Parents often want me to work with their child on shoe tying, typically before the start of a new school year. It seems as if this is one of those milestones that parents REALLY want their pre-schooler to achieve before kindergarten. This is great! I love it when parents are proactive with where they want our therapy efforts focused!
When do most children learn to tie their shoes?
Many developmental charts say 5 years, hence the big push to tie shoes before kindergarten. From clinical and just “life” experience, I see a much wider range, typically somewhere between 4-8 years of age. And, quite frankly, if I had a dollar for every time my son’s soccer game was halted for kids needing help with shoe tying, I would be a rich woman! And these boys are 9!
How do you know if your child is really ready to begin the shoe tying training?
As with teaching any child a new skill, we want to set him up for success. Working on shoe tying before your child is ready will just be frustrating for both your child and you.
Most of us have been tying our shoes for decades. We don’t even think about it anymore; it is simply automatic. However, have you ever tried to tie your shoe with even a mild impairment, such as a band-aid on your finger? You suddenly have to think about it. Tricky, right?
Shoe tying requires a very precise sequence of fine motor movements. Each hand is responsible for its own set of highly dexterous movements. The brain coordinates each hand’s sequence, while mastering the timing to ensure that each hand’s individual sequence coordinates with the other hand’s sequence…
Whew! No wonder learning to tie shoes can be so hard!
Given that it’s such a complex, sequenced activity, let’s set your child up for success. Let’s make sure that when you begin the process of shoetying that your child has the skills he needs. The following is a list of bilateral (meaning 2-handed) tasks that your child should achieve before learning to tie his shoes. Now, your child does not have to master all of these skills, but if he is able to complete the majority of the tasks listed, then you definitely have the green light to begin shoe tying!
- Cutting out simple shapes
- Stabilizing paper with opposite hand while writing/coloring
- Buttoning/unbuttoning large buttons
- Lacing on a lacing board
- Stringing beads
- Folding paper in half
- Tearing paper into small pieces
Are most of these items checked off your child’s list? Congratulations! Time to teach shoe tying!
Grading the Task
There are actually several different methods for shoe tying, but we will get to that in a bit. First, let’s work on “grading the task.” This technique is simply teaching our clients small steps at a time, which helps them be more successful and feel less frustrated. Regardless of the method you use, move through this sequence:
- Start on a tying board. I have made these myself, or you can buy them fairly inexpensively. At the clinic, we use this one, and I really like it. You can purchase it from several different retailers, bookstores, and online sites for less than $10. This book has laces that are nice and long, and have a high contrast between the red and yellow. Added bonus: The book even has a poem sequencing the steps of shoe tying that many kiddos find really helpful.
- Move to standard tennis shoe on the table (NOT on your child’s foot). This allows for practice on a real shoe, but the shoe is at a much more comfortable angle and is easier for your child to see what his fingers are doing.
- Next, have your child tie YOUR shoe. In this position, your child is having to crouch/sit on the ground to tie a shoe that is actually attached to a foot and a leg, but he is not having to navigate his own body/leg/foot dance himself.
- Now have your child tie his own shoe. Here is the big finish! Get practicing! Hopefully, if your child has mastered each of the previous steps, this one will be a piece of cake!
- One more tip – master step one before moving on. Almost all the different methods of tying shoes start with the “cross & pull.” Have your child master this step, and only this step, FIRST. Again, this is just one more way to break down shoe tying into smaller, more manageable steps. The more manageable the steps, the less likely your child will get frustrated and give up.
Several Different Methods for Shoe-Tying
Now on to the main event! Different shoe-tying techniques. I have taught them all and am listing my pros and cons for each one. Unfamiliar with one of these methods? Check out my YouTube video demonstrating everything you need to know!
1. Traditional
This one is where you cross and pull. Then make ONE bunny ear, swoop it around, and pull through. The advantage of this method is that it is the one that most people use, and it tends to produce a tighter knot. BUT, it has each hand working on a different task which may be tricky for may young hands.
Interesting fact: Did you know that you may be tying your shoes wrong with this method? In researching this blog, I actually found a study on shoe tying from Oliver O’Reilly who is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering from UC-Berkley. He studied how the forces of walking/running actually cause your shoe to come untied as you walk. Links to this research as well as a TEDTalk can be found in my resource section.
How to right the wrong? It is all in how the loose string swoops around the bunny ear loop. If you go one direction, the 2 loops on the finished bow will lay across your foot in a perpendicular fashion, from ankle bone to ankle bone. This is the correct way, and this is the tightest way. On the other hand, if the finished product produces 2 loops that point lengthwise from your toes to your ankle, this is the looser form of the knot, and the method that is more likely to leave you with an untied shoe.
2. TWO bunny ears
For this method, you do the same cross and pull. But then you make two bunny ear loops, and use those loops in the exact same motion again for another cross and pull.
I learned to tie my own shoes with this method. I had tried and tried the traditional method. I was so motivated, but I kept trying and failing. Then Mrs. Lane, my kindergarten teacher, showed me the TWO bunny ears method. I picked it up immediately, but I was so mad! Why had no one ever shown me this method before? I had spent all that time and energy on a method that simply wasn’t working for me!
And this leads to another tip… Don’t just hang your hat on one tying method. When I teach tying shoes for the first time to a kiddo, I generally show him both the traditional method, and the 2 bunny ears method. Then I ask the child which one looks easiest to him.
The advantage of the 2 bunny ear method is that most children find it to be easier. Once you have mastered the cross and pull that you generally need for any shoe tying method, you simply do the same thing again, except with 2 loops. The disadvantage is that it is often not as tight a knot as the traditional method.
And, for me as a kid, I felt like it was a bit “baby-ish” to tie my shoes this way. I ended up re-learning how to tie my shoes the traditional way when I was in 4th grade, because I didn’t want the stigma of not knowing how to tie my shoes the “correct” way. Although, once again, every child is different and I would still teach the method of shoe tying that makes your child feel most comfortable.
3. Double crossing
This is a good method for the child who has tried the other methods, and is still struggling. You make the first cross and pull, then you make another (loose) cross and pull immediately after that, so that you have 2 crosses and pulls on top of each other. It should look similar to making a square knot. However, you leave a bit of space between the 2 crosses & pulls. Then, you take the plastic end of the shoe lace (one lace at a time), put it into the space between the two knots, and do the same with the other lace. This will create the 2 bunny ears. Sound complicated? Don’t worry. Just check out my YouTube video.
I like this method because it is good for children who just can’t seem to master the other two methods. Unfortunately, un-tying shoes after they have been tied with this method is really tricky. Basically, you have created a double square knot. So in order for a child to untie his shoes at the end of the day, he has to have the fine motor skills needed to untie this knot rather than just pulling at the end of the shoelace, as is the case with the other shoe tying methods. In my experience, most kiddos can learn to tie their shoes long before they master untying knots, which is a definite con of this shoe tying method.
Extra! One-handed Shoe Tying
What should you do if you have a child who has a disability with one hand? Maybe your child has cerebral palsy and has spasticity or paralysis in one hand. Maybe your child has joint deformities of the hand. Maybe due to an injury or congenital abnormality, your child is missing an arm/hand. Don’t worry! Occupational therapists are here to save the day!
There are many ways to modify shoes with elastic laces or Velcro in order to help make children (and adults) with disabilities independent with putting on and taking off shoes. But we can do even better! For one-handed shoe tying, the shoe needs to be laced up differently than for 2-handed shoe tying. I won’t even attempt to describe it here in words, but watch my YouTube video, and I will show you how.
Still need help? Don’t worry, just find your local occupational therapist and ask! Various adaptations on shoe tying are actually part of our college curriculum. My parents always joke that I got a master’s degree in learning to tie shoes!
So there you have it! The ins and outs (and bunny ears, and cross/pulls) of shoe tying! If my words didn’t cut it, check out the Children’s Therapy Team YouTube Channel for videos and demonstrations on each of these techniques. Want to know even more about the expansive topic of shoe tying? Check out some of the links in the resource section!
Resources:
NPR: Untangling the Mystery of Why Shoelaces Come Untied (April 17, 2017)
TED Talk: Terry More – How to Tie Your Shoes (Feb 2005)
Today: Mom’s Video on how to tie shoelaces goes viral (Sept 14, 2016)