Tie-Up Shoe

My three-year-old has been fighting me on real shoelaces for weeks, so I handed her this wooden one instead and she spent a solid twenty minutes looping and pulling without any tears. The laces are long enough for little fingers to actually grip, and she finally got a bow on her own yesterday.

The wooden shoe sits on the shelf next to his real sneakers, and he grabs it almost every morning to practice. The laces are just the right length for small hands, and after two weeks he's finally looping them himself.

My daughter picked up the mechanics in under a week, and the solid wood base keeps it stable on her lap while she practices the loop-and-pull motion. It's become her calm-down activity before bed, which is a bonus I didn't expect.