Zips
Here are some tips to help increase independence and participation in fastenings.Tips
- Practice unzipping first.
- Try putting a keyring, hair tie or small piece of ribbon on zip to make it easier to pull it up
- Trial first with the coat on the table in front of the young person as it would be on their body, ie collar/hood nearest to the young person.
- Choose chunky zips when learning
- Spend some time identifying the parts of a zip and ensure they understand to keep one hand still to hold, while the other moves to slot together the 2 pieces.
Completing the task
- Break down the task as needed; once they are able to pull the tab themselves, provide hand over hand support by guiding your young person's hand to engage the zip themselves and get them to pull it up. Place your hand on top of their hand to hold the bottom of the zip steady and let them use their other hand to pull the zip up.
- Try backward chaining- teach the young person to dress/undress starting with the last stage first. This is more motivating for your young person as they are finishing the activity off.
Example: increasing child/young persons participation
- Adult starts the zip off and talks through what they are doing e.g. hold the zip with my left hand, hold the material with my right hand, push the material into the zip all the way to the bottom. Adult starts to pull the zip up approximately 2-3cm. Young person finishes off and pulls the zip the rest of the way.
- Adult starts the zip off and talks through what they are doing e.g. hold the zip with my left hand, hold the material with my right hand, push the material into the zip all the way to the bottom. Young person pulls the zip up independently from the bottom.
- Adult holds the zip with their hands but encourages the young person to hold the material and push it into the zip so it goes all the way to the bottom. Young person pulls the zip up independently from the bottom.
- Young person does the whole task independently.
Last updated09 Oct 2025