This blog post on teaching a child how to zip a jacket is a resource in supporting functional skills. Zippering a coat, or learning to zipper a jacket can be a challenge for many kids, and there’s a good reason why this is a multistep task that we work on in occupational therapy sessions! This daily life skill is one that kids need to learn themselves because they might put the jacket on at home before school but they will need to zip their own jacket at school before they leave for the day.
Teach a child to Zip a jacket
Zipping a jacket can be a complicated task for a lot of kids. However, this is such an important life skill, so it’s worth spending some time to learn it.
Here are a few tips and tricks to teaching this skill:
- Practice on clothing that the child is not wearing first. However, place it in front of the child so that they are pulling the zipper up toward them, oriented the same as if they were wearing it.
2. Start with the easiest kind of zipper- one that is a larger, “chunkier” zipper.
3. DON’T practice zipping while you are trying to race out the door for the day. Pick a time of day that is more relaxed with plenty of time to practice.
4. Add a visual cue by placing a sticker or a piece of tape to the bottom of the jacket to show your child where to hold the fabric.
5. Adding a key ring or a cute charm to the zipper pull may help children with a weaker grasp be able to pull up the zipper easier. We made this zipper pull craft and it was a fun way to incorporate fine motor skills into a functional item.
6. Use of a contrasting color on the tip of the zipper on one side and around the zipper opening on the other side gives a visual cue for where to connect the 2 sides together.
7. Some children may need repeated hand over hand assistance to help them learn how to zip. Then assistance can be faded as they become more independent.
Steps for Zippering a Jacket
One of the easiest ways to teach kids to zipper is to go through the steps to zippering a jacket. This takes into account the task analysis for zipping jacket, which is what an occupational therapy provider will do when coming up with strategies to support the student each step of the way.
When we do a zipper task analysis, we can help the student with underlying skills like bilateral coordination, motor planning, etc. and help with supports for each specific step of zippering.
Teaching students to zipper a jacket can be done with either forward chaining or backward changing. This just means that you work from step one and progress to the last step or you start at the last step to achieve mastery and then add another step on to complete the whole task.
Whether you work in forward or reverse, the steps of zippering a jacket are:
- Hold both sizes of the zipper.
- Pull the zipper champer down to the bottom of the zipper.
- Hold the zipper chamber in place while inserting the zipper into the chamber (this is often the most difficult step, due to separation of the sides of the hand)
- Hold the bottom of the zipper with one hand and pull the zipper chamber up with the other hand.
Work in steps to teach zippering a jacket- Sometimes teaching the last step first helps children experience success sooner and improves motivation. Have them zip it up while you hold it in place. Then have them hold the zipper in place and zip it up after you connect the 2 sides of the zipper. Finally, work on attaching the 2 sides of the zipper together.
Here is a link to a simple “how-to” zipper video:
Check out this link to a cute video using a train “story” to teach zipping:
You’ll love these DIY self-care hacks:
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
