How Old Was Your Child When He Learned to Tie His/her Shoes? and How?

I taught my stepson at 5, my first daughter at 3, and my second daughter at 4. They were all taught the bunny ears method first and as they got older they started tying their shoes the "normal" way on their own.

I have 4 children. The first 3, I taught the rabbit over the log, around the log, etc. My 4th - little smarty pants, at 4 I was trying to teach him, and he stinkin' figured out after the initial tying together of the two strings, that if you make a loop out of both strings you can just tie the loops together, and it's the same result. No over, under around and through! He's 9 and still ties it like that!

My son turned 8 this summer and just barely mastered it. My daughter turned 6 this summer and mastered it right away cause "that's what her brother could do"!!! It's probably my fault that my son was kinda "late" because I just kept buying him velcro and Zstraps. I had bigger battles to conquer in the morning!

Mine were 4. It takes until they can manipulate their little fingers correctly. Using scissors and coloring hones those skills.
I didnt do any of the loopty loo games a lot of people use. I just put my boy on my lap with his tennie and showed him over and over how to do it, he did it over and over until he could do it. Of course they were loose and would come untied for the first few times, but I taught them how to double the laces so they wouldnt come undone. After that, you spend your time teaching them how to untie the knot, lol.

my daughter was a little late. she was 7. but that was probably alot my fault because i didn't work with her as much as i should have.

4 for my daughter second born and 7 for her older brother

I would take their shoe off and have the practice on that in their lap. Or just practice tying a robe belt.

Have you tried googling? I knew a freind whose kid's gym teacher sent home a worksheet about it that really motivated the kids.

I tried to teach my daughter since she was 4 or 5. I was modeling it for her and tried hand over hand. She never could do it, and she would just quit trying. I was a bit concerned but brushed it off and bought her velcro shoes all the time. Now my daughter is ten and she was "forced" to really try to learn how to tie shoes. She is on a competing dance team and this year they use tap shoes with ties:-) She still struggles to tie them tight, but she is proud that finally she can do it:-)

my soon-to-be nine year old is STILL trying to figure it out. darned velcro. only now his feet are getting to big to fit into the brands with velcro so we are in a predicament. trying to teach an ADD child this skill (that they have no interest in) is a very time consuming patience consuming job to say the least. oh, wrap around the tree and the bunny hole thing seems to be the best approach so far.

did i mention the little monster can tie all his own tackle onto a fishing pole? but not his shoes.

My oldest daughter had just turned 5 yrs. old. She is now 22 and velcro was not readily available on shoes back then. Her KG teacher told all the parents that all the children starting school had to know how to tie their own shoes as she was not bending down all day to tie them. So, being my first child, I totally believed her. I sat down with her every day and practiced with her until she got it. It took about 3 days in a row. Then one day while volunteering I noticed a line of kids in front of my daughter on the playground. They were lined up getting their shoes tied. She was the best shoe lace tier in KG. And the teacher told me that she makes that request every year and there will always be a few kids, usually girls, who get it and then they help her out.

I then made my other 2 kids learn before starting KG. And I'm still working on my husband ;) He cannot do the 'mommy' knot - at all.

6 and 2 double knots

She was 5 and in early on in kindergarten. We taught her thru a child's book and practice if I recall. Now there are lots of cute puzzle boards that help with tying. Check out the puzzle boards and big wooden shoe made my wooden kids puzzle makers Melissa and Doug. I think Playschool makes a dress yourself doll too that has shoes to tie, snaps, zippers, buttons etc. Just work on it a few minutes each day if your child is at least 4-5, but make it fun not a hard lesson. He or she will be so proud when she masters it. Good luck.

Hi S., all three of my kids figured it out by the middle of 1st grade. Like another poster said, I think they learned more from the kids in their class than from me!

Shortly after that Stride Rite was all about velcro.

Now they are all teenagers and either leave them untied on purpose or in my daughters case with her converse, takes the laces out all together. Sigh

5 yrs old with our first and still working on it with our current 5 yr old = )

We did the chase-the-bunny-around-the tree and pull-him-outta-the-hole routine (a bunny because the loops look like a bunny ear. Always sit behind them when you are having them watch you tie their shoes...Because then are seeing what they see.

We also had this book that actually had a pop up shoe with a lace in it. Maybe called...The Loose Lace...?

My daughter was 6 and wanted a pair of lace shoes I wouldn't buy her unless she learned to tie them herself. She was determined and we had tried many different methods. We got a book with shoe and laces on the front, a story about tying shoes and several different methods of instruction on the back, along with various word plays (i.e, make rabbit ears and take the bunny through the hole). We tried several methods before she grasped the rabbit ears method. A lot of it is determination and fine motor coordination.