Teaching your kids to tie their shoelaces can be one of the most challenging tasks. Of course, kids should know it since they might not be able to do it themselves if you are not available. It seems easy to do, but parents fail to explain it in the right way to their children. Young kids get frustrated when they don’t succeed after repeated efforts.
 
Often, some kids have delayed milestones, and they require training to groom their fine motor skills. That’s why you should be patient and allow your kids to practice consistently. But, unfortunately, most parents lose their temper while teaching their kids to tie their boots, ending in a disaster.
 

Finally, in this post, you’ll discover the 5 minutes easy step-by-step method to teach your kids to tie their shoes. So, jump in to know the details.

 

What Age Should A Child Be Able To Tie Shoe Laces?

Most parents have the same question that what age should a child be able to tie shoelaces. The answer is, most kids develop fine motor skills and coordination at 5 years or more.  Therefore, teaching your child to tie their boots is recommended at 5 years or more. However, some kids can learn early due to well-developed fine motor skills; others need the practice to master.
 
If your child is not being able to tie his shoelaces, never force him to do so. Instead, ask him to keep trying patiently. Until then, purchase lace-free slip-on shoes or pull-ups for your kids that are easy to wear and remove. Flex socks sneakers are an excellent option for kids who can’t tie their shoelaces.

 

How To Teach A Child To Tie Shoe Bunny Ears?

 

Here’s a step-by-step guide to teach kids to tie shoe bunny ears. If you take different colored laces, it will become easy for your child to follow the instructions.
 
Step 1 - Hold the shoelace in each hand.
Step 2 - Cross the laces over each other like an “X.” Now, grab the end of one lace and put it over the other lace. Then, cross one lace under the hole and pull it tight.
Step 3 - Now, one by one, grab both laces and make small loops or bunny ears with long tails separately.
Step 4 - Again, make a cross with the loops or bunny ears. Or simply pass one lace loop over the middle of the other bunny ear.
Step 5 - Take the top of the loop one. Cross it through the hole after passing it over the other loop. Finally, pull them out and tighten the bunny ears by holding them with fingers.
 
Congratulations, your child has tied his shoelaces. Give him a lot of treats and a viola.

 

How To Teach A Child Tie Shoe With Teepee Rhyme

 

If you want to teach your children to tie shoes with fun, they’ll not get bored and take an interest in learning as well. For example, “build a teepee rhyme” is best for this purpose.
 
See the full teepee rhyme here; it says;
 
“Build a teepee
Come inside
Close it tight so we can hide
Over the mountain
And around we go
Here's my arrow
And here's my bow!”
 
The lines of this rhyme will remind your child of the steps of tying shoes. However, young children have small hands, and they feel difficulty tying laces. Therefore, whenever you start to train them, It is recommended to tie a jump rope around their thighs. In this way, they’ll learn to manipulate better the movements of laces.

Let’s learn the steps to teach your child to tie shoes with teepee rhyme.
 

Step 1-Build a Teepee, Come Inside.

By singing the poem, build a teepee, and ask your child to make a teepee or “X” by tightly pulling the loose lace ends. For making an “X,” cross one side of lace over the other. Now, while singing “come inside,” command your little one to grab the center of “X” and pass one piece of lace over and through the bottom hole of “X.”

Step 2-Close It Tight, So We Can Hide.

While singing this line of the rhyme, ask your young one to pull taut both laces. Make sure that your kid doesn’t lose the tension.

Step 3-Over the Mountain and Around We Go.

For this step, ask your young ones to grab the middle of one lace with his pointer finger and make a loop of left lace over that finger. Now, pull the lope beneath it. Finally, remove the pointer finger from the lace. It’s the “over the mountain” step.

And when you say,” around we go,” teach your little one to bring one lace around the loop.

Step 4-Here’s My Arrow and Here’s My Bow.

By repeating the line,” Here’s my arrow,” let your kid pass the lace back through one loop. While rhyming,” Here’s my bow,” bring out the second loop from the same spot of lace and pull taut both of the loops out.

 

Final Thoughts

If you are planning to teach your kids how to tie shoelaces, be patient and polite. Think about yourself how slowly and gradually you achieved milestones in childhood. Don’t force your children and make the shoe tie steps fun by teaching with popular rhymes such as “build a teepee” and “bunny bear.”