Teach Your Kids to Tie Shoes

I never knew that shoelace tieing was so complicated! Sure I was probably frustrated more than once at having to do my laces, but then again it was also the 80s and velcro could always be found in a pinch. After finding Ian’s Shoelace Site, I have to say I’m a little excited about teaching my son how to do up his laces. This site has all sorts of interesting facts, tips and hints about shoelace tieing. From shoelaces that always seem to slip undone to crooked bows - Ian is sure to have a tip, like these geared towards teaching children to tie shoes:

* Sit comfortably and practice with a shoe on a table, or with a shoelace or rope wrapped around the thigh, instead of awkwardly reaching down to tie your shoes.
* Join two different coloured shoelaces together, or dye one half of a shoelace, so that the shoe can be laced with a different colour on each side, making it easier to follow either coloured diagrams or verbal instructions.
* Use a felt tip marker to permanently highlight the points on the shoelace that should be gripped together when making a loop or loops.
* Knot the very ends of each shoelace to stop those ends being accidentally pulled through the knot (when tightening) or out of the eyelets (when loosening).
* A neater alternative to knotting the ends is to push the aglet back into the end of the shoelace, resulting in a thick, bulged end with the aglet inside. It’s a bit like turning a sock inside out by pushing in the toe. Note that this only works with some laces, particularly with flat ones.

The Art of Shoelace Tieing

I can only imagine how hard it will be to get my son to tie his own shoelaces. Even now he balks at getting his shoes and socks on - and they’re velcro! I was glad to stumble upon this tip at ezinearticles.com:

A great method to use to teach you child is by telling them the bunny story. It goes like this: Make two bunny ears, the bunny runs around the tree, the bunny jumps in a hole, close it up tight!

Buying kid’s shoes every 2 weeks

Mom 2 Mom Tips shares here secret in purchasing back to school shoes.  The dilema of trying to find the half size shoe your really need or realizing that you kid grew 3 sizes over the summer and you’re plagued with guilt from not noticing the mangled toes of your daughter can be solved with a simple soulution.

Well, there is a much more flexible solution! Stuff the toes of the shoes with cotton balls. Plain old, ordinary cotton balls. Fit them into the toe along the shape of the shoe so they don’t feel “weird” when the child wears them. Add a few, try them on, add a few more until you’ve achieved the right fit. One advantage of cotton balls is that you can put different amounts into each shoe. As we all know, everyone has one foot that is larger than the other.

Here all about Mom 2 Mom’s shoe buying experience here…