Shoe-Tying Help for Kids with Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy presents shoe tying with a uniquely layered challenge: motor control differences in one or both hands, often combined with tone abnormalities, spasticity, or weakness. Standard shoe-tying instruction doesn't account for any of it.

This page walks through how to scaffold shoe tying for kids with CP — and when an alternative like permanent no-tie laces is the right call instead.

What makes shoe tying hard with cerebral palsy

Asymmetric hand function. Hemiplegic CP affects one side more than the other. Shoe tying requires bilateral coordination — both hands doing different things at the same time. The affected hand often can't hold tension while the unaffected hand executes the next step.

Spasticity and tone. Sustained, fine-grade muscle control is exactly what spastic muscles struggle with. Maintaining the precise pinch needed for shoelaces is genuinely difficult.

Fatigue. Many tasks that are quick for neurotypical hands require significantly more effort for kids with CP. By step 5 of 10, the energy budget is gone.

Frustration cycle. When laces collapse and the whole knot unravels, the cost of that failure is much higher — both physically and emotionally.

How Training Ties addresses the specific CP challenges

The patented checkpoint system does the holding work for your child at the two moments where the failure cycle compounds — after the first knot and after the first loop. That cuts the bilateral coordination demand, the tone demand, and the energy budget.

  • Checkpoint 1 locks the initial knot so the affected hand doesn't have to maintain tension while the other hand works
  • Checkpoint 2 holds the first loop steady so step 4 can fail without undoing steps 1–3
  • Two-color laces remove the directional language load that compounds executive function effort
  • Adult-sized practice shoe gives small hands more physical room to work

When Training Ties is the right call

Training Ties works best for kids with CP who have functional use of both hands (even if asymmetric), enough fine motor control to manage thicker laces, and developmental readiness for sequential skill-building.

When permanent no-tie laces are the better choice

For kids with CP whose motor control makes shoe tying genuinely impractical long-term — significant spasticity, very limited use of one hand, or motor demands that exceed energy budget for daily activities — permanent elastic laces (Lock Laces) or other no-tie solutions are excellent. There's zero shame in this. The point is independence, not a specific method. See our honest Lock Laces comparison.

How to start

  1. Talk to your child's OT about whether they're a good candidate for the checkpoint method
  2. Order Training Ties and pair with two-color laces
  3. Practice off the foot, on a table, in 5-minute sessions during low-fatigue windows
  4. Use silent demonstration sitting beside your child (not across)
  5. Move to on-foot tying only after off-foot is consistent

Related resources

Shop Training Ties — $25

FAQ

Can a child with hemiplegic CP learn to tie shoes?

Often yes — if the affected hand has enough functional use to hold while the unaffected hand executes. The checkpoint method dramatically lowers the bilateral coordination demand by doing some of the holding work for the affected hand.

Should I use no-tie laces instead for my CP child?

It depends on functional goals and motor capacity. For some kids, no-tie laces are the right long-term answer. For others, Training Ties unlocks a skill that's worth having. An OT can help you decide.

Are Training Ties OT-approved?

Yes — Training Ties were designed by a special education teacher with 20+ years of classroom experience working with kids with CP, autism, Down syndrome, and other developmental differences, and are used by occupational therapists in pediatric practice.