The Starakis are not the best for young children, but they are fine as an alternative to sports shoes. The design is simply perfect. The second time my little one wore them, she had gym class and complained that they hurt her heel a little. I didn't understand exactly how to determine the size from the "find your size online" method... luckily, we went to a store and tried them on. If we had relied on the measurements provided by the size chart online, we would have gotten them two sizes too big.