly in opposite directions.

6. "Now make a loop" - With one lace, form an O-shape.

7. "And go around the bend" - With the other lace, wrap around the base of the loop.

8. "Push a loop through" - With the lace wrapped around, push the middle segment through the gap below the loop.

9. "And pull tight again" - Pull tightly while holding on to the two loops.

10. The complete diddy is as follows:
    
    Criss-cross, Applesauce
    Through the hole
    Now show who's boss.
    Now make a loop
    And go around the bend,
    Push a loop through
    And pull tight again.

11. You can teach your child to "Double Tie" by teaching him to repeat the "Criss-cross step" with the loops.

12. Teach your child how to untie the shoe by pulling the ends of the laces apart.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice each day, many times a day. This is a hard skill for a child and will take lots of time, patience, and practice to be successful.