How to tie his shoes

[Flor]

My 4 year old needs to learn to tie his shoes. He is GREAT at untying, but he sure can't tie them. Any rhymes, songs, materials? How old were your children when they learned?

[Korimomto2]

Well...my dc aren't that old yet...but I was seven or eight when I learned. Maybe your ds could wear velcro? It takes some fairly good fine motor skills to master that. Four seems pretty young to me.

[Lingmom]

I think a bit too young. You could probably push it and it's possible he could learn, but he'll be a lot less frustrated if he waits until at least 5 or 6. Does he have good fine motor control? Can he write and color well? Can he bead with little beads? Can he tie regular knots?

My daughter just learned at 5 1/2 and I would never have taught her except that her school uniform involves oxfords with laces and the teacher asked parents to try to teach our kids. She didn't have a hard time and I only had to show her a few times for her to get it, but she also likes to do little things like sewing and beads and such. *And* she was very motivated to learn.

Why don't you give it a try and show him and see if he catches on. If he doesn't, wait a year and try again.