Button Up!

Learning to manage buttons can be a very difficult skill for children to master. It requires good fine-motor and coordination skills. Children need to have both hands working together, as well as have a good pincer grasp… However, there are many ways to make learning to do buttons fun for your child!

Begin by playing with slotting toys such as ‘Connect 4’ and piggy banks. This way, children can practise slotting button-like objects into thin stable holes.

Once they can do this, you can take this further by cutting slits into a cardboard. Your child can then practise slotting big buttons through the paper.  It is very easy to make! Just draw lines and cut along them as in the picture below.

After that, you can do the same with soft pieces of fabric such as felt.

Below are some fun and clever ideas that incorporate buttoning with play. Remember to start off with big buttons and big slits and once your child can manage these, move onto smaller buttons.

The above practise helps children to develop the fine motor skills that they need. Once they have the motor skills to manage buttons, they can generalise into real life by trying to manage their own clothing. Expect them to help to dress themselves every morning. Your child can practise with buttoning their own jacket or coat. A tip: for practise purposes, it is easier on an old sweater with big buttons since the buttons are loose and easier to do!

Credits to: Sugaraunts.com