Red Lace, Yellow Lace

Red Lace, Yellow Lace

Below is a 2016 post that I've resurrected because I want to add something to it. I have used the Red Lace, Yellow Lace shoe tying book for years with good success (see post below). But, I work with one individual who has tried to learn to tie shoes for over 10 years, without success. I happened to run across a video on Pinterest of a method I had never seen and tried it with him right away. Instead of dealing with a very long set of strings on the first step, you work with two pair of bunny ears. First, he was engaged, and you know how hard that can be for someone who has had a lot of failure with something. Second, he was tying with about 50% assist by the time I left. That was HUGE and I feel he will be able to finally learn as they work with him over the next couple of weeks, so I wanted to share the link here. Pinterest link for tying shoes. 

 

 

Red Lace, Yellow Lace is a flip-top book that teaches kids to tie shoes. I have used Red Lace, Yellow Lace in therapy to teach older kids (who had given up) to learn to tie their shoes fairly quickly. This tool has been especially successful with people who learn visually.

I have 2 books. I use one to model and they use one to practice. Then, after they have learned to tie with the book, if it is necessary I take the shoe laces out and put them in their shoes (for most it has not been necessary). Then they can continue to follow the colors if they need to on the actual shoes until they are doing it independently. Very exciting for them to see success after years of failed attempts!

Shoe tying and lacing involves a lot of different skills, so it isn't surprising that it takes some people a while to master it. It requires fine motor skills, manual dexterity, visual perceptual skills, and motor planning, to name a few.

 

I teach shoe tying in two steps: 1) The initial crisscross and, 2) the loops and bow. We practice the first step and don't move on until it is learned. Then we move to the second step. If it takes several sessions, or the individual gets frustrated because of past experiences, we work on it only a short time per session. Only after the individual has mastered the tying do we move to the lacing. Then they are able to lace and end with a bow. 

 

FYI - Have you ever noticed that some people have bows on their shoes that run vertically instead of horizontally? That was me for years. The direction of your bow is determined by which lace is on top during the initial crisscross. Vertical bows tend to come untied quicker. People may learn to tie with a vertical bow if the individual teaching is sitting across from them. If they are teaching a horizontal bow, but their right is your left, and your left is their right (sitting across), you will end up learning to tie a vertical bow. I figure this is what happened to me. I always sit next to a person when I am teaching shoe tying so this does not happen.

If you are interested in purchasing this book or just want more information, click on the image below to go to Amazon.com.