How to teach a child to tie shoelaces - learn quickly and easily

At what age can you start studying?

In order to master the “art” of tying shoelaces, a preschooler first of all needs sufficiently developed fine motor skills. That is why this skill becomes available to children aged 4–5 years. However, each child is individual, and if parents developed the child in this direction from an early age (worked with him, bought appropriate toys, exercise equipment), then it is quite possible that he can be taught how to handle laces as early as 3 years old.

It is optimal to teach a child to tie shoelaces at 4–5 years old - at this time the child should already have sufficiently developed fine motor skills

Of course, it would be great for a child to master the skill of tying shoelaces before he goes to kindergarten. In this case, the mother can safely put on the appropriate boots or sneakers for the baby, without fear of irritating the teachers.

There is no need to delay the learning process by making life easier for a preschooler by buying him shoes with Velcro .
At school, this skill will still be required, but the student may experience discomfort and embarrassment due to the fact that he will not be able to do what other children have been able to do for a long time.

Which laces are best to learn on?

A lot depends on the chosen model. Every little detail is important in the learning process, so the best option would be the following laces:

Bright, pleasant to the touch, not too slippery, with hard aeglets (tips).
Not too thin: they usually tend to slip out and do not hold the knot well. Thick ones are inconvenient for babies to tie.
Preferably flat: it’s easier to form loops from them.
With a length of about 30 centimeters, longer laces will constantly get tangled, too short ones will not allow you to tie a knot with loops.

Simple exercises to prepare your fingers

Of course, if the child already has fairly well-developed fine motor skills (“fingers run”), then you can safely move on to tying shoelaces . If there are difficulties in this regard, parents should first pay attention to them. The following activities are very important:

Creative activities (modeling is especially important, but also drawing, including on sand, semolina, appliqué).
Tracing the outline of the image by points.
Collecting puzzles.
Manipulations with small objects (stringing beads on a thread, sorting buttons, etc.)
Finger games accompanied by funny rhymes.
Classes with mosaics (laying out a certain image or ornament from small elements).
Classes with lace-up exercise machines. They come not only in the form of shoes, but in a variety of shapes (animal faces, leaves, fruits and vegetables, nesting dolls, etc.)
Working with stickers. Children usually like this activity, they just need to choose an option based on their interests (for girls - princesses, fairies, for boys - robots, planes, cars).

The baby's hands should be ready to tie his shoelaces - you need to take care in advance of the development of his fine motor skills

Exercises directly with laces

Before you start teaching your child how to lace up a sneaker or a flat toy model, you should offer your child manipulation games with the lace:

"Circle". The baby rolls the string, forming it into a neat circle. Then you can similarly lay out a square, rectangle, triangle, snail (a circle with a small tip left).
"Beads." The child makes many knots on a long cord to create beads. In this case, you can adjust the strength of the knot: the beads will be smaller or larger.
“Complete the picture.” With the help of a lace you can “draw” and add pictures: for example, make wheels for a car, a ball for a kitten, a snail on a leaf, etc.

A child can make geometric shapes out of string

Techniques for motivating a child

When asking questions about how to quickly teach a child to tie his shoelaces, it is important not to forget about a visual demonstration using the example of an adult. It is better if the parent stands behind the baby, holding his hands in front of his eyes. Mirroring can simply confuse a child.

One of the most effective ways to motivate someone to learn a new skill is to tell them where lacing can be used in the future. For example, girls will be interested to know that they will subsequently be able to tie beautiful bows to their dolls. And with the boy it is worth playing at sailors or pirates, and gradually becoming interested in this topic, explain that a brave hero must be able to tie sea knots.

It is easiest for children to remember information expressed in poetic form. For example, in the popular cartoon SpongeBob said: “Take a lace, a loop, a hook - a knot comes out.” You can invite your child to imagine, using his imagination, that the loops are rabbit ears. You just need to put one on top of the other and tie it. In this case, you can say the following: “The rabbit walked around the bush, hid in a hole, only one ears stick out.”

If you have creative abilities, you should try to compose your own fairy tale. The most important thing is that the baby has a strong association with each action performed, then any new information will be assimilated easily and naturally.

Specific teaching techniques and ways to tie a bow (step by step)

Although there are a large number of methods for lacing shoes, it is advisable to show a small child two main ones:

Bow consisting of two loops

First, the laces are tied into a knot. It's simple: the two ends are folded in a cross, one end is threaded under the other, both are tightened.
Loops are formed near the knot.
The loops are crossed, the top one is bent down and placed in the resulting ring.
You need to pull the loops in different directions - the knot will tighten and you will get a bow.

For many people, the bow tying method is simpler than the single loop method.

To make it easier for the baby, you need to come up with different images. Thus, the loops on the lace are compared to bunny ears and butterfly wings.

One loop method, or "grandmother's knot"

The knot is tied again.
A loop is made from the end of one cord (near the knot).
With the other end you need to wrap around this loop and bring the crossed lacing down.
Insert the “ear” into the hole and tighten the bow.

Initially, one loop is made, not two

Important nuances

Before lacing shoes, it is better for a child to master these types of lacing using fabric belts, wide ribbon, or satin ribbon.
The laces themselves for training should be non-slip, with hard tips, and not very thin.
At first, you can paint half of the lace in a different color. This will make it easier for the baby to figure out, for example, which loop to place on top.
When an adult shows a child the lacing process, he should sit behind him, and not opposite him. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the baby to mirror the movements, he may get confused.
The training should not be too long so as not to tire the child. In addition, there is no need to pester your little one with training immediately before the walk - to do this, you need to choose a free time when you don’t need to get ready anywhere.
Until your baby has mastered one tying method well, you should not start another.
If the child is left-handed, this must be taken into account when teaching. Unlike a right-handed adult, it will most likely be easier for him to place the left loop on the right (for example, when tying a bow from two ears). Therefore, there is no need to retrain the child by your example - let him do as he is comfortable.
The tying process should be accompanied by jokes and funny poems, then the learning will be fun and relaxed. Here's one option:
Once upon a time there lived worms Bim and Bom. One day they went for a walk. They hold hands, go, have fun. Then they met the bunnies Tim and Tyoma. They invited the worms to come and drink tea.

During training, it is better for an adult to sit behind the child, and not opposite

Useful tips

Paint half of the lace a different color: this way your baby won’t have any ripples in his eyes, and he’ll quickly understand which loop is easier to place on top: the left or the right. This is especially important if the parent has a dominant right hand, and the child is left-handed or ambidextrous.
Place “trainers” in the form of ribbons or strings on various objects in the house: cabinet handles, chair legs, on toys so that your baby can practice tying a bow. Girls can be asked to braid their dolls' hair.
Celebrate the day your child was able to put on lace-up shoes on their own for the first time.

Algorithm for correct action

In order for a preschooler to quickly and successfully master an action, the entire process must initially be correctly conveyed to him. There is a tying technique that is shown to the baby step by step. If an adult sees that the process is not working out for him, it is worth starting the demonstration with a small technique. For example, try using a bright ribbon to first make knots, then move on to loops, tying them with a bow. You can move on to lacing when this exercise is mastered.

Several lacing options have been developed; for children, you should choose the simplest ones. In practice, the so-called “grandmother’s” method is known (it is considered elementary), its algorithm looks like this: knot - loops - knot.

Step 1. First, a knot is made.

Step 2. Then two loops are formed at the same time, which must be crossed together.

Step 3. Pass the loop that is at the top through the hole from below and bring it back to the top, that is, you get the second knot.

It is important to explain to preschool children why the loops are made: so that later it will be easier to untie the knot.

How else can you tie your shoes?

The second method is more difficult to implement than the first, but the knots created in this way hold tighter and do not come undone when walking. It is worth teaching a child the difficult option when the easy way is mastered. You cannot immediately switch to the second after successfully practicing the first option, since the skill is consolidated only with repeated repetition.

It is better to move on to the second option when the baby shows curiosity and wants to learn about other methods of tying. To arouse interest in learning, you can use gaming techniques and artistic expression. For example, an adult mysteriously reports that now they will not just learn how to tie shoes, but “catch bunnies by the ears.” Accompanying your words with action:

Step 1. Make a knot from two laces, as in the previous method.

Step 2. Bunny, bunny, don’t rush, show us your ears. Let's take on one thing - once! (the parent makes a medium-sized loop from one end of the lace, wrapping it with the opposite end of the rope).

Step 3. And we are looking for the second here! (pulls out from the middle a ready-made loop made from the other end).

Step 4. You can't run away from us now! Well, quickly get into the house! (tightens the resulting knot tightly).

At first, such an exercise will seem difficult to the baby, but later, with the help of an adult, he will learn to make a strong knot.

Children can easily learn all the options presented. The main thing is that adults must understand that it takes a long time to consolidate, so you should not give children a lot of information right away.