August is old enough to hang up his own coats or jacket on a peg, but sometimes they're tricky. Some coats have hoods, some have loops, some have nothing at all. To support his independence, I've added some little binding rings to his outdoor wear so that he can hang them up himself.

HOW:
- Get some binding rings. They're sold in all stationary shops. We got ours from a $2 store.
- Add them to any clothes that you'd typically hang on a hook.
- Teach your child how to use them. Model holding the ring and placing it over the peg.
- Promote independence by giving your child every opportunity to hang their coat up themselves. This will take much longer than if you were to do it but you don't need any practice!

WHO?
If your child is walking - they can learn to hang up their own coat. All it takes is the opportunity and lots of practice. It's tempting to do everything for your child as it's quicker and it gets the job done. Some people don't want their child to have to 'do chores' - but in reality this kinda thing isn't a chore, it's an opportunity to learn how things work, develop the fine and gross motor skills to manipulate their clothes onto a hook and the hand eye coordination and precision to do it accurately. Your little one is doing so much learning when given this sort of opportunity!

WHEN?
Practice it whenever you get home and both take your coats off. This is also a great one to do if your little one attends an early childhood centre - they can learn how to put their own coat on a peg as part of looking after their things. An essential skill for any child starting school.

Watch how it went here