Letter tracing worksheets

How letter tracing worksheets help

Letter tracing gives a child a path to follow while their hand learns a new movement. Each sheet here has the letter in large print, a row of dotted letters that run along the centre of each stroke, and space underneath to try it alone. Children trace the shape several times, feel where it starts and which way it goes, and then make it from memory. That last step turns a traced shape into a letter they own.

Every letter from A to Z has its own page with four sheets: capital and lowercase together, a page of capitals, a page of lowercase letters, and a page of three simple words that start with the letter. You can print just one, or the whole alphabet as a single PDF from the alphabet tracing set.

Capital letters first, or lowercase?

Both approaches are common, and both work.

Many preschool programmes start with capitals because most are made of straight lines and simple curves, which young hands find easier. Capitals are also bigger and all the same height, so there is less to think about. Handwriting Without Tears, used in many US schools, follows this order.

Others start with lowercase letters, because lowercase makes up almost all of the text children read. A child who learns only capitals often writes everything in capitals for a long time, and the habit can be hard to break.

A balanced approach that suits most families: teach the capital and lowercase forms of the letters in your child’s name first, then move through the alphabet in groups, practising both forms together. Each letter page here shows the two side by side for exactly this reason.

Teaching letters in families

Teaching letters from A to Z is tidy, but it is not the easiest order. Grouping letters that are made the same way means each new letter builds on the last.

Straight-line letters. Capital L, T, I, E, F and H use only vertical and horizontal lines. They are the easiest place to start.

Around letters. Lowercase c, o, a, d, g and q all begin the same way: start just below the top of the letter and curve back to the left, like a c. Once c is mastered, the others follow quickly. This family also fixes one of the most common formation problems, drawing o clockwise from the bottom.

Down-and-up letters. r, n, m, h and b start with a line down, then go back up the same line before branching out. Children learn to retrace without lifting the pencil.

Slanted letters. v, w, x, k and z, and the capitals A, M, N, V, W, X, Y and Z use diagonal lines, which develop later than straight ones. Leave these until vertical and horizontal lines are confident.

Tail letters. g, j, p, q and y drop below the baseline. These teach children that not every letter sits on the line.

The letter pages are grouped by these families on this page, so you can work through one family at a time.

Where each letter starts

Most problems with letter formation come from starting in the wrong place. A few rules cover nearly every letter:

• Start at the top. Almost every letter, capital or lowercase, begins at the top and moves down.
• Round letters go anticlockwise. For c, o, a, d, g, q, and the capitals C, G, O, Q and S, the pencil moves to the left first.
• Lift as few times as possible. Lowercase letters like n, m, h, r and b retrace up the first line instead of lifting.
• Dots and crosses come last. Write the body of i, j, t and f first, then go back for the dot or cross.

Each letter page describes the strokes in order, so you can say them aloud together: “Down the stick, back up, over and down” for n.

Common letter mix-ups

b and d. The most famous pair. A useful trick is the word “bed”: make a thumbs-up with both hands, knuckles facing each other, and the left hand is a b, the right hand a d, with the “bed” between them. Teaching d as “c, then up and down” also separates it from b.

p and q. Similar to b and d, flipped downward. Practising q as a member of the “around” family (start like c) helps.

Backwards s, z, j and N. These are very common until about age seven and usually fade with practice. Keep a model in view and show the starting point.

Capital I, lowercase l and number 1. In many fonts these look alike. In handwriting, capital I usually has short crossbars, which makes it clearly different.

Reversals before age seven are part of normal development, not a sign of a problem on their own.

A routine for one letter

A simple routine for learning one new letter:

1. Say the letter’s name and sound. “This is b. It says /b/, like ball.”
2. Write it in the air. Use a big arm movement, then smaller with one finger.
3. Trace it. Trace the dotted letters on the sheet slowly, saying the strokes aloud.
4. Write it alone. On the empty rows, write the letter several times without dots.
5. Find it. Hunt for the letter in a book, on a cereal box or on signs.
6. Use it. Trace one of the three words on the words sheet, such as “bat” or “bus”.

One new letter, or two, a week is a comfortable pace for most preschoolers, with lots of quick review of letters already learned.

The words on each sheet

Every letter’s fourth sheet has three short words that begin with that letter, chosen to be simple, familiar and mostly made of letters children meet early. For most letters these are three-letter words such as “cat”, “dog” or “sun”. Tracing whole words shows children that letters are building blocks for something meaningful, and it gives early readers practice with sounds at the same time.

When to move from tracing to writing

Tracing is useful for a few weeks per letter, not forever. A child is ready to move on when they can write a letter correctly from memory, starting in the right place, on two or three different days. At that point, switch to the handwriting worksheets, which have one dotted row and more empty space, or use letters in your child’s own name with the name tracing maker.

Games that make letters stick

Short games between worksheets keep letter learning fresh:

• Letter of the day. Choose one letter in the morning and spot it everywhere: on number plates, food packets and street signs. Count how many you find by bedtime.
• Body letters. Make letters with arms and legs, or lie on the floor together to make a T or an X.
• Feely letters. Write a letter with a finger on your child’s back and let them guess it, then swap.
• Rainbow tracing. Trace one sheet in three colours, one over the other, so a single page gives three rounds of practice.
• Sound match. Put out three objects and ask which one starts with the letter on today’s sheet.

Tracing for reluctant writers

Some children resist worksheets. For them, start away from paper: trace letters in a tray of salt or sand, with a finger in shaving foam, or with a paintbrush and water on a chalkboard. Then come back to the sheet for just one row, and stop while it is still easy. Letting a child choose the colour of pencil, or the letter, often turns a battle into a game.

Other tracing pages

For children who are not yet ready for letters, lines and shapes build the pencil control letters need. For numbers, see number tracing 0 to 20. Older children who know their print letters can move on to joined writing with cursive letters.

Printing tips

Every letter sheet prints on US Letter or A4, in black and white. Print at actual size so the letters keep their intended size. The dots print in a light grey that stays clear without using much ink. For letters that need extra practice, a plastic sleeve and a dry-wipe marker turn one printout into many sessions.