Explicit practice: Dressing and undressing independently

Encourage your child to dress themselves, especially their shoes and jackets to go outside. In Kindergarten there will be adults to assist with challenging steps such as zipping and buttoning if required, but the more independent your child is in this task, the quicker they will get outside to play at recess and lunch!

Other tips and tricks:

• The trickier parts of dressing like zipping and buttoning will develop with your child’s fine motor skills, so allow for plenty of play with beads, ribbon threading, or even drawing, to help assist with this development!

• Try attaching a key ring to your child's zipper to make it easier to grasp and pull.

• It can also help to simply practice the task of the zipper itself, but with the coat off and laying on the floor so your child can see how it works.

• When assisting your child with zippers and buttons, help with the first part (e.g: lining up the zipper) and then allow your child to finish in order to feel successful.

• Each time, try helping less until your child is independent with the task!