Measuring a child's feet sounds like it should be simple. In practice, most parents do it slightly wrong, in ways that have real consequences: a shoe that fits at purchase but feels tight by December, or one bought half a size up to be safe that causes heel slip through the whole season.
This is the correct method. It takes ten minutes and needs only a piece of paper, a pencil, and a ruler.
Before you start
Measure at the end of the day. Feet swell slightly through the day — the same mechanism that causes adult ankles to be larger in the evening. A foot measured in the morning can be noticeably smaller than the same foot at 4pm. Since your child will be wearing sports shoes through afternoon training and matches, an end-of-day measurement is more representative.
Measure standing up, not sitting. Weight-bearing spreads the foot. A seated measurement will understate the length and width by a small but meaningful amount. Have your child stand normally on the paper with their full weight evenly distributed.
Measure with the socks they'll actually wear. Football socks, shin pad socks, thin running socks — different thicknesses make a measurable difference. If you're buying football boots, your child should be wearing football socks when you measure.
The method
- Place a piece of plain A4 paper on a hard floor — not carpet, which compresses and introduces error.
- Have your child stand on the paper with their heel against a wall or a straight line drawn at the back of the page.
- Hold a pencil vertically — not at an angle — and trace around the outside of the entire foot. The pencil should be touching the foot, not hovering.
- Mark the longest point of the heel and the longest point of any toe. The big toe is usually longest, but not always — trace carefully at the front.
- Measure the straight-line distance from the heel mark to the toe mark. This is the foot length in millimetres.
- Measure the widest point across the foot. This is the width.
Measure both feet. Most children's feet are slightly different sizes. Always buy for the larger foot.
Reading the measurement
Once you have the length in millimetres, convert to a shoe size. The important thing for Dubai and UAE purchases is that most sports retailers here use European (EU) sizing, which differs from UK and US sizing. Many parents know their child's UK or US size from school shoes and inadvertently shop in the wrong range for sports footwear.
A reference guide:
| Foot length (mm) | EU size | UK kids' size |
|---|---|---|
| 160 | 25 | 8 |
| 175 | 27–28 | 10 |
| 190 | 30 | 12 |
| 205 | 32 | 1 |
| 220 | 34–35 | 2.5 |
| 235 | 37 | 4 |
| 250 | 39 | 6 |
| 265 | 41 | 7.5 |
This is a guide — brands vary slightly, and it is always worth cross-referencing against the specific brand's size chart, especially for football boots where fit runs different from running shoes.
The thumb-width rule
Once a shoe is on the child's foot, fully laced, standing up: there should be roughly a thumb's width of space between the end of their longest toe and the end of the shoe.
Less than this and the shoe is too small — toes will compress against the end during running and direction changes. More than this and the shoe is too large — the foot will slide forward on impact, causing heel slip and the toe-gripping habit that stresses the small muscles of the foot.
Sports shoes are performance-fit and sit closer than school shoes, which carry a larger allowance because they are worn for long periods at low intensity. Do not use your school shoe instinct as the benchmark when buying sports footwear.
How often to measure
Children's feet grow faster than most parents expect:
- Under 3 years: every 6–8 weeks
- 3 to 6 years: every 2–3 months
- 6 to 12 years: every 3–4 months
- 12 and over: every 4–6 months, or when they mention discomfort
In Dubai's sports calendar, a practical minimum: measure at the start of each season in September or October, again at the winter break in January, and whenever your child says their shoes feel tight. The foot that fitted in September may not fit in February. Do not rely on last season's size.
When the size is right but the shoe still doesn't fit
Sizing charts are averages. Width variation, brand differences, and individual foot shape mean the correct size on paper can still be wrong in practice.
Watch for:
- Redness or blisters at the toes or heel after the first few wears
- Your child removing the shoes during breaks without being asked
- A visible bulge at the side of the shoe at the widest point of the foot (too narrow)
- Noticeable heel slip when running (shoe too long, or heel cup too wide)
If these appear in the correct size, the problem is width or last shape, not length. Trying a different brand, or going half a size down with a wider fit, often resolves it — and the difference in fit between a narrow-lasted and wide-lasted boot of the same size can be significant.
Sources: Stracker NH et al. (2023) — children's footwear sizing guidelines review · American Academy of Pediatrics guidance on foot growth rates · Mauch M et al. (2008), Gait & Posture — foot morphology in childhood