Teach Children to Tie Shoes With the Large Loop Trick
On my list of things to teach a 5 year old, I admit that tying shoelaces is a fairly low priority. I mean, God created Velcro for a reason, right? But I believe it is an important life skill that will open up a whole new field of shoe possibilities. Okay, okay, I’ll take care of it.
Fortunately, today’s teaching methods have gone beyond the “rabbit ears” approach that we all know but cannot explain. (“Wait, is this how your ears jump into the hole before or after you cross the tree?”) Here at Offspring, we introduced the Cheerio lace-tying method endorsed by two Lifehacker authors. There is another system that many parents adhere to. It doesn’t have a catchy name, but I’ll call it the Big Loops trick. A five-year- old named Colton demonstrates how to do this in a video posted by Love What Matters and posted by his father .
Method: Before knitting, stick the plastic ends of the laces back into the holes where the laces came out. Then take the two large loops you just created and knot them twice. Finally, remove the plastic ends from the holes. That’s all. You just tied your laces in a double knot. And when you run around in the playground all day as a kid, you need this double knot.
This technique is great for anyone who needs help stabilizing their laces. However, I found one problem: some holes fit too tightly at the ends, while others may be too large. But it works for most sneakers. See if this helps your child. Perhaps you will be one step closer to the world beyond Velcro.