ANS. Adaptive change for kids means ,By the time kids are three
years old, most children can get pants with elastic waists on
themselves and pull a sweater or shirt over their heads, but the
fine motor skills involved in zipping, snapping, buttoning, and
tying may be beyond many preschoolers.
All children of this age have so much to learn, and they can
often become frustrated when their desire to do things for
themselves outruns their abilities. It takes patience, too, for
parents and caregivers to teach them all they need to know.
Although children can learn about dressing partly by observing
other family members as they put on their clothes, those who are
blind or visually impaired and cannot watch other people dressing
need explanations, practice, and more of a step-by-step
approach.
Using Zippers, Snaps, and Buttons
- Larger buttons, snaps, and zippers are easier for little
fingers to grasp. When selecting clothing for your child, try to
find clothing that only has a few buttons or snaps on them. That
way she can practice fastening the buttons and snaps but won’t be
too overwhelmed.
- When it comes to teaching her how to put the two halves of the
zipper together, she’ll need some hand-under-hand or hand-over-hand
demonstration. You may need to work on this for several months
before she is able to consistently line up the two parts of the
zipper and get the zipper moving smoothly.
- Attach a key ring or some other easy-to-grasp object to the
zipper tab to make it easier for your child to pull it up and
down.
- Make sure to have your child practice dressing skills at times
when it is a part of her natural, everyday routine, such as when
she first gets dressed in the morning or puts on her jacket to go
outside and ride her tricycle with her sisters or friends.
- At the same time, finding some toys that let her practice the
fine motor skills she needs to develop for dressing may be helpful,
especially once she is motivated to learn. Dolls or action figures
that have removable outfits may be fun to play with and, at the
same time, give her opportunities for practice; although, if the
fasteners on the outfits are small, she may not be able to do them
herself. Some toys are made especially for practicing dressing
skills, such as a doll whose jacket has several different kinds of
fasteners such as a large button, snap, and bow.
Putting on Clothes
- Help your child learn to find the top and bottom and front and
back of articles of clothing and to tell if something is inside out
or ready to put on. You can point out things on the clothing that
provide a clue such as a tag at the back of the neck, the buttons
on the front of a shirt, and the seams on the inside.
- Focus on one item of clothing at a time, for example, a
t-shirt. Once your child can consistently hold her shirts the right
way to pull them over her head, then have her start checking her
pants to see if they are facing the right way.
- There are a lot of steps when it comes to dressing, so don’t
expect your child to learn all of them at once. Separate the steps
in your own mind and have your child first learn to do just one
part of a task, such as putting on her pants. Begin by having her
do only the last part of the task: pulling the pants up after
you’ve already helped her put her feet through the legs of the
pants. Once she has this step down, let her try the next
step—putting her feet into the legs—and, finally, have her start by
holding the pants facing the right way in order to step into them.
If you work backward in this manner, she’ll get the reward of
successfully completing the task—in this case, having put her pants
on by herself—each time she tries.
- Help your child take responsibility for finding and selecting
her clothes. Create a system for identifying and organizing her
clothes that you and your child find easy to use and show her where
everything is kept in her drawers and closets. (See “Teaching Your
Child Self-Care Skills” for more information on labeling and
organizing clothes.) You might want to try buying shorts, pants,
skirts, and t-shirts in colors that can all be mixed and matched
interchangeably to make it simple for your child to pick any
combination without clashing.
Looking Ahead to Shoelaces
Many children don’t learn to tie their shoes until they are in
kindergarten or beyond. Your preschooler may not be ready for shoe
tying, but if she expresses interest, you might find it easier to
teach her using two loops. After tying the initial knot, make a
loop with each end of the shoelaces, cross them over, and tie a
simple knot.