Advice and resources : Buttons and zips

Overview

Some children can find it hard to open and close buttons and zips but there are a number of ways you can help them develop this skill.

If your child is struggling to do up their buttons, you can try:

Using large buttons on dolls or jumpers and starting from the bottom so they learn to match the buttons to the holes. Once they’re confident with this, move onto smaller buttons
Using the ‘backward chaining technique’ where you leave the last small step, e.g. pulling the last button through the hole. When they’ve mastered that step, you let them to do the last two steps and so on until they can get do their buttons up themselves
Removing and reattaching the buttons so there’s about half an inch of thread between the button and the fabric to make it easier
Encouraging your child to do up their buttons in front of a mirror
Replacing all buttons, including sleeve buttons, with Velcro fastenings or poppers
Using a shoe box, cut a variety of slots into the lid and ask your child to put buttons or coins through them
Making a ‘Button Board’ by sewing flaps onto a piece of fabric and doing them up with large buttons, making the button hole a quarter of an inch larger than the button. Try putting fun pictures underneath the flaps to encourage your child to open them
Using threading cards, games and activities

If your child is struggling to do up zips, you can try:

Showing them how to do up and undo a zip, asking them to help you with it
Adding zip tags (a piece of ribbon, a zip ring or large paperclip) to make it easier to grasp
Starting with large zips which have big tabs or rings as these slide more easily
Practising unzipping a purse or pocket to reveal a surprise
Replacing zips with Velcro tabs to encourage independence if your child is still having difficulties