Self help skills: These are the everyday tasks a child completes daily to take care of themselves including buttoning, zipping, snapping, putting on/taking off clothing, washing hands, and shoe tying.
Helpful Hints:
Fasteners:
Practice buttoning, zipping, snapping with large fasteners first and then move to smaller ones.
Practice fasteners with clothing placed on table first for increased visual attention.
Click on 
to hear Sponge Bob sing a song about shoe tying!
Shoe tying:
Use two different colored laces.
Trace foot on shoe box and place two colored pipe cleaners coming out as the laces. Practice tying with pipe cleaner laces first.
Practice one step at a time until mastery.
Shoe tying instructions with red and blue laces:
- Crisscross laces so the red lace is on the top. Bring the red lace under the blue lace and pull up from the middle. Pull out both laces.
- Make a “bunny ear” or loop with the red lace and pinch the bottom of the lace with your left thumb and index finger.
- With your right hand, take the blue lace and loop around front to back of the loop.
- Use your right index finger to push the blue lace through the opening.
- Let go of the loop with your left hand and pull the blue loop through the opening.
- Pinch the red loop with the right hand.
- Now pull the two loops out to make the bow.
Check out http://www.therapystreetforkids.com/index.html for more help on shoe tying and zipping!