Dressing Myself

Learning to dress independently is an important life skill. Not only does it give the child a sense of achievement to master a new skill but also allows the parent a few precious minutes first thing in the morning! It will really help your child if they can get their coat and shoes on by themselves before they start school.

Dressing is a complex task requiring the ability to use both hands together, awareness of body parts, good balance, organisation and concentration. Many children have difficulties with one or more of these areas.

Be aware of your child’s developmental age so that you can have realistic expectations. A child can take their socks off at a young age, however, they will be a lot older before they manage to independently put on a shirt and do up the buttons.

Some information for this webpage has been drafted using resources from Greater Glasgow and Clyde Children’s Services

General Hints and Tips

> Do not practice when time is short, start at weekends/when things are a bit more relaxed.
> If it is really difficult, break the process down to concentrating on one garment at a time and only moving on when the child has mastered this. (See Backward Chaining and Forward Chaining advice sheet on how to Break the task down).
> Start with minimal fastenings, oversized and loose fitting clothes.
> Sitting on the floor or on a chair where they can rest their feet on the floor while getting dressed removes the need for balance and may therefore help.
> Reward and praise your child for even small successes.
> Involve your child in the undressing and dressing process as early as possible.
> It is much easier for your child to learn how to undress before dressing. Therefore, practice taking clothes off first.
> Children learn in different ways so you might need to vary your approach. There are a number of ways in which you can help;
> Physically assist your child (Use the hand-over-hand technique, take your child’s hand down to their sock, let them grasp the sock then put your hand over theirs while you pull the sock off).
> Show your child – do the task alongside your child.
> Tell your child – talk your child through each step of the process.
> You can use each of these ways individually or any combination depending on what suits your child. Please be aware that some children cannot look and listen at the same time so limit the amount of information you give.
> If your child is struggling it can be tempting to take over – don’t! Give your child time to work it out for themselves and give loads of encouragement. If necessary, talk them through what to do and only step in if they get really stuck.
> Instead of automatically correcting a mistake (e.g. twisted collar or button incorrectly matched) why not encourage your child to look in the mirror and get them to find out what’s wrong. You may need to ask them some questions to help them work it out.
> Take your time and be consistent. Establish a routine to avoid confusion, so that the activity becomes predictable. Learning a new skill takes time, so persevere with giving support until you feel that your child is making progress.
> Once you have found a technique that works, communicate this with adults that work with your child.
> Practice, practice, practice! Give your child opportunities for practice every day.

“If your child is struggling it can be tempting to take over – don’t!”

Pre-dressing Activities and Games

> Dressing up toys – On a small scale practice the order of dressing and learning how to get the clothes the right way round and how to turn them inside out
> Body Awareness games – Ask your child to point to different parts of their body and use concepts such as front, back, left and right, in, out, over and under . e.g ‘point to your left knee’, ‘take your hand out of your pocket’. Games like ‘Twister’ and ‘Hullabaloo’.
> You could try singing songs – ‘Head, shoulders, knees and toes’, ‘One finger one thumb keep moving’, ‘The ankle bones connected to the leg bone, the leg bones connected to the …’ and ‘Hokey Cokey’
> Or Simon says – ‘clap behind your back’, ‘touch your head’…’ touch your nose on your right knee’.. ‘stand on one leg’.
> Musical dressing up – When the music stops put on a loose fitting top, trousers, shoes, socks or coat that are in the dressing up box.
> Dressing up – Have a box of old loose fitting clothes or dressing up clothes. Make an obstacle course and as the last challenge ask your child to rummage in the box and dress up like a ‘princess’, ‘pirate’, ’mummy’ etc.
> Dressing up puzzles and dressing sequence puzzles – any puzzle where you put the person together and then add the clothes, and any puzzle where you put the sequence of dressing in order.

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Order of dressing

All children need to learn what order to put their clothes on in. They need to know that their pants go on before their trousers, unless they want to dress up as a super hero!

> Involve your child in learning the order of the dressing as early as possible. Sing songs about dressing, talk to your child about dressing, play dressing up games and practice dressing dolls or teddies.
> Talk about the order of dressing when you or your child are dressing. Ask questions e.g. “What goes on next?”
> Lay clothes out in the order they should be put on. This is usually easier if you lay them out in a line rather than putting them on top of each other.
> Use a visual sequence chart
> Think about the environment, if laying clothes out put them on something which acts as a contrasting plain background. Don’t put clothes onto a patterned duvet cover. Don’t put red clothes on a red carpet.
> Practice, practice, practice! Give your child opportunities for practice every day.
> If your child makes a mistake help them to work out what went wrong and how to fix it rather than telling them and sorting it out for them.
> Sometimes you need them to complete the whole process so that they can work out what went wrong. If they put their trousers on without their pants let them dress completely and find the pants at the end.
> You can ask questions to help them figure out what went wrong.
> You can compare what you do with what they have done.
> You can have them look in the mirror to work out what is wrong.
> Direct them back to their visual sequence if they are using one.

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Putting Clothes on the Right Way Round

Putting clothes on the right way round is tricky. Most children still put their clothes on back to front sometimes when they start school. Some children can find this challenging as they move through school. As with all dressing skills it is best to start teaching this skill as soon as you can. The following strategies are designed to help with this.

> Use t-shirts, jumpers, pants with a picture or logo on the front to give a visual prompt. Choose a coat with a different coloured lining to make it obvious which is the inside and which is the outside.
> Make sure the back of all garments are marked by having a label, name tape, iron on sticker, permanent marker or coloured thread. Remove other labels to avoid confusion e.g. labels on side seams.
> Point out the front and back each time a garment is put on.
> Encourage your child to find the label/mark on the back before they put their clothes on.
> For garments that go on the top half lay them on a table/bed/floor face down with the bottom nearest the child. Encourage your child to put their arms in first so they can see what they are doing and then pop it over their head.
> For garments that go on the bottom half lay these on the floor face up with the top closest to the child. Have the child sit down. The child can then grip the waist band and push their legs into the garment.

Turning Clothes the Right Way

> Practice recognising when things are round the wrong way e.g. socks.
> Get the child to tell you why.
> Practice with easier items first e.g. socks /coat sleeves.
> To turn clothes round the right way; put the hand in, pinch the end (while holding the top with the other hand) and pull it the right way round. You may need to physically guide the child at first, then progress to guidance and prompting, then just prompting.
> Encourage your child to help you with the washing. This will give them lots of practice of working out when things are the wrong way round and then turning them the right way round.

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Socks and Shoes

Babies love to take their socks off they can usually manage this by themselves by the time they are 15 months old. Putting on socks is a skill that children can often find challenging, particularly for those children who experience difficulties in using both of their hands together to complete a task.

Children learn to take their shoes off first and can usually pull on wellies, slippers and slip on shoes by the time they are 2 years old.

Below are some strategies to develop skills in putting on shoes and socks.

Socks

> Practice using loose fitting socks that are too big, they could even practice putting on your socks.
> Avoid socks which have overly tight elastic at ankles.
> Socks with different coloured toes and or heels can make it easier for your child to get their socks the right way round.
> Encourage your child to sit when placing their socks on their feet, as they will be less likely to lose their balance.
> It is often helpful for you to sit next to or behind your child when they are completing this task, as it will give you more realistic view of what elements they are finding difficult. They may benefit from hand over hand support from this position.
> You may find it helpful initially to place socks over your child’s toes and allow them to pull the sock up.
> Encourage your child to place their thumbs inside the sock to assist in pulling socks onto feet.
> Teach your child to gather up the sock from the top to the heel using two hands, before placing the sock on their toes.
> Some children don’t like the feeling of wearing socks and can be particularly bothered by seams, you could try turning your child’s socks inside out, or buy seamless socks.

Shoes

> Practice with slip on shoes, slippers and wellies first. If your child has to change shoes in nursery try to avoid laces or buckles.
> It is often helpful for you to sit next to, or behind your child when they are completing this task as it will give you a more realistic view of what elements they are finding difficult.
> Put the shoes in front of your child the right way round and try the sticker trick (cut a sticker in half and stick one half in each shoe) to help them work out which shoe goes on which foot.
> Encourage your child to sit when placing their shoes on their feet, as they will be less likely to lose their balance.

Get your child to look at their feet to check the shoes are on the right feet. Initially you may need to position the correct shoes by the correct feet. If your child has difficulty putting each shoe on the correct foot you can:

>Fix something bright onto one shoe and teach your child “bright is right”
>Buy shoes with a logo on the outer side
>Place shoes in front of your child in their correct position, so that the left shoe is matching the left foot
>Help your child recognise their left and right shoe by drawing arrows inside the shoes pointing together
> Once they have mastered slip on shoes move on to simple fastenings such as velcro or zips.

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Zips

Zips are usually the first fastenings that children learn to do. This is usually on their jacket and they always require help to put the zip together initially. Children should be able to pull a zip up once the adult has put the pin into the box from the age of 4.

> When buying a coat/jacket with an open-ended zip, test the zip thoroughly as the ease of fastening can vary greatly.
> Try attaching a zip pull cord, key ring, piece of cord or ribbon to the jacket zip to make it easier to grasp and pull.
> Practice opening and closing a variety of bags/clothes with zips. Put a surprise within to make it more exciting!
> On skirts, do up the zip fastening at the front then twist skirt round until fastenings are in the correct place.
> Trouser zips can be replaced with Velcro or avoided altogether by wearing elasticated waist trousers.
> Jacket can be pulled on over head with zip still fastened part way at the bottom. Sew strong thread around the zip just above the connection to prevent it from coming undone. The jacket can then be put on like a jumper or by stepping into it and pulling it up and over the shoulders to place the arms in.

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Buttons

Buttons are a hard skill to master as it involves both hands working together but making slightly different movements. Your child will not really be able to do this until after the age of 4. Below are some activity ideas to help your child practice buttoning.

> Start practicing with larger flat buttons of a contrasting colour to the clothing, gradually progressing to smaller ones. Ensure that the button hole is large enough for the button to easily fit through (old cardigans are good for practicing on as the wool tends to have stretched after years of use, also clothing with toggles rather than buttons is easier to start with).
> Start buttoning at the bottom of a shirt; it is easier to line up the bottom of each side of a shirt to make sure the buttons and holes are aligned correctly. Top buttons are always more difficult to fasten, as your child can’t see what their hands are doing. This is particularly true in school shirts as not only can your child not see the top button but the button hole is aligned in a different direction.
> Limit the number of buttons a child has to do; only undo the top few buttons when taking off a shirt or blouse and then remove the garment over the head. It can then be put on over the head the next morning and only a few buttons will need to be done up.
> Push the button part-way through the hole so that it is ‘peeking’ out the other side. Ask the child to pull the button the rest of the way through. Once he/she can do this, help the child to push the button into the hole for you to pull through. Now put the two parts of the task together.

Alternative Strategies

> Choose trousers or skirts with an elastic waist band if buttons and buckles are difficult.
> Velcro can be used instead of buttons. For example on a coat or shirt use Velcro on the back of the flap and sew buttons of the top flap so that the shirt still appears to be buttoned.
> Try leaving cuff buttons done up. Alternatively sew a piece of elastic or a button attached with elastic thread across the cuffs so that is can be stretched open when the hand is pushed through.
> Use elastic thread instead of cotton to attach buttons which will allow the child to pull a shirt over his head with buttons fastened. You may have to sew the top shirt buttons and cuff buttons more loosely.

Activities to improve buttoning skills

1. Post coins into tub with a slot cut out of the lid and then progress to posting large buttons into a tub. Once the child is able to post the large buttons, move onto smaller buttons into a different tub with smaller slots.
2. Thread large plastic buttons onto a lace starting with the buttons with one hole only and then progressing up to buttons with five holes.
3. Thread small beads onto a pipe cleaner, and then progress onto threading beads onto a lace.
4. Post large buttons through a circular mat (beer mat) with a large slot cut out of it, then progress to smaller buttons.
5. Post loose buttons through a variety of button holes.
6. Create lots of different shapes using felt and cut a slot (buttonhole) into the centre of each shape. Get a long piece of ribbon and sew a button on each end of the ribbon. Ask the child to remove all the different felt shapes (one by one) from the ribbon over one of the buttons, and then when all the shapes are off the ribbon ask the child to place all the shapes back onto the ribbon. Once your child can manage the ribbon get a short piece of elastic and sew a button on each end of the elastic. Ask the child to again use the felt shapes as above by removing each shape and then putting each shape back onto the elastic.
7. Practice buttoning up garments which are draped over the back of a chair with the buttons facing outwards.
8. Now practice buttoning up a garment which is on the child. Start with large buttons and buttonholes and then gradually start making the buttons smaller and smaller. If your child is still finding it difficult; push the button part-way through the hole so that it is ‘peeking’ out the other side. Ask child to pull the button the rest of the way through. Once he/she can do this, help the child to push the button into the hole for you to pull through. Now get your child to put the two parts of the task together so they can independently button up their garment.

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Shoelace Tying

Tying your own shoe laces requires a level of dexterity children are not usually ready until around age 7-8. There are several different methods for tying shoe laces, for example…

> Conventional
> Bunny ears

Check out our hints and tips to help develop these skills:

> Break the process into small manageable sections – do not attempt to learn the whole process in one go.
> Practice looping the cords on the waistbands of shorts, joggers or dressing gowns, just to get your child used to making that first part of a knot.
> When trying to tie a shoelace for the first time, have your child sit on the floor with the shoe between their legs. This is easier than trying to reach down. Once your child is able to tie the shoe in this position, get your child to place the shoe on their knee whilst they are sitting on a chair or step. Finally, put the shoe on your child’s foot and have then put their foot up on a raised step or chair so that they can still see what they are doing.
> Use two different coloured laces in the same shoe to allow the child to easily differentiate between the various steps involved .
> Flat laces are easier to tie than round ones, as they are less likely to loosen between each stage.

Alternative Strategies

If all else fails or your child is unable to master this skill then alternatives to shoelaces are available. Obviously Velcro is the easiest way of fastening shoes however if your child has shoes with lace holes then see the list below:

> Hickies Laces are easy to fasten laces that expands and contracts with foot movement to deliver secure fitting. See how it works at Hickies
> Zubits Laces are magnetic shoe closures which stay secure throughout athletic activities. See how it works at Zubits
> Xtenex are elastic shoe laces which offers a faster and easier way to wear shoes. Uses a self-blocking knot technique to maintain lace tension. It aids in reducing painful footwear binding and foot fatigue caused by lace migration and natural foot swelling. See how it work at xtenex
> Greeper Laces are fitted to the footwear and they are loosened simply by pulling on the pull tab of the toggle. The user then simply makes the lace loops bigger to tighten the laces and enjoy a secure, snug fit. Small stoppers on the lace loops prevent the Greepers from coming undone. See how it works at Greeper

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School Tie Tying

The further up the school your child progresses the more likely they are to require to wear a school tie. During primary school this may only be needed for school photographs or special occasions but by secondary it is normally expected that children wear a school tie everyday. It is important to be able to tie a tie independently so that changing for P.E. is not an issue. It is important to breakdown the task one step at a time like the diagram to the right.

Alternative Strategies

> Leave tie fastened up and slip on overhead and pull up.
> Use clip on or elastic ties.
> Do up tie in usual manner, then cut apart the back of the tie which would be under the collar and sew Velcro onto both sides of the tie so that it can be re-joined under the collar.

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Dressing Advice for Sensory Differences

Children may find dressing difficult due to sensory differences such as touch (e.g. finding materials sensitive on skin) or movement processing (e.g. finds bending over difficult to tolerate), or proprioceptive processing (e.g. unsure where their body is in space).

Here are some strategies that you may find helpful in enabling your child to dress.

Sensory Strategies

> Try to detect what the issue is….are the labels rubbing? If so remove them
> Be conscious of sensitivities regarding texture; buy clothes that you know your child will like (it is more valuable for your child to be at school in an uncoordinated outfit feeling calm than to have your child at school looking beautiful and upset).
> Stick to familiar, acceptable clothing and gradually introduce new garments for short periods
> Try tight clothing or Lycra under normal clothing.
> Try seam free clothing, this is available commercially.
> Try washing clothing before your child wears it.
> Wear undergarments inside out to prevent scratching seams and tags.
> Increase hat tolerance through massage of the scalp and putting the hat on in front of the mirror.
> Be aware of the environment is it too noisy or too distracting can this be minimalised to make dressing easier.
> If your child has sensitive feet, let them wear socks inside out and wash shoes to make them soft prior to wearing them.
> Try laced shoes because they can be more effectively tightened.
> Loose fitting, slip on shoes may work better for those that dislike socks and shoes.
> Cut labels out of clothing.
> Wash clothes in unscented detergent.
> Dry clothing with unscented fabric softener.
> Choose softer fabrics like fleece, rather than rigid items like denim.
> Be conscious of noises from buckles and overall straps.
> Be sensitive to the length of sleeve and trouser leg your child prefers.
> Ensure that the garment fits well; that it is not cutting into the skin when your child assumes another position.

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Dressing Myself

General Hints and Tips

“If your child is struggling it can be tempting to take over – don’t!”

Pre-dressing Activities and Games

Order of dressing

Putting Clothes on the Right Way Round

Turning Clothes the Right Way

Socks and Shoes

Socks

Shoes

Zips

Buttons

Alternative Strategies

Activities to improve buttoning skills

Shoelace Tying

Alternative Strategies

School Tie Tying

Alternative Strategies

Dressing Advice for Sensory Differences

Sensory Strategies

Useful Links & Resources

Learning Disabilities Team

Making Sense of Sensory Behaviour

Life Skills for Little Ones