Confession time. My 6.5 year old can’t tie her shoelaces. How bad is that? I’ve just let that little life skill slip and I’ve forgotten to teach her. It doesn’t help that nearly all kids shoes come with buckles or velcro fasteners so the need to tie shoelaces hasn’t really arisen. But that’s no excuse, every kid should be able to tie their shoelaces right? Hands up who else is in the same boat – I’m not the only slacking parent, am I? I did a bit of a google search to make sure I wasn’t the only one and I found that many children learn to tie their shoe laces a lot later these days. There is no set age but kids should be able to tie their shoelaces by around age 5.
A little while ago Anya got a pair of shoes with laces and I had tried to teach her on those but it was proving too tricky to learn on the shoes themselves even though she tried quite hard. Anya ended up getting really frustrated that she couldn’t do it so we kind of gave up and forgot about it for a while but it recently dawned on me that she should really be able to tie her laces. So instead of learning on the shoes, together we made this very simple cardboard shoe cutout for her to learn on. Using a board like this is a much easier way to teach children how to tie their shoelaces.
Anya’s only had a handful of goes at tying and she has already nearly learned how to do it. She too says it much easier learning on this board than on actual shoes. Once she has perfected it on here, we will move back on to the shoes. I’m haven’t given you any step by step instructions on how to make this board as it’s pretty obvious form the pictures. But if you do want some instructions there are loads of tutorials out there like this one that inspired me to make my own. I will add that let the kids make this shoelace board themselves and they’ll enjoy learning on it even more.
Can your kids tie their shoelaces? Do you have an easy method to teach children how to tie their shoelaces? Please do share in the comments.
P.S. Here’s a short video on a very easy method of tying shoelaces, not the two ears method. A good idea to make it even easier for younger kids.
What an ingenius, creative way to teach beautiful Anya, it’s inspired me to teach Oliver who similarly has a lot of velcro shoes or I tie his shoes, thank you darling x
Thank you. Can’t claim the idea as it’s all over the net but it is an easier way to teach them and it’s fun for the kids to make too. xx
Popping over to your beautiful blog always makes me SMILE 🙂
This is a fantastic idea, and I love that they can paint and decorate the shoes themselves… pinning, tweeting… Great post!
Thank you lovely. Feel the same about your blog. x
What a simple but utterly BRILLIANT idea Nominta! I’ve tended to go for the buckle or velcro options but this has inspired me to have a go at teaching my eldest. Thank you! x
Thank you. Can’t take all the credit as I was inspired by another I saw. But it is an easy way to teach and also fun to make. x
Wow, what a fab way to teach kids. Isabelle masters this skill, but this will be super handy for Olivia. Clever YOU! xxx
Thank you lovely – it does make it easier to teach.
We were lucky, P learned at his kindergarten. They did tell us at one point that if possible we should stop insisting on velcro shoes. I think parents want to make the life of the caretakers easier by doing that so I was actually surprised when they pointed it out. But it does make sense:)
That is lucky and unusual – as you say most nurseries/pre-schools insist on velcro shoes to make life easier. Understandable when they have so many kids to look after!
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