Yesterday, I went to get my older son new sneakers for school this year. I am doing a little experiment. I decided to get him a pair of minimalist shoes for kids, rather than the standard Stride Rite light up sneakers with the bigger heel.
One of the main reasons I opted to try out a minimal shoe for my son is that children actually land naturally on the forefoot—they have great running form. This tends to change around the age of 5 when they move into more “traditional” shoes.
I would like to see how James does in the minimalist shoe, and if he likes them a lot and they seem to work, I will keep him in a similar shoe. Perhaps he will avoid becoming a heel striker and some of the problems that can accompany running that way. He loves to run EVERYWHERE, and I want to continue encouraging that.
If he can continue to run with the correct foot strike, who knows what will happen? 
So which did we choose? Well, there are not a ton of options when looking for minimalist shoes for kids as of this writing. We did, however, find a Merrell Barefoot shoe that worked for James.
Our local REI had the children’s version of the Merrell Trail Glove and the model we wound up getting—the Flux Glove. The Trail Glove didn’t seem to fit his heel quite right. When we tried the Flux Glove, the heel fit perfectly. He was so cute zipping around the store!
In addition to the Merrell Barefoot shoes, there are now Vibram KSOs for children, which REI also carries. The downside: the shoes we ended up choosing were $65. That being said, I don’t skimp on shoes because it’s something they wear every day. I think good shoes are really important, so I am willing to splurge on those. 
Love it. I am a penny-pinching, yard-sale-shopping cheapskate on most everything. Especially when it comes to kids clothes and toys (provided they’re still clean and safe) because they outgrow and get bored with things so quickly. But I agree with you on shoes.
Shoes (and the feet that go in them!) are too important and it can’t be just about how cute (or cheap) they are. Lots of toddler and preschool age kids don’t like bulky tennis shoes (which is understandable, nothing beats running free and barefoot as a kid!) so their parents end up getting them sandals and flip flops. As a former preschool teacher, I HATE FLIP FLOPS on little kids. not only are they in no way supportive or protective for your kids’ feet, but they are always coming off and causing problems for your child’s teacher.
I am very interested to know that there are minimalist kids’ shoes and look forward to hearing how they work out for your little one!
I will keep you posted Minda. 🙂
So three years later, how did your son like them and do you recommend minimalist shoes for little kids? My son is 4.5 yrs old. Thanks!
I do! Both older boys are now wearing Vivobarefoot shoes! They love them 🙂
YES!!!! Good for you! I think it’s even more important for our kids to be in minimalist than us. We wreck their feet in all the built-up kid versions of our shoes. They just don’t need all that stuff!
All that said–my son is 11 and style is uber important to them at this age. I’ve had a really hard time finding minimalist shoes that also appeal to him. He wore a pair of NB Minimus to school last week (first week of middle school) and was made fun of. I’m trying to use it as a teaching moment to stand up for what you like/believe in, so we’ll see. My daughter, who is younger, is in her fourth pair of Merrell BF line for kids–she loves them and is a beautiful runner to watch!
I guess we are lucky that the bright green is stylish enough for now 😉 I love that your kids are in minimalist shoes too!
I totally agree. I just sent my oldest off to kindergarten in the same color of Merrell BF flux gloves. He LOVES them, and since kids are REQUIRED to where sneakers in PE (seriously school?? -My kids runs in ALL his shoes-) I love them too. I also just bought a second pair for my youngest kiddo in the blue/orange color so he can get the benefits of running in own natural gait.
Interesting to think about. I still haven’t taken the plunge with minimalist shoes myself, but I wonder if they would be good for the boys…. Their regular New Balance sneakers are already up to almost $50 now that they’re both getting so much bigger – but like you said, shoes are too important to skimp on!