My 8 year old nephew is autistic and can be picky about how thing fit. He has a wide foot and were he was use to wearing Nike, as he has grown old we have had problems finding him shoes that were not tight on his feet and would stay tied at school etc. I saw these and read some the reviews and they seemed like a good choice. His mother and siblings are very picky about brands and when I told them I ordered him Sketchers they were not very happy. Once they arrived they actually liked them okay and the little one thought they were great. He tried them on and they were very comfortable and light weight. They have the elastic stretch shoe strings so he just has to slip his foot in and Velcro band that crosses the top. These worked out really great. He has no complaints with shoes. He loved the way they looked and they have held up well. He is not that tough on his shoes so I cannot speak for extremely active kids but they seem well made good sole and we are happy. He still wears them today. Love they came in different colors. We bought different ones.