Want a fun, hour-long activity to do with your daughter (or son) that will leave them with their own custom, super-functional and healthy footwear? All you need is a kid’s sized Xero Shoes huaraches kit, some colorful beads, and a little DIY huaraches step-by-step assistance.
A few weeks back on Father’s Day, I let my oldest daughter pick out a sole (had a pair each of Xero’s blue or pink soles) and her choice of lace colors to start and we got right to making her new pair of huaraches (she’s outgrown her last pair).
Holes punched and initial lacing complete, Avi got right to the most fun part of the project. Picking the right beads!
Once you’ve made a couple pairs of huaraches, the whole process becomes fairly routine and you feel much more confident in your sandal making abilities. That said, if you’re nervous about tackling this project for your kid, grab a kit for yourself and go through the motions of making your first pair of huaraches in advance of doing it with your little one.
The whole thing ended up taking about an hour split into two sessions on a Saturday (I’d blame the ease of distracting an almost-4-year-old girl, but truth was we were just busy and couldn’t complete it in one go).
How now to wear Xero Shoes
The end result? Some pretty snazzy huaraches! Aviana even opted to wear them with her ballet tights, committing her first footwear fashion faux pas—as in, the much-maligned combination of socks and sandals and socks and thong sandals!
Suffice to say my Indian father-in-law was proud.
In all seriousness …
The first day she wore these to daycare Aviana both showed them off to all her teachers and received multiple compliments on them from random parents.
And as far as a creative project to do with your kid, what’s better than showing them they can make their own footwear? And that’s it’s good for their feet, functional, and affordable—all the better! Xero Shoes FTW!!
