Dressing

Learning to get dressed and undressed involves a lot of planning, motor skills, and patience! Occupational Therapist can help support with dressing in many ways, such as breaking tasks into smaller steps, using adaptive tools, targeting specific motor skills, and creating a routine.

Tips for Supporting Dressing 

• Children usually begin to assist by undressing themselves. This can be a daily routine established at night time before bath, and bedtime, when there is more time and less hurry.

• Put together a “dress up trunk” with old clothes and costumes. Try to have items available that have buttons, zippers and other fasteners.

• Encourage dressing and undressing a toy doll

• There are toys available that help children to learn and practice doing fasteners

• Large and flat buttons are easiest to learn on. Once your child has mastered fastening and unfastening these, move to smaller buttons

• When helping your child get dressed eliminate distractions and teach each skill separately. Encourage your child to participate in part of the task if they can’t yet do it independently (i.e. engage the zipper but have him/her zip it up)

• Some children find it helpful to sit down to get dressed.

• Practice with loose clothing that is easy to get on and off.

• Pick a time of day when you are not in a rush to get somewhere! 

• Practice getting dressed in front of a mirror to provide visual feedback

• Give lots of praise, encouragement, and extra time as your child becomes more independent.

• Backwards Chaining: This strategy involves breaking a task (such as putting on pants) down into multiple steps, and allowing your child to master one step at a time, starting with the last step, and gradually working backwards as they master each step. CanChild has an excellent resource to help provide more information and resources, including a Dressing Workbook: https://canchild.ca/resources/305-dressing-work-book/ 

Resources

Visual task sheets can be helpful in teaching a child the steps of dressing and then building their independence with looking at task sheet to know the next step they can do. Check out our visual tasks for daily dressing, and getting dressed for the outdoors, from summer, fall and winter.

Disclaimer Statement: The links on this site have been reviewed by KidsInclusive staff; however we are not responsible for the contents of the links provided. Links are provided to assist families in learning as much as they can while they wait for their assessment and beyond. Many thanks to the various organizations we have linked to.

The content on this site was reviewed by KidsInclusive staff and is consistent with evidence-informed practice at the time of publishing. 

These links and content do not replace the advice of doctors and therapists. Always consult with your therapist if you have questions or concerns.