Elementary Schoolboy Shows Off His Skills At Tying Shoelaces

Oct 15, 2020

In a busy world full of hectic lives, even blinking can cause you to miss a few seconds. As such, we often take for granted a few daily tasks that we perform before going to work or school. In our rush to get things done, we might not realize that there are multiple ways to perform even the simplest of tasks. In 2017, a clever 5-year-old named Colten showed the world a new trick to tie shoelaces more easily. His supportive mom, Ashley Lillard, recorded the new shoe-tying method and posted it to Facebook — and the video has since spread like wildfire across the web.

In one home video, 5-year-old Colton pauses life for a second to tie his shoelaces a different way. Of course, it is a no brainer that there are multiple ways to tie shoelaces, but Colton has just demonstrated a lesser-known method.

The video begins with Colton sitting on the floor putting his Nike sneakers on. Children typically learn how to tie their own shoelaces between the ages of five to seven, according to Parents.com. Many of us may recall using the "bunny ears" method in tying our laces, which includes holding both laces in two loops.

In the video, Colton claims that he has a unique way of tying his shoes, brushes his hair to the side, and begins to demonstrate.

"My name's Colton, and there's a new way to tie shoes," he says to the camera. "I'm five and I have a loose tooth," he continues.

It starts a bit shaky because Colton struggles to put his shoes on, as other children do. His laces are still tight, so his mother reminds him to loosen up the laces before putting them on.

He then demonstrates the new method and sticks both aglets (the plastic outer part of the shoelace) in the holes near the tongue of the shoes to create "bunny ears" on both sides. After crossing the "bunny ears," he ties them twice to create a double knot. When he is satisfied and thinks that the knot will not loose, he pulls the aglets out of the holes. When asked where he learned his, Colton claims that he learned this method from one of his friends, River.

Colton's mother hoped that the video would help other children who might have been struggling with tying their shoes, reports ABC 7.

The tutorial video has gained 93,000 views on Facebook — meaning that hundreds of people worldwide, including many adults — have possibly attempted to tie their shoes using Colton's method. One viewer commented that they learned to tie their shoes using his method as a child. Because the method is rarely used, he was glad to know that other children used it as well. The Facebook post has since been removed, but you can watch the video below.

If you have nothing to do or can spare a few moments of your busy lives, sit down and grab a shoe. Maybe Colton's method might help you, too!

And if you don't like Colton's method, rest assured that there are more than a dozen ways to tie your shoes. There's even a website — Ian's Shoelace Site — that details 20 different ways to tie shoelaces. Some of the highlights include "Ian's Knot," which the website claims to be the "World's Fastest Shoelace Knot." According to the website, if you make a loop with both ends and pull them through each other, it makes an instant knot that takes much less time when compared to traditional shoe-tying methods.

Another practical knot from Ian's site includes the "Secure Shoelace Knot," which is also known as a double slip knot. "Cross two loops and pass them both through the “hole” in the middle," according to the website. "This is a shoelace knot that won't come undone on its own!"

And finally, there are some sillier, less-practical knots that are sure to be fun for kids learning to tie their shoes for the first time. Our favorites include the "Halloween Shoelace Knot," the "Equality Knot," and the "Mega Ian Shoelace Knot." The so-called "Mega Knot" is huge and involves "a complex triple-wrap of shoelace." So while this might not be for everyone — especially not for kids learning to tie their shoes for the first time — rest assured that this knot will not come undone on its own. We won't go into the other knots in detail here, but just know that there are many different ways to tie your shoes, as Colten pointed out back in 2017. 

What did you think about this story? How do you tie your shoes? Let us know! And be sure to pass this on so that other parents can share this technique with their children.