My family was first introduced to NIKE Free athletic shoes in Spring of 2012 when my niece Maddie and I attended the first ever NIKE Young Athletes Innovation Summit. To say that was an amazing once in a lifetime experience is putting mildly. Not only was the experience itself fantastic, but more important was what I learned about Nike FREE shoes and the technology that goes into making them. Nike Free has truly changed the way that I think about footwear. So needless to say, my family was thrilled beyond thrilled when Nike offered to let my nieces and nephew each design a custom pair of the Nike iD FREE 5.0 shoes. We have a very active family, so good athletic shoes are a must for us.
Shopping with tween and teen girls is always fun, but letting them custom design their own shoes online was a pretty neat experience. And one that was surprisingly very simple to do. During the design process, we were taken step-by-step through each part of the shoe and given the chance to choose colors and other design elements, all the way down to the laces. After making our design selections, there were several different views of the shoe available to look at. This feature was really great, and allowed us to get a real feel for what the shoe would look like.
The kids really enjoyed choosing what to put for the tongue top iD of each shoe. You have the option to keep the word NIKE on the tongue top, but we chose to customize it. Both Maddie and Becca are competition cheerleaders, so Becca went with ‘Becca Cheers’ and Maddie chose ‘ACA Stars’ for hers. Their brother, Nathaniel, is in a rock band and put ‘META4 Rocks’ on his shoes. I love how each kid’s personality really shows through in their shoes. As you can see, both Maddie and Becca are crazy for neon colors. Their shoes are super cute but border on being blinding out in the sun.
FREE Your Moves…
These shoes are fantastic for active kids with the Nike FREE Flex grooves that deliver full range-of-motion. They are perfect for jumping…
… and tumbling
…they’re even great for doing daily chores like feeding the goats and horses.
Nathaniel is sixteen and started his first job over the summer as a lifeguard at the local YMCA. As a lifeguard it’s really important that he stays fit, so his Nike FREE 5.0 running shoes have really helped him to meet his fitness goals. Even more than his sisters, Nathaniel has been raving about the comfort and fit of his new shoes. The Nike FREE 5.0 adaptable fit offers up a glove-like feel for the feet and the ultra-breathable mesh provides ventilation and comfort.
From Nike…We know our kids are flexible. That’s why we’re dedicated to producing footwear products that will help to keep them that way and support healthy muscle development as they grow. Our flexible footwear helps to increase foot strength, range of motion, and balance. The Free 5.0, our most popular flexible footwear product, enables kids to free their moves in shoes that flex and bend as much as they do. Truly, this shoe was designed with developing feet in mind, making it the ideal solution for unleashing young athletes’ potential and freeing their moves.
Think about this for a moment. If your feet flex, shouldn’t your shoes flex too? Nike FREE provides must have flexibility for young feet. With kids who like to run, jump, climb and play – Nike FREE lives up to the challenge and then some.
The kids in my family are thrilled with the FREE 5.0, and they’re not the only ones who are fans of FREE. My Mom and I have out own pairs, just to prove they are great shoes for kids of all ages. Visit Nike.com to design your own shoes.
disclosure: Nike provided us with shoes to review. All opinions are 100% my own. These shoes are truly awesome!
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My daughter would love to design her own shoes – maybe then she would even wear a pair of sneakers!
Very cool shoes! I totally want some as soon as the weather cools off and I start running again. It’s still 100+ degrees here in Dallas, but in about a month, it should be cool enough to run!
Oh so so jealous!! I WANT to do this too!!
I never saw this before but my boys would go nuts.
So cool that you were able to design your own shoe! I love the colors and the customization options available.
I like the colors, and the shoe models all look like they were having fun!
OMG I wish they had this when I was in high school! LOL! that is awesome! I’m totally checking these out, I love this idea 🙂
Okay seriously that is awesome! I don’t need more shoes but heading there now.
Oh my!!Designing your own shoes!!! How much cooler could it get than that?
love that you can design your own Nikes i love the designs they did and would love to design my each of us in my family a pair