It’s pretty amazing that children have better technical skills than many adults, but they don’t know how to tie their shoes. Believe it or not, "knows how to tie shoes" was on our checklist in the old days.
When my kids were little I got a big stuffed animal and used an apron to teach them how to tie. The apron strings were much bigger and easier to manipulate than shoestrings.
Here are two poems that might help children with this task.
1-2-3-4 – TYING SHOES
Let’s get ready to tie your shoes.
Over and under. Now, what to do? (Pull strings tight.)
1. Make a loop that looks like a tree. (Make a loop with right string.)
2. The other string is a rabbit you see. (Hold up left string.)
3. The rabbit goes around and in a hole. (Take left string around loop and stick in the hole.)
4. Pull the loops tight and there is your bow! (Take both loops and pull.)
Hint! Take a marker and color one half of the shoe string. It will be easier for children to tell which loop is the "rabbit' and which is the "hole" if they are different colors.
TYING SHOES VERSION 2
Take the 2 strings (Make loops with each string.)
And make two bunny ears.
Over and under
And a knot will appear. (Tie loops in a knot.)
Pull the ears tight
And what do you know? (Pull loops.)
You’ve tied your shoes
And there is your bow!
Hint! One teacher suggested getting a bag and sending home the shoe with a different child each night. It would be a nice reminder that children still do need to know how to tie their shoes in 2023!
SHOE SHERIFF CLUB
You’ll love this idea from Karen Hansen and Karen Aikin! When children learn to tie their shoes they get to sign their name on a poster that says “Shoe Sheriff Club.” Each day a child on the poster gets to wear a badge and be Shoe Sheriff for the day. If someone’s shoes come untied, they have to go to the Sheriff instead of bothering the teacher.
*Ashley Swedell puts shoes on table legs and if children finish their work early they can practice their tying.
Note! Janet Cantrell has children practice tying using their own leg!
Passport of Accomplishment
Make an award similar to the one below to distribute to children when they learn to tie their shoes.
