Some children struggle to learn how to dress themselves due to challenges with coordination, motor skills, sensory sensitivities, or understanding sequencing. On this page you will find resources that can help parents by offering actionable strategies that break dressing tasks into manageable steps and suggestions for techniques to support the child’s independence and confidence in dressing.
If your child struggles with dressing, they may:
- Seek help with dressing
- end up with twisted clothing
- put clothes on backwards or inside out
- resist engaging in dressing themselves
- become frustrated that they cannot complete dressing tasks
- not dress in the correct order, or miss items of clothing when dressing.
How you can help
- Remember, children learn to undress first, so focus on this initially.
- Choose loose-fitting clothing without fastenings or buttons initially, such as trousers with an elasticated waist. Shorts and short sleeve tops are easier to start with.
- Make sure your child is able to use their hands freely for dressing which might mean sitting on a chair to help them to balance.
- Allow enough time to practice dressing, so your child can start to become involved in the process without feeling rushed. This might mean practising in the evenings or weekends, rather than mornings.
- Use simple directions when describing what needs to happen.
- Lay the item of clothing out on the floor first so your child can see where to put in their arms or legs.
- If your child has a weaker or non-dominant side, learn to dress this side first.
- Try to do the steps in the same order each time to help your child to learn the routine.
- Break down the steps for each item of clothing and practice them one at a time. It is usually easier to learn the last step first and work backwards.
- Using a visual schedule can assist children to learn the order when dressing, these can be found online on websites such as SparkleBox and Twinkl.
- Remember that learning a new skill can be challenging, try to keep your child motivated by using praise and rewards that are important to them.
- When learning buttoning, start with unbuttoning first as this is easier. Start with large buttons and buttonholes first and work towards smaller ones.
- When learning to do zippers, start with large easy to manage zippers with an easy-to-grasp tab. Learning to unzip initially is easier.
Our Learning to Get Dressed resource helps you recognise the signs that your child may be ready to progress with learning to dress and proposes strategies to support with dressing.
Backward chaining is a teaching technique used to help children learn tasks by breaking them into smaller steps and teaching the last step first. For dressing, this means the adult initially helps the child with all the steps except the final one—such as pulling up trousers or fastening a button—so the child experiences success straight away. Once the child masters that last step, the adult gradually steps back to let the child complete the second-to-last step as well, and so on, until they can do the whole task independently. This method builds confidence and independence by focusing on success and gradually increasing the child’s responsibility. Have a look at our Backwards Training guide for different clothing items.
The orientation of clothing can be a tricky concept to grasp. Putting clothes on the right way round can be challenging, so it's helpful to begin teaching this skill early, as children may still occasionally wear items backwards when they start school. This Orientation of Clothing sheet provides some tips.
Do2learn has visual aids for the sequence of dressing.
Adaptive clothing - Several high street stores and supermarkets offer a variety of affordable, easy-to-wear clothing designed for children with sensory sensitivities and physical needs.
Fine motor skills and dressing- This OT Toolbox article explores in detail the dressing activities that require different fine motor skills.
The Therapy Fun Zone has ideas to strengthen dressing skills through engaging your child in play activities.
Fasteners like buttons and zips can be tricky for children because they require well-developed fine motor skills, hand strength, and coordination. Children also need good bilateral coordination—using both hands together in a controlled way—which can take time and practice to develop. Our Learning to do up Fasteners programme has ideas to help children do up small fasteners such as zips or buttons.
Have a look at these Watch Me Do It videos to see movement demonstrations of how to button a shirt, how to put on socks and zipping a hoodie.
- Our Tying Shoelace guide resource provides a visual breakdown of the steps for shoelace trying.
- Take a look at these Watch Me Do It videos to see movement demonstrations of how to put on Velcro shoes and tie shoelaces.
