Most preschool children wear shoes with hook-and-loop fasteners. However, it is advisable to also teach them how to tie their shoes so that they learn to tie a bow. Shoe tying presents a fine motor challenge and promotes children's dexterity. Good fine motor skills make it easier in everyday life to cut and fold paper, grasp small objects or color a picture, for example. When starting school, good fine motor skills also make it easier to write letters and children are more independent if they know how to tie a bow. Children usually have the dexterity to tie a bow from the age of four or five. However, some children only manage to tie their shoes at the age of six because their fine motor skills are not yet sufficiently developed.

Learning through practice
It is easier for the child if the bow is practiced on an adult shoe or a self-made shoe template. To do this, draw the outline of a child's shoe on cardboard and punch holes in the template in the appropriate places. Thread a shoelace through it as you would with a real shoe. Sit behind or next to the child so that it is easier for the child to follow your movements. Learning the bow is more difficult if you sit in front of the child and they see the shoe tying process mirrored. Although the following procedure requires a little more skill, it enables loops that hold. The prerequisite is that your child knows how to tie a knot. The instructions are as follows: First tie a knot. Make a loop with the right shoelace and hold it with your thumb and index finger. Then place the left shoelace from front to back around the loop and thread it through the opening above the knot to form another loop. Pull the loop out until it is the same size as the other loop. Finally, tighten both loops. Left-handers usually start with the left loop and then form the right loop. Remember that patience and perseverance are key when your child is learning to tie their shoes. With your positive support, your child learns that with a bit of perseverance, every challenge is overcome.