How to Teach a Child to Zip a Zipper

Even if your child can put on her clothes with ease, she might still struggle with zippers. Fastening and pulling up a zipper requires manual dexterity and good hand-eye coordination. Without these skills, this task can cause children considerable frustration. When you're running late for work and your child is about to miss the school bus, you may think it's faster and more convenient to zip up her jacket yourself. Teaching your child to zip her own zippers, though, helps her build confidence as she develops her fine motor skills.

Things You'll Need

  • Jacket

Instructions

    • 1

      Have your child put on a jacket or another garment with a zipper.

    • 2

      Tell your child to hold the left half of the zipper with her left hand and the right half with her right hand. Have her pull the two halves together.

    • 3

      Instruct your child to slide the small tip into the slot on the side of the piece with the zipper pull. If your child has trouble understanding this, tell her to think of it as putting a key into a lock.

    • 4

      Tell your child to hold the bottom of the jacket with one hand and grasp the the zipper pull with her other hand.

    • 5

      Have your child pull the zipper all the way up with one hand while holding the bottom of the jacket steady with the other.

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