Watch Me Do Mine

What you need

• their shoes
• your shoes

How to do it

1. Sit down next to your toddler with both of you still in your shoes.
2. Take your own off slowly, saying what you're doing: 'undo it, then pull'.
3. Leave your shoes where they can see them.
4. Then start on theirs, doing the same steps in the same order.

Why it matters

Toddlers copy what they've just watched far more readily than what they've been told, and shoes are big and slow enough that every part of it is visible.

What they're learning

Copying a movement

Watching the whole thing happen once is worth a lot of instructions.

Words for the steps

Hearing 'undo, then pull' while seeing it is how the order gets learned.

Doing it together

Shoes off as a two-person job is more appealing than shoes off as a task.

What to look for

Watch for them mirroring your movement on their own foot, even if nothing comes off yet.

A tip

Go slower than feels natural. The pause between undoing and pulling is what makes the two steps separate in their head.

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