_{This post is sponsored by Disney-Hyperion}

My five-year-old wears lace-up sneakers daily and yet he still has not perfected his shoe-tying skills, so we thought we make shoe lace cards on this snowy day for fun and extra practice. They’re so easy to make and the basic project takes about five minutes to create. Best of all, it keeps the kids busy without being overly complicated or messy.

The inspiration for this craft project is the new book It’s Shoe Time! by Bryan Collier which is the newest book in Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! series. which are geared toward beginning readers as all the fabulous Mo Willems books are. It’s Shoe Time! was written for children ages 6-8. 

We love Mo Willems and have enjoyed the books included in this series so far because they inspire an early love of reading. They include: The Cookie Fiasco by Dan Santat, We Are Growing! by Laurie Keller and The Good for Nothing Button by Charise Mericle Harper.

We have read It’s Shoe Time! several times and the kids love it because it is silly and makes them laugh. This lyrical beginning-reader by multi award-winning artist Bryan Collier will appeal to children who aren’t fans of matching shoes! The illustrations are fun and exciting for young children. 

Shoe Lace Cards

For the cards, you will need to gather a few supplies including a few sheets of heavy cardstock, pencils, scissors, hole puncher and shoe laces. I traced one of my daughter’s sneakers to get the shape of a shoe. Then I stacked one sheet of paper over the other and cut out the shape.

Now punch the holes for the laces. Reverse one “shoe” and you’ll have a left and a right. The kids can now practice lacing and tying. Take it a step further and have your child decorate his shoes to make them look like his favorite pair or design his dream shoe!

Visit the official website for It’s Shoe Time!  and make sure you keep up with Disney-Hyperion on Twitter and Disney Books on Facebook and Instagram. Join in on the discussion with #MoMail and #ReadMo.