3 Printable Activities for Kids to Help With Shoe Tying

(Guest Post: Corey Doane is a digital content creator who helps Adidas create helpful and compelling stories worth sharing. Her background in digital marketing and creative writing has led her to cover unique topics ranging from business to eco to lifestyle. )

Teaching kids how to tie their shoes is an important learning milestone, but it’s not always the easiest. It might seem easy to do, but figuring out how to explain it to children in a way they’ll understand can get a little tricky. From the bunny ear method to the one-loop and swoop, teaching shoe tying takes great practice. Shoe tying requires kids to flex their fine motor skills, which for most, are still developing. This can lead to your kiddo feeling frustrated. 

So how can we take the ease off of them for a bit and make the process a little more fun? Below we’ll explain 3 different activities you can do with your kiddo that can help make tying their back to school shoes just a little bit easier—and hopefully fun, too! 

1. Shoe tying sequence activity 

This sequence activity is great for helping your child understand the steps to shoe tying before practicing with actual laces. Verbally walk through the steps with your child again and again until you feel they’re confident. Then, print out the sheet and have your child cut out the steps. Once cut out, mix them up and have your child put the steps in the correct order. Once they’ve got the steps down, it’s time to practice with laces! 

You can download the sequence activity here. 

2. Shoe tying cards 

This activity is where the shoe-tying fun starts. Print out the shoe templates and cut them out. This step is optional, but for a little more stability, glue cardboard to the back of each cutout. This can make it easier for your child to grasp the cutouts when practicing. Then, use a hole puncher to punch out the holes where the laces will go. 

Once the holes are punched out, lace the shoes up with two different colored laces. Having two colors can help your child differentiate one lace from the other, making the learning process a bit easier. Once you’ve got it all set up, verbally walk them through the steps as they practice with the laces. 

Children often get frustrated with this step, so be patient and make sure to keep encouraging and motivating them along the way!

You can download the shoe-tying cards here. 

3. Shoe tying certificate 

Once they’ve mastered shoe tying on the printable cards and on their own shoes, congratulate them on this win with a shoe tying certificate! This is a huge milestone, so let them know you’re proud of them. Fill out the certificate with their name and let them know they’re now a part of the Adidas shoe tying club! 

You can download the shoe-tying certificate here. 

Though shoe tying isn’t always the easiest concept to teach, these shoe-tying printables can hopefully make it a little bit easier on you and your kiddo. 

 

Shoelaces for Teachers Campaign

I recently got an email from Laurie Murphy about the “Shoelaces for Teachers Campaign”. She writes the following message:

“Members of the Shoelaces for Teachers campaign are collecting shoelaces in honor of educators who work hard every day to help students to have a better future.  These teachers understand the true meaning of education and put the needs of students ahead of politics and savory sound-bites.  

However, teachers could not succeed if not for the support of the community.  Therefore, shoelaces are also being collected in honor of people who are speaking up on behalf of education-people who demand that teachers receive the support needed to do their job and who insist that public education remains adequately funded and available to all. They also understand that, while some aspects of education (such as creativity, independent thinking, engagement and compassion) cannot be easily measured, they represent some of education’s greatest achievements.

When combined, all of these shoelaces become a “virtual march” in the name of education. 

The string of collected shoelaces will be measured and revealed during the world premiere broadcast of the documentary "I Just Keep Going" on July 30, 2010 on Ustreamtv.  The stories of several of our honored teachers and supporters will be featured as part of this documentary.  

We would be honored to include a shoelace representing you and your ongoing efforts in our campaign.  We would also encourage you to submit other shoelaces on behalf of other educators who have made a difference in the lives of students or who have worked hard to improve our educational system.  We encourage you to write your name on the shoelace you submit (or on an enclosed piece of paper).  We also would ask that you submit the name of other people being honored, should you submit additional laces.

Shoelaces may be old, new, plain, or creatively decorated. That part is entirely up to you!

Shoelaces should be mailed to: Laurie Murphy, 6414 Foster Road, Sebring, FL 33875. 

The Shoelaces for Teachers Campaign is sponsored by the SOS Million Teacher March, an organization made of up teachers, parents, students, and other concerned citizens who are rallying together in support of education. To learn more about the Shoelaces for Teachers Campaign or the SOS Million Teacher March, please visit us at  www.sosmtm.com.  Should you have any questions or wish to discuss this further, feel free to contact me by telephone at (863) 386-4806 or by email at murphylauriet@gmail.com.”

So please send your shoelaces in!

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).