How to Teach a Child to Tie Their Shoes: 5 Simple Steps
Loose shoelaces aren’t just a nuisance — they can affect your child’s balance and increase the risk of tripping or falling. That’s why learning to tie shoes is such an important milestone. Most kids master this skill between ages 5 and 7, but every child learns at their own pace, and that’s completely normal. Some catch on quickly; others need more time and patience. Below, I’ll walk through a simple, effective method that makes the process easier and more fun for both kids and parents — one taught to me years ago by a co-worker with over 20 years of experience fitting children’s shoes.
Letting your child walk around with untied shoelaces puts them at real risk of tripping and getting hurt, so it’s worth the investment of time to get this right.
The Easiest Way to Teach Your Child to Tie Their Shoes
Best Shoelaces for Teaching Kids to Tie
Not all shoelaces are created equal — some are far more durable and stay tied much better than others. I recommend a thicker lace with small bumps along its length, which helps it grip and stay securely tied throughout the day, so your child isn’t constantly frustrated by laces coming undone right after they’ve mastered tying them.
- Order on Amazon
- 1/4″ oval (half-round) profile, polyester construction
- Sold in packs of 2 pairs (4 individual laces)
- Available in 40+ colors and multiple lengths
- Count your child’s eyelets to order the correct length
- Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links
How to Order the Correct Shoelace Length
Choosing the right shoelace length matters when teaching a child to tie their shoes. Laces that are too short make the process frustrating, while overly long laces increase the risk of tripping. Count the eyelets (holes) on the shoe and match them to the chart below.
| Pair of Eyelets | Inches | Centimeters |
| 4 | 27’’ | 69 |
| 5 | 36’’ | 91 |
| 6 | 40’’ | 102 |
| 7 | 45’’ | 114 |
| 8 | 54’’ | 137 |
| 9 | 63’’ | 160 |
| 10 | 72’’ | 183 |
Tips If Your Child Is Struggling
If your child is having a hard time with the steps above, a few adjustments can help:
Use different colored laces. Different colors help a child distinguish between the two laces and understand which one goes where — visual differentiation is a genuinely powerful tool for grasping an abstract concept like this.
Practice with larger laces. Bigger, thicker laces are easier for small hands to manipulate, giving more surface area to grip and control while they’re still building the fine motor skills involved.
Break it into smaller steps. Rather than trying to teach the whole sequence at once, focus on mastering one step before moving to the next. Patience and incremental learning build both confidence and competence faster than trying to rush the whole thing.
Shoelaces vs. Velcro: Which Is Better?
My preference has always been shoelaces over velcro. Laced shoes simply provide better support and stability, and they secure and protect a child’s heel more effectively than velcro closures typically do.
That said, velcro (or a hybrid solution — more on that below) has a real place for children who genuinely struggle with tying, whether from age, motor skill development, or sensory sensitivities.
Reach Out with Any Questions
If you have any questions or concerns about teaching your child to tie their shoes, don’t hesitate to reach out. As a shoe fitter with years of experience, I’m here to help — whether you need advice on tying techniques or selecting the best shoelaces for your child.
I have a 9 yr old with autism who struggles with tactile tasks such as shoe tying, so sometimes its not about just age….. we went to velcro just due to the meltdowns over shoes in general……
He also has a wide foot 7.5 I guess adult size now YES he’s a big boy…. so I appreciate your advice on that.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Hello Ann,
Wow he does have large feet 🙂
You are right that sometimes it’s not about age, since I have met several boys older than your son’s age who still didn’t know how to tie his shoes. The issue is that the older they get and the larger their shoe size is ,the selection of velcro sneakers drops considerably.
I can provide with a selection of velcro shoes in large sizes (it will be small), but what I recommend is choosing a shoe with shoelaces and then replacing the laces with ‘Toggle Shoe Laces”, which will allow you to turn any pair of lace-up tennis shoes into slip on sneakers.
There is an article I wrote where you can learn more about these Toggle Shoe Laces:
Toggle Shoe Laces – Never Tie Your Shoes Again
I hope this helps!
Holy cow! This website was so helpful for me. I have 4 children and I have struggled each and every-time trying to teach them how to tie their shoes. My 8 year still struggles to tie his shoes and even more keeping them tied.
I also found information in here that I had no idea about. I will definitely be coming back to read some more and to get those shoelaces.
Kristena,
I am sure it is hard to keep up with four children. I see children all day, and I get to laugh, talk, and play with them. Parents always ask me how tired I am at the end of the day and I always say I am not tired at all, I get to have all the fun with them and then they go back with their parents. They are the real heroes. The fact that your 8 year old learned how to tie his shoes it must one less thing you have to worry about. Try the laces with the bumps, they tend not to become untie as often!
This is a great post! And extremely helpful! There are so many benefits to wearing a pair of shoes that fits well and you want to start your child off on the right foot! We are currently trying to teach our son on how to tie his shoes properly and he is doing great. It is quite a process and you must have patience. We are making his practice even though lately he has been wearing boots because we live in area that gets snow. This way he will be ready to go in the Spring! I found out first hand what can happen to you if you don’t wear the proper footwear and one surgery later I am still having problems! Great work!
I am sure he will learn soon. Keep in mind that it usually takes boy”s longer than girl’s to learn how to tie their shoe laces so hang in there!
Hi Juan! Great post. I had no idea there would be so many problems associated with improperly tied shoes. It makes me think more about my running shoes. My 3-and-a-half-year-old twin daughters are currently wearing easy velcro shoes but have worn lace-up shoes in the past. I love your tips for how to treat different shaped feet – my daughters have completely different feet so they usually cannot wear the same shoe. We were just “fitted” for some Mary Jane type shoes last week. How can I tell if it was a proper fitting done by someone who cares or a useless practice rushed by a sales-oriented person? When it comes to lace-up shoes, what should I expect from a good salesperson?
Carmen,
It is hard for me to assess if her shoes are fitting or not without looking at her feet. The most common problem I see with mary jane shoes is that sometimes they are not fitted properly around the width. See if you can slide your finger around the instep of your daughter foot. If your finger does not fit in that area then it means the shoe is not wide enough, if you can comfortable fit one of your fingers around this area then it is fine. I hope this helps.
I have wondered why some adults cannot tie their shoe laces. Is it from not being taught when they were young or from circumstance, like their family were too poor to buy them shoes, so there was no opportunity to learn how to tie shoe laces. I like the information about the number of eyelets in relation to lace length. I never knew about this and valuable info when I shop for next pair of shoe laces. I personally don’t like velcro shoes. Not only do they not look nice, it makes people lazy. I guess its for convenience, like a lot of things in life. Good post!
Tony,
I am glad you found the post informative. I believe adults cannot tie their shoe laces properly because of lack of information and not knowing the benefits and drawbacks that occur when not tying the shoe laces.
I never thought I would read an article about how to tie shoes, but it had some interesting information about the subtleties of tying a shoe vs using velcro.
Also for the explanation of tying the shoe, perhaps you could have a video along side with it for people who are more visual learners. 🙂 I just can’t visual what the directions are just based on the text.
Tim,
Thank you for your input. I might insert a video in this post to make my explanation clearer.
hahaha I liked your first phrase! “It is incredible the amount of children and adults I see every day that do not know how to tie their shoe laces properly.” It made me think that am I also tying my shoes wrong and after reading your text it seems that, yes I’m tying my shoes wrong.
I also liked the thought take make this into a game with children! Every child will learn it sooner or later with proper practice 🙂
-Roope
Roope,
It is important to keep the shoe laces tight. I am glad you enjoyed the post.
I remember with pleasure an evening when my eldest son was 5 years old, the school where he was terrorized with learning binding laces, it was practically a sample that has to perform ;in an evening when he went to sleep I hear him saying:
“God, please help me learn to read and write and tie my laces.”
It was good to read an article so then, but as it’s never too late, it’s fine now,too.
Dorina,
That is too funny. You should have offered him help right away! Thank you for sharing that.
Hi. Great article. I agree with you. There are many who are unaware of how to tie their shoes and to tie them properly. I can’t remember how many times I tripped and fell when I was young because my shoelaces were loose. I’ve also tripped and fallen because my shoe laces were not tied properly (the ends of the shoe laces were hanging over my shoes to far). This is very good practical advice. This is also important for safety. Good use of the ‘eyelets’ chart. I never thought much about the eyelets, however, I can now see why they are important. Thanks again for the good advice.
Sir,
I am glad you found the article helpful. Some parents are unaware of the importance of the shoe laces being the right size, and that is what inspired me to write this article.
Interesting! This article actually just brought on quite the conversation at my house. It led to a discussion about how tie your laces properly. Definitely a skill we take for granted.
It is interesting that I found this article. I did a Child Development course that required us to write a lesson plan for teaching a child to properly tie their shoelaces. We were beyond amazed to see how many steps are actually involved when the child knows absolutely nothing. Your article just emphasized why it is so darn important.
I have a 4 year old who is currently wearing anything that doesn’t have laces.lol Everything from cheap knock off crocs to velcro sneakers. At what age do you recommend that a child should learn to tie shoe laces? I fear that if I introduce shoe laces she will end up tripping over them.
And one more Question? Why are shoe laces so long? I have two pairs of sneakers that even with a double knot, the laces are just way too long.
This was a very informative post. Thank you!
Melody,
What is the name and age of your child? Girls tend to start tying their shoes at age six while it usually takes longer for boys,they might start at age seven or older. If you believe your child has stability issues or needs the most support from the shoes, I will advise you to start getting him/her laces and dealing with the tying yourself.
I have seen shoes that come with laces that are too long and also in certain instances too short. Are you sure you are using all the eyelets (holes) in the shoe? I provide a chart where you can find the right size of laces for your shoes. I am glad you found the article informative.
Great post, especially since I never really thought about the importance of lacing up shoes properly until recently.
My daughter is turning 4 this month and she has her first pair of lace up shoes. Until now she has been wearing velcro shoes.
I am trying to teach her how to tie her own laces but it seems we will be needing some more time for that 🙂
So anyway, back to the importance of tying the laces properly. Until my daughter started wearing shoes with laces it never crossed my mind about how tight or loose to tie the laces! Now of course that my most precious cargo has laces it made me realize it is important. I tie them quite tight and I do a double lace on it so it can’t come undone easily!
Lynne,
It is a great advantage that she will be wearing lace up shoes, since laces always provide more support and stability to the child.However,trying to teach her at age four might be a little too ambitious. I will say that girls tend to start tying at age six or seven, usually at a younger age than boys since girls have better motor skills.However, if she sets her mind into it I am sure she will get it with no problem. Good luck and keep me posted I will be curious to know if she learns how to tie.
Dear Juan,
I can honestly say I struggled with tying my shoes when I was 8 years old. I wanted it to be perfect and neat but didn’t know how. So, in the mean time I devised a method that worked for me and stuck with it.
I made 2 bunny ears with my 2 laces, brought them near each other, and let one bunny ear go under the other, and then finally pull the 2 bunny ears together. It has still worked well for me to this very day.
I have seen videos of complicated methods that people have done to tie their shoes, do you know of any? How about on BuzzFeed?
Wishing you all the best with your online success above and beyond the horizon,
~Angel
Angel,
I will be uploading a video explaining how to tie your shoes shortly.The bunny years might be the most popular method. Thank you for sharing 🙂