Helping your child develop – Senior age

The second part of our child development blogs looks at Senior age children. Here you’ll find information on making the right foot care choices for your child and provide advice on engaging the whole body through related activities suited for their life stage.

Teenagers will now be enjoying activities with an increased level of intensity and may wear their school shoes for even longer with after school clubs or first jobs. Throughout all of this, their shoes must be non-restrictive and promote an adequate forefoot shape to allow the metatarsals to expand for adequate ground control and foot form. Any compromise to the foots natural movement from tight uppers, to stiff outsoles or loose fastenings can cause the bodies mechanical system to make compromises for what the foot can’t achieve. This in turn can affect the locomotor system and can result in injury or inefficient development leading to future problems.

You could try these activities to help your Senior school child develop:

• Encourage your child to join in a team sport like football, rugby, netball or basketball.
• Joining sports clubs is a great way to build strength in individual sports.
• Encourage them to get out with friends a build treasure hunts or assault course to challenge each other.
• A trampoline is a fun way to get active.
• Micro adventures are a great way to encourage planning and physical activity. These are small and achievable overnight outdoor adventures.

Senior school shoes:

Teenagers are most likely wanting to choose their own style in-line with their peers fashion, but these days you don't have to sacrifice fashion for fit. Start-Rite Senior school shoes look good, will last the school year and comply with school uniform regulations, as well as offering all these important features:

• Stylish designs in high quality leathers ensuring great looks and durability.
• Whole and half sizes in 2-width fittings, to ensure best fit.
• Plenty of adjustability is offered by our durable laces that will stay tied all day.
• Durable and supple leather uppers to retain their smart appearance and dyed-through leather so that scuffs and scrapes are easy to conceal with a good polish.
• Breathable linings for maximum comfort, allowing perspiration to escape through the surface of the shoe for those hot sweaty busy feet.
• Durable and flexible soles that have been designed to flex as the foot flexes at the metatarsal joints so your teenagers’ feet can perform how they naturally need to during every activity throughout the school day - even the netball and football in the school play field.
• Built-in growing room around the toes, to allow for growth of those developing muscles, ligaments and bones in your teenagers’ feet every school day.

To ensure your child has the correct fitting shoes we recommend measuring their feet every 6-12 months.

To read our blog on child development for Primary age children click HERE

To read our general tips on foot health click HERE