When can kids learn to button and zip?

Most milestone checklists show that children should be able to dress themselves around kindergarten age, ie. 5 - 6 years old.  This includes buttoning and zipping their clothing.  Around 1 1/2 years old children begin experimenting with buttons and zippers, and by the age of 6 are doing both well.

There may be factors limiting a child's ability to button and zip such as:

• difficulty with hand-eye coordination
• fine motor coordination
• bilateral coordination
• sensory processing
• motor planning & sequencing
  

Why should parents care about this?

1. This is a foundational skill set for self-dressing which is an activity of daily living. This is a skill that needs to be mastered as we get dressed and undressed every day of our lives.  In occupational therapy, we strive for independence in self-dressing and manipulating basic fasteners is a big part of independence. 
2. Often if a child isn't meeting these developmental milestones, it leads to other areas that are lacking such as low muscle tone in hands, lack of fine motor dexterity, struggles with in hand manipulation and many of the topics listed above.

Why is this important? 

It is important to take note that every child develops and progresses at their own rate, but it can be helpful to understand some developmental milestones and what natural progression is.

Research shows:

• At 1 1/2 to 2 years old a child can unzip with a large tab and pull a large zipper up if an adult holds the bottom tight.
• At 2 years old a child can unbutton large 1in buttons.
• At 2 1/2 to 3 years old a child can button 3 large 1in buttons.  They can also unzip and unsnap clothing while wearing it.
• At 3 to 4 1/2 years old a child can close front snaps on clothing, and can button and unbutton while wearing front opening clothing.
• At 4 1/2 to 5 years old a child can open all fasteners on any article of clothing.
• At 5 to 6 years old a child can hook, zip and unzip while wearing the clothing.

Tips to help your child:

1. If your child is struggling to button you can do activities such as: (Resources can be found at https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?s=button)
2. Make a button snake
3. Play connect 4
4. Push buttons into slots
5. There is a difference between buttoning with a shirt on you and on the table.  If your child is struggling with buttoning, try putting the shirt on the table to button before having them put it on.  Start with larger buttons, then work to smaller buttons.
6. It is often difficult to get a zipper aligned in its tracks, some ideas to increase visual awareness are to use two different colored tracks to increase visual awareness.  Also practice with using a pipe cleaner to increase visual contrast.



If you have concerns regarding your child's ability to dress themselves, or want to learn more about strategies to use at home to help your child with buttoning and zipping, please consult with your pediatrician or a licensed  occupational therapist for further guidance and support.

Thank you to Mr. Justin, occupational therapy assistant and member of PMC's pediatric occupational therapy team, for sharing his knowledge of independent dressing, specifically buttoning and zipping! Your tips are appreciated and helpful!