Thursday, August 12, 2010

A Learn To Tie Shoes Craft

In Wilfried Gebhard's What Eddie Can Do...



...Eddie can do, almost, anything (at least in his mind). He can dive into deep oceans, explore dark caves, outer space, or the rain forest. But, he can't tie up a "terrible double-tailed monster", to save his friend Clara, because it's like tying his shoes. And, he doesn't know how to tie his shoes. So, it's off to Mom, for a lesson.

Luckily, Eddie's mom is better at explaining the process than I am, so I let her teach my little ones, too. Give me physics, or trigonometry any day of the year - but don't ask me to teach a five year old, how to tie her shoes. Thanks to Wonder Mom of The Fantastic Five, for the idea of using a book to help teach it instead!

I traced the girls shoes out on the back of an empty cereal box, and cut one out for each of them.


I colored in an opening, and punched two rows of four holes, for lacing, and gave them to the girls to decorate with markers.


Then, I showed them how to lace them up...


...and helped them follow Gebhard's illustrated steps for tying a bow.


Whew! Now that the really hard stuff is out of the way, it ought to be smooth sailing for the rest of our homeschool year.


You can find many more story stretching arts, and crafts activities, at this week's stART (story + ART) link-up, at A Mommy's Adventures.




It's great to be a homeschooler.

8 comments:

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

This is a fun way to learn. It looks like a 5 year old was a bit more ready for a lesson than a 3 year old. I think I'll stick with Velcro for another year, but I made a note of the book.

Valerie @ Inner Child Fun said...

Great idea! Looks like fun too!

Phyllis said...

Oh, I so agree with you. I think teaching kids to tie their shoes and potty training are so much harder than teaching them anything else! I will look for this book!

Little Wonders' Days said...

Great idea! It's been a struggle to teach little J how to tie his shoes, but I think he finally figured it out this summer. I'll have to remember this book and your idea for the twins.

Lady Chadwick said...

ooh, that is a cool idea.

Back when I was teaching, I used to let kids practice on my shoes. Kid laces are so small it is hard for them to do when first learning.

I was trying to remember what I did to teach my daughter...I really don't think I did anything......Maybe I can ask her to teach her brother.

Katie M said...

I LOVE YOUR SITE!!! I just stumbled upon it and I love all the ideas you have. I can't wait to apply them into our homeschool life.

Thanks :)

Christy Killoran said...

I have seen this book at the library, but we haven't borrowed it yet. I will next time.

C just learned to tie his shoes a few weeks ago. I think this book and craft will be great reinforcement for him! I'm so glad you posted this.

Jackie Higgins said...

Cute! The Melissa and Doug lacing shoes are so expensive! What a great way to DIY.