Lacing skills are an important skill for young children to practice and develop.
A great way to start is by teaching your little ones to string beads. These skills also are important as they are necessary for children as they begin to write and dress themselves.
By stringing beads, they will learn:
- Bi-lateral coordination
- Hand-eye coordination
- Fine motor skills
- Patience
With practice, they will use this skill to lace and tie their shoes.
Nurture their skills by:
First, have your child choose a favorite shoe.
Then, demonstrate and narrate lacing the shoes. Choose one of your own and do the activity alongside your child.
Next, demonstrate and narrate tying the shoe.
Some questions to ask while you demonstrate lacing and tying:
- Are there different ways to lace and tie shoes?
- Are there any rhymes, tricks or songs that you can use to help you?
- How many different kinds of knots can you do?
Expand your child’s skills
- Practice lacing and unlacing your child’s shoes.
- Bring an extra (possibly a larger parent’s) shoe in the car and practice on trips and errands.
- Play dress-up and practice buttoning, snapping, zipping and buckling too.
- Let your child help tie bows for gifts, bundles, or other tying chores around the house.
Skill Builder Kit
Did you know lacing is part of our Skill Builder Activity Kit? While our in-person museum Skill Builder activities are on hold, we’ve developed a take-home kit to provide parents of preschoolers with materials and guidance for helping children practice and develop school-readiness skills. These include math concepts, motor skills, social emotional cues, and pre reading and writing.
Learn more in our video:
Buy the kit today: https://my.mesaaz.gov/2HoHH7r