How to Tie Your Shoes

My son is on the autism spectrum and has struggled his entire little life with dexterity and fine motor skills. While being very intelligent, at ten years old he was still using velcro shoes because he could not tie his own shoes. We've tried for years, unsuccessfully, to teach him to tie his own shoes. (I think we all learn a certain way and that's what we try to pass on!)

This Christmas while looking for gifts for my niece I happened to see this book and thought, "What could it hurt?" If it was made for younger children than my son in mind, he surely would be able to follow along with it. I think my biggest fear was he'd find it to be "too baby-ish". But, I decided to go for it.

The day he got it, is the day he learned to tie his own shoes. He pulled it out, tried the various methods the book taught and one of them just clicked for him! And now, he proudly walks around in shoes that have NO VELCRO straps that he ties all by himself!

My only regret is I did not find this book sooner. It was a major milestone for my child.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to other parents, whether their child is on the spectrum, has some other development issues or just wants an easy, fun way to help their little ones learn to tie their own shoes!

I purchased the book to assist a young child in tying shoes. It’s a study book with a lot of information about lacing. The book is for right handed children. The directions for lacing shoes has step 1 on the right side of the shoe, A left handed child would start at the left side to lace a shoe. If you plan to teach a left-handed child how to tie shoes with this book, you have to renumber the instructions (put step 1 on left – a permanent marker will work). I’m giving the book 2 stars because it does not consider differentiation in learning. At least two pages should be dedicated to left handed children. I will not recommend the book.

Teaching my 5 year old son to tie laces or even tie a knot, seemed futile, largely in part because he was completely disinterested and didn’t see the importance of having the knowledge. After all, he could always ask someone else to do it for him. That mentality drove me nuts and even more so because i feel like I am constantly at his beck and call. When I stumbled upon this book and read all the miraculous reviews, it was a shot of hope injected straight into my heart. So it was with equal disappointment when my son gave up trying to understand the numerical directions on the pages after less than 10 minutes and got frustrated trying to decipher the illustrated pictures of shoelaces being tied step by step, even with me showing him step by step. A week later, my husband sat down with him and they tried again with better results. He was able to tie something akin to a bow. And then he didn’t touch the book for better part of a month. I was tired of trying to get him to play with the book, and I was also frustrated with myself for being a lousy teacher. I didn’t want this to become something contentious. I did notice that he was attempting to tie basic knots though- the ties on his pants, his bathrobe, attempts to ties toys together, etc. After a month, I put the book on his desk to remind him it was there. Then I don’t know what happened- one day when I asked if he wanted to try stringing the book again, he said ok. He had trouble understanding how the string had to be threaded into the shoes, BUT at least he was receptive to learning. And he was eager to attempt tying the laces into a pretty bow. We clumsily managed to tie a bow together and he was very proud of himself. The next day, I pulled out a doll with shoe laces that his aunt gave him, and told him that “Charlie” needed his shoe laces tied. Lo and behold, 5 minutes later, my son appeared with Charlie and a beautifully tied shoe. I’m stunned. We looked at this book 3 times and now he can tie shoe laces? What kind of voodoo magic is this?

This book is absolutely amazing !! My husband and I tried teaching our five year old before we got this book and it was so frustrating and she just didn’t understand. We gave up!!! Then I came across this book and the reviews were so great so I figured why not! Well ! With no exaggeration my child learned in a half hour!!!! A half hour!!! Between the colored laces and how they have pictures for each step is just so great and helpful when teaching your little one. This book also comes with cutouts to make a fake shoe but we literally didn’t even need to do that! I highly recommend this book!!!

My little boy (she 7) didn’t seem interested in the book at first, but then later than evening he took it to his room and learned to tie his shoes by the end of the night.

We'd been trying to teach my son to tie for what seemed like forever, but this finally did the trick! Literally, it took him a few tries and he got it! Highly recommend!

This taught my child how to tie shoe in like 20 min. Worth every penny! He was excited to use it.
It teaches:
- how to lace the shoe
- 2 different ways to tie shoes
- double knot

Then it has a cut out shoe they can build, lace up and tie. He did it all by himself. Dont hesitate to grab this, it works.

Most kids learn to tie their shoes at 4 or 5 but my son was struggling socially/emotionally during this time. He ended up with an ASD/ADHD diagnosis and we spent 10 years doing extensive therapy. Learning to tie shoes was not high on the priority list.

Fast forward to 13 - My son is doing great but now that he plays soccer 3-4 days a week he NEEDED to learn to tie his shoes. It was difficult for him to follow my hands or YouTube videos so based on reviews I purchased this book. He quickly realized the book was for a much younger audience but we both had a good laugh about it. Within about 30 minutes he learned to lace and the loop method (we skipped bunny ears). I plan on giving this to all new parents/at baby showers!

I bought this to help teach my son how to tie shoes, cause I just couldn't explain tieing shoes to him in an easy way. The book came in good condition, unfortunately the make your own shoe was missing a part, one side of the shoe. It doesn't look like like it was previously used but maybe a manufacturer error in the making of the book. I guess instead of him using a cardboard shoe I can change the shoe lace to one of my shoes for him to use. We just got the book and my son is currently practing with the front of the book, so at least he is interested. Hopefully in a couple of weeks he can tie real shoes and hopefully help this pregnant momma out with her shoes.

I don't normally write reviews, but my 8 year old was having a heck of a time learning to tie shoes. I was having trouble teaching him, and youtube videos were of no help. He was starting to feel frustrated and I think embarrassed that he couldn't "get" it. When this arrived yesterday, he immediately started working through the first few pages, and made it to the part where they practice tying. He got it on the second try, did it 2 more times, grab a shoe and put it on and tied it. He was SO PROUD and happy. In 20 minutes, this book did what I had been trying to do for a couple years! Worth every cent!