It’s a new school year and apart from all the other things that a new year entail it usually involves also buying new school shoes, cause oh my, how do kids grow in December.
Children spend a lot of time in their school shoes and with the range of school shoes available on the market it just adds to choices & deciding what will work best for their feet.
Different brands of school shoes have different styles within that brand. The main differences between the different brands & styles are the shape of the toebox, the height of the toebox (how much space for toes) flexibility over the ball of the foot, weight, innersole thickness/ comfort, heel counter height, heel counter support, heel height.
What to look for in a school shoe
- genuine leather upper
- it needs to be lightweight
- it should take on the shape of the child’s foot
- it needs to be flexible over the ball of the foot
- sturdy supportive heel counter
- there should be half-a-thumbs width between the longest toe and the front of the shoe when trying on the shoe.
When setting off to buy shoes take the school socks with and try on the shoes with the socks. Try on shoes towards the end of the day as ones feet “swell” during the day and especially on a hot day, that way you make sure you get the best fit for the day.
Different brands might differ slightly in their sizing, try on a size up and down and see which is the best fit. Don’t get stuck on numbers.
Make it a habit to do your laces/buckles up when putting on shoes and undoing them before taking the shoes off. There’s very important reasoning behind this, when you just pull your shoes off you stretch the upper of the shoe which won’t give you a secure fit when wearing them. Pushing your shoe off your foot using the other foot damages the heel counter (back heel part of the shoe) and you lose support. The foot and shoe need to function as a unit when walking and proper tying of laces and buckles is important for that.
Take note when passing on shoes, have a look at the outer sole, innersole and inside of the heel counter – if the shoe has been worn excessively it could have an influence on the next pair of feet steps.