Rainbow Lace Lab — Last Step First

A first, no-pressure go at shoelaces — on a shoe that sits still on the table, with two different-coloured laces, learning the very last step first.

  1. Build the lab shoe. Take an adult trainer, or punch two rows of holes in a piece of cardboard. Thread it with two laces of different colours knotted together in the middle (or colour half of one white lace with a marker). Put it on the table with the toe pointing away from the child, just as their own shoe would be.
  2. Start at the end. You do every step and stop just before the finish, leaving two loose loops. The child does only the last move: pull both loops tight. Success — they “tied” it.
  3. Add one step back. Next round, stop one move earlier, so the child pushes the loop through and pulls tight. Stay here for days if needed.
  4. Teach the opening move. Separately, practise the starting knot: make an X with the two colours, tuck the top colour under and through, pull both ends.
  5. Join it up — bunny ears. Make a loop with each colour (“two ears”), cross them into an X, tuck one ear under and through, pull.
  6. Stop while it is fun — two or three ties is plenty for one sitting.

Variation: tie bows on other things — a ribbon round a wrapped present, a dressing-gown belt, an apron string round a teddy’s waist.

Requirements

  • Space: A table or a spot on the floor
  • Surface: Table top with the child seated, the shoe held still (wedge it against a book or have the adult hold it)
  • Materials: An adult lace-up shoe or a piece of sturdy cardboard with holes; two laces in different colours, flat rather than round if possible; optional marker
  • Participants: 1 adult + 1 child
  • Supervision: Moderate — this is taught side by side, a little at a time

Rationale & Objective

At five, shoelaces are a learning-stage skill — most children are still some way from tying reliably, and the aim here is familiarity and early success, not mastery. Tying a bow is one of the most complex everyday hand tasks: a long sequence of steps, two hands doing different things, and laces that look identical. Children’s occupational therapy services recommend exactly the supports used here: two-colour laces so the child can tell the sides apart, a shoe on the table or lap rather than on the foot, and backward chaining — the adult completes the sequence and the child does the final step, then the last two, working back to the beginning — so every attempt ends with a finished bow. The Montessori bow-tying lesson likewise separates tying the ribbons together from making the bows. Tying shoelaces appears as a later dressing item on adaptive scales such as the Vineland.

Progress Indicators

  • Early: pulls the finished loops tight when everything else is done for them; interested in the laces but cannot yet cross and tuck
  • Developing: does the last two or three steps of the bow; ties the starting knot (X, under, pull) alone on the table shoe
  • Proficient: ties a complete bow on the table shoe with verbal prompts or a rhyme; the bow is loose but holds; begins trying on their own foot
  • Advanced: ties their own shoes on their feet with single-colour laces; the bow is tight enough to last; can untie a bow by pulling the right end and is starting on a double knot

Safety Notes

  • Laces and ribbons are cords — put the lab shoe away after practice and never let children put laces around their own or anyone’s neck
  • Keep it short and stop at the first sign of real frustration; shoelaces are optional at five and pushing can put a child off for a year
  • Keep hook-and-loop or slip-on shoes for everyday wear until tying is reliable — a half-tied lace is a trip hazard
  • Left-handed children may find it easier to mirror you — sit facing them rather than beside them
  • Difficulty with laces alone is not a concern at this age; if buttons, zips, drawing and cutlery are all a struggle too, talk to your pediatrician about an occupational therapy assessment

Hints

  • Playfulness: tell the bunny story — “two ears, the bunny crosses them, dives into his burrow, and pops out the other side” — and let the child invent their own
  • Sustain interest: decorate the cardboard shoe as a monster or a racing car; swap in new lace colours; keep the lab shoe by the sofa for an occasional two-minute go
  • Common mistake: teaching from the first step forward, so the child fails near the end every time. Chain backward so they always finish the bow themselves
  • Limited space: thread two colours of ribbon through a hole punched in a cereal-box flap and practise on your lap
  • Cross-domain: name the colours and say the steps aloud in order (sequencing and language); lace the cardboard shoe in a criss-cross pattern first (patterning)
  • Progression: pull the loops tight → last two steps → starting knot alone → whole bow on the table shoe → shoe on the lap → on own foot → single-colour laces → double knot

Sources

  • Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Children’s Occupational Therapy — “Getting dressed”, Top Tips for Shoelaces (coloured laces; shoe on a table or lap; backward chaining; starting to tie laces around age 6)
  • East London NHS Foundation Trust, Occupational Therapy Service for Children — “Dressing and shoelace tying” (two different coloured laces; practise off the foot first; bunny ears method)
  • NHS Borders Children and Young People’s Occupational Therapy Service — “Developing Dressing Skills” (backward chaining for buttons, zips and shoelaces)
  • Montessori, M. (1914), Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook — the lacing and bow-tying frames
  • Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition — Daily Living Skills, Personal subdomain (dressing items, including tying shoelaces)
  • O’Brien, J.C. & Kuhaneck, H. (eds.), Case-Smith’s Occupational Therapy for Children and Adolescents — chapter on activities of daily living (backward chaining)
  • AOTA (2020), Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process, 4th ed. — dressing as an ADL