Unitasker Wednesday: Tie-Up Wooden Shoe
All Unitasker Wednesday posts are jokes — we don’t want you to buy these items, we want you to laugh at their ridiculousness. Enjoy!
I’m all in favor of teaching preschoolers to do things on their own — not run into the street, use the potty, get dressed. On that list of things to teach a preschooler is “learning to tie shoes.”
I plan to teach my son how to tie his shoes the same way my parents taught me: 1. Buy him laced shoes, 2. Demonstrate how to tie his laces 3. Let him practice, 4. Guide him if he needs some additional assistance, and 5. Be happy for him when he figures out how to tie his own shoes.
I do not plan to buy him a giant fake shoe to help him through this experience:
The Tie-Up Wooden Shoe can’t be worn. It’s just a training device that becomes clutter the second your child figures out how to tie shoes. Instead of a fake wooden shoe, I suggest buying your kid a real pair of laced shoes and let him practice on the shoes he’ll eventually be tying on his own and wearing. If he wants to practice on a larger shoe, simply let him borrow one of your shoes to use for practice. Although cute and clown-like, the Tie-Up Wooden Shoe doesn’t do anything a real shoe can’t do.
Thanks to reader JR for finding this adorable unitasker for us, and for helping us stay on the “tie” theme from last week.
26 comments posted
Posted by themusiclivez - 07/27/2011
It’s actually unbelievable to me that someone would even think about wasting money on this. What’s wrong with learning to tie shoes on a REAL shoe???
Posted by Jacki Hollywood Brown - 07/27/2011
This would be GREAT for a pre-school or kindergarten classroom where it could be used for generations of kids.
It would be easier to clean than an old running shoe and kids wouldn’t be tempted to try it on, run, trip & crack their heads open.
Posted by Jen - 07/27/2011
This isn’t a unitasker, it’s a no-tasker!
My son is 5 and just learning how to tie his shoes. I am using exactly the method you’ve planned on using – I bought him regular old lace-up shoes and I constantly show him how to tie them and let him practice. Word to the wise, it’s a slow process (even for my son, who has always had pretty good fine-motor skills, ever since he was an infnt). But he’s making good progress. It’s probably harder for me to live with his objectively mediocre results, which actually are quite good for a 5-year old. Some days it’s all I can do to refrain from redoing the whole thing myself!
Posted by Celeste - 07/27/2011
I learned on my dad’s shoe. We had a doll for DD that had buttons, zippers, laces, and snaps. She had a lot of fun with that, but as you point out, her own real clothing is just as educational. It was so hard for her to tie her own shoes that we just opted for the z-strap velcro shoes for a long time, but she did figure it out and is now a shoe-tying ace. I really think these toys are just aimed at the anxiety of first-time parents who are scared that the child won’t learn life skills without prompting. They may not learn it on your schedule, but when they’re ready it’s almost instaneous.
Posted by Kimberly - 07/27/2011
Like a previous poster said this is appropriate for the classroom, or with a child with fine motor skill problems. I have problems with fine motor skills even now due to an LD and skin condition. Kids with motor skill problems often will not use lace up shoes until they have mastered tying them because of concerns about them falling. (If a kid already has trouble walking, you don’t want them tumbling around in unlaced shoews.)
I had a doll that was more useful, recommended by my doctors to my parents. It had buttons, zippers, shoes and a lace up vest. I used it well into elementary school. Today I still avoid buying button up shirts because my skin on my fingers will fissure and I’ll bleed all over the shirt when I try button it up.
Posted by Laura H. - 07/27/2011
I would never buy this, but a vivid memory of Kindergarten (over 34 years ago) is the big wooden shoe that we all practiced on. My daughter’s classroom also had one of these and it was great in that setting.
Posted by Katha - 07/27/2011
At a mere 3 by 1.5 inches, I think this “shoe” would be even harder to tie than a real one.
Posted by Courtney - 07/27/2011
I saw a toy I really liked once. It’s a soft, friendly-looking doll, with all kinds of fabric fasteners on him. His shirt has buttons, his shoes have laces, his pockets have zippers, velcro, or snap buttons, etc. I thought it was an adorable way to teach kids how to put on clothes. It would be great for kids who have busy fingers, and even without the fasteners it’s a fun toy to play with. This doesn’t even look fun.
Posted by Rae - 07/27/2011
Courtney, I was going to make reference to the doll, too! I remember practising shoe tying on him (mid-80′s). At least, he was fun and a multi-tasker.
Posted by Terri - 07/27/2011
That doll is Dapper Dan (and the female is Dressy Betsy). Neither her own shoes, nor Dressy Bessy, have laces long enough for my 5 year old to really be able to practice on. Trying to learn the complicated moves with short laces is very frustrating. But rather than a wooden shoe, she practices with 2 longer laces attached to a cardboard backing.
Posted by Pam - 07/27/2011
I discovered a pretty good alternative to shoe laces when I took a trip to Japan. I knew I would be taking my shoes off frequently, so I replaced the laces with elastic. It turned my tennis shoes into slip-ons with little effort and cost on my part. When the elastic was double-knotted there was no need to re-tie the shoes. From a distance you could not tell the difference. This could also be used for a DD child or one who is just not quite ready to learn to tie. Might be handy for folks with arthritis also.
Posted by Rosemary - 07/27/2011
Like many of these things, the shoelace trainer was designed for one environment (schools, pre-schools, playgroups) but inevitably, people think that they need them at home. Definitely a unitasker in the normal home environment. You don’t need it.
But, my son has Occupational Therapy in the home, and we are required to have something similar to this item (with rope for the laces) – asking a non-family member to use our shoes is unhygenic – have you seen where shoelaces go!?!? It is also a bit stiffer than a shoe and easier for a child with even only minor muscle tone and motor skills issues to learn on.
Having said that, now that he is learning, the dressing gown chord, the skipping rope and the strings on his brother’s pull toys are just not safe!
Posted by Tasmanian Minimalist - 07/27/2011
OMG so true ! I don’t get, when there are millions of real-life laced shoes in the world, why anyone would waste their money on a giant, hilarious Mr Men shoe ! LOL
Posted by Lee - 07/27/2011
A note on teaching children to tie shoes. I tie differently than most people and usually call it “tying backwards”. A coworker pointed out that I probably sat across from my dad when he taught me, rather than beside him, so I was going right when he was going left. It may be confusing if the child sometimes sits across from you and sometimes sits beside you.
When a right hander is teaching a left hander to do hand stitching, it’s often helpful to have the person sit across from you so it appears that you are both stitching the same direction. Hope this makes sense.
Posted by cheesehead4ever - 07/27/2011
While I never bought a giant fake shoe, I did buy a book that came inside a cardboard shoe. The shoelaces on the shoe had two different colored ends so it made it easier on the child to keep track of which side does what. The book showed everything step to step with the different colored laces.
It helped my girls learn on their own. But I can’t imagine buying something that big and bulky.
Posted by amh - 07/28/2011
My grandson has just learned to tie his own shoes at 7 years old. The process of learning for him was a rather challanging one and sometimes frustrating. The traditional way of learning was just not clicking for him. Turned out his uncle (my grown son, and his dad’s brother) had similar challanges and developed his own process for tying shoelaces, different than the traditional one. This novel approach worked for my grandson and he was so happy! He practiced on his own shoes. I can imagine that the item pictured above would be clutter for many, but could be helpful for someone in learning this skill. From my perspective sometimes we need items for a phase in our lives and once the developmental phase is over then the item becomes clutter and it’s time to pass it on.
Posted by Natalie in West Oz - 07/28/2011
@ Lee – yep! I’m a lefty trying to teach a house full of right handed children and I use that technique (sit opposite). @ Amh – my husband and I tie laces very differently. He does the ‘two bunny ears and tie them together’ technique and I do the ‘make one loop and push the other string through’ technique. Both of us think the other way is just plain wrong. I work in a classroom with 7 yr olds and I see those who can tie laces using either technique and still think only my way looks right : )
My son has motor issues and ADHD and I simply kept buying him velcro until he worked out his laces. It just wasnt something that I felt was worth stressing over. Even though he can tie his laces now, its painful to watch him and I think he will always automatically try for velcro or slip ons as it will always be a co-ordination issue for him.
as for the unitasker, real shoes attached to real feet dont move around easily while you are trying to tie them up (they’re hard to throw in frustration too). Our kids practiced on themselves and on us.
Posted by Carrie - 07/28/2011
I teach pre-kindergarten, taught upper elementary for a while before that, and I am constantly amazed at the number of toys and “learning tools” that are essentially unitaskers. There is a whole industry out there that I really feel is taking advantage of well-meaning educators and parents. For example, do we really need to order over-priced plastic measuring cups from a school supply catalog when there are plenty of reasonably priced regular measuring cups out there that would be “child-safe”? I get really fed up with all of the ads and promotions I get for shiny, colorful “educational materials” that either already exist in a much cheaper adult form, or could be easily made with simply materials by even the least crafty of person. I know you’ve done articles on toys before, but I think it would be really interesting to continue that exploration with some pieces on toys and educational materials for older children.
Posted by Alisa - 07/28/2011
I bought something like this for my daughter because she has a lot of shoe issues and hates shoes with ties. She has Asperger’s and has a number of sensory processing issues. All this is to say, these things do have a use!
Posted by Charity - 07/31/2011
I’ve got one of those – my daughter was given it from a preschool friend for her third birthday. Now 6.5, she seems to have picked up how to tie a bow from her schoolmates without ever being formally taught. So if I come across it next time I go through her room, I will declutter it. I’ll assume her younger brother will also learn by osmosis, or use real shoes.
Posted by Jeroen - 08/01/2011
Instead of getting your kids fake wooden shoes that he can learn to tie, why not give him proper wooden shoes with thick socks? With these he will never even have to learn how to tie!
Posted by Laura - 08/01/2011
When I was in Kindergarten, my teacher had an old shoe that she had nailed to a wooden block. It was big enough that a kid could sit on the floor and slip it on over one foot, shoe and all, and practice tying the laces. I don’t think I caught on to the concept till I was a few years older, but it has always stuck in my mind. Something like that would probably be cheaper than this thing, and seems to be more practical.
Posted by Charity - 08/04/2011
I should clarify that this item is not a giant clown shoe, it is in fact palm sized.
Posted by Kirsten - 08/04/2011
I seem to remember a couple of dress-up dolls from when I was a kid – a girl, and a boy – about the size of a Raggedy Ann or Andy. They had all sorts of things to practice on- buttons, tying shoes, etc.
Posted by Jen - 08/05/2011
I’m surprised Plan Toys makes this. Most of their toys are about simplicity–decluttered toys, if you like. This is just silly. If they must make a lacing toy, why make it shoe-shaped?
Posted by Scott Schreiber - 09/18/2011
Thanks for bringing common sense back into the discussion. Hard to believe that anyone would actually spend money to buy something like this. I taught my son the same way as your parents taught you. Sometimes we make the world a lot more complicated then it needs to be
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