My toddler and i do parent-child swim classes at the Y and I wanted her to have some water sandal type of shoe to walk through locker room/shower area to and from the pool. I was nervous about flip-flops in a two and a half year old but could not find any super-easy to put on-off water shoes or sandals, so tried these. So happy! What the photo does not show you is that at least for toddler size, there is a strap on the back so the shoe will not come off! And, it's easy enough for my daughter to put them on and take them off herself. The thong part seems comfortable and she likes them. These are our new pool shoes and we are happy!