How to Teach a Child with Down Syndrome to Tie Shoes

Children with Down syndrome are a wonderfully varied group. They do, though, tend to have particular strengths and difficulties, and both should be considered when teaching shoe tying. The tips below will ensure that this group’s unique learning needs are respected.

1. Before trying to teach a child to tie her shoes, make sure she is ready. Does she use two hands cooperatively for activities like stringing small beads? Does she have a steady pincer grasp? Can she independently perform multistep tasks?

2. If it seems like the right time to proceed, start by getting online and buying a shoe-tying instruction program. The best program will capitalize on the strong visual skills that many children with Down syndrome possess. The Shoe Tying Made Simple Kit by Kelly Wilk (an occupational therapist) uses clear photographs paired with instructional rhymes to teach each piece of the process (it is available at therapro.com, $28). Standard “one loop” shoe tying is taught, as opposed to the “double loop” method, and this tends to be easier for many children. The kit provides a shoelace that is a different color on each end—this way, when the child is tying, he has a different color lace in each hand, making the task visually clearer. You can put a dot on the lace with a permanent marker to show the child exactly where to pinch when forming a loop, adding another helpful visual cue.