My two-year-old has a recent fascination with her Daddy’s shoelaces. She loves to poke them into the lacing holes and pull them out again. Daddy, on the other hand, grows a little weary of untangling his laces every time he needs to put his shoes on! (And Momma’s a little germophobic about playing with shoes!)
I tried to come up with a comparable toddler lacing toy for her to play with instead. She isn’t quite ready for lacing cards – she just doesn’t quite have the coordination to do them independently yet. But she was obviously fascinated by the lacing process! So I made her a super simple (and inexpensive!) toddler lacing toy that she could lace and tangle to her heart’s content!
All you need is a shoebox, a handheld hole punch, and a shoelace. Remove the shoebox lid and punch holes around the top edge of the box. Then give it to your toddler with a shoelace and show them how they can thread the lace through the holes. (Or give it to them and see what creative way to play they discover!)
This would also be a great way to allow your preschooler or older child to practice tying their shoes!
Written by Alicia