Pencil and scissor practice for preschool and kindergarten, before letters. Six tracing sheets build pencil control: straight lines, circles, dotted patterns and curvy paths to stay inside. Three cutting sheets go from straight lines to zigzags, waves and steps. Nine free sheets, black and white.
Ready for letters? The Print Handwriting Workbook has 83 pages for $7.
Tracing linesHelp each animal get to the bottom, then trace tall and short lines from the start dot. The first stroke of most letters.
Download PDF
Tracing linesGo around from the top the way the arrow shows: rings, then ovals, then your own. The stroke for a, c, d, g, o and q.
Download PDF
Tracing linesRows of dotted waves, zigzags, loops and bumps to trace from the big dot without lifting the pencil.
Download PDF
Tracing linesMore rows and tighter patterns, for a child who can already follow the easy rows.
Download PDF
Tracing linesDraw a line down the middle of each wide, curvy lane to bring the animal its snack, without touching the sides.
Download PDF
Tracing linesNarrower lanes with more bends. Stay inside the lines all the way across.
Download PDF
CuttingFive straight dotted lines from the scissors to a picture. The first cutting sheet for a child new to scissors.
Download PDF
CuttingZigzag and wavy lines to cut. The child turns the paper with the helper hand at each bend.
Download PDF
CuttingOne of each: straight, zigzag, wave, steps and hills, the hardest cutting sheet in the set.
Download PDF
Tracing Lines: Down and Tracing Circles above are pages from the workbook. The workbook starts with six first-strokes pages (lines down, lines across, slanted lines, humps and cups, circles, shapes), then uses those strokes to teach every letter and number.
Mix one pencil sheet and one scissor sheet a day. Stop while the child still wants more.
Before a child can write letters, the hand has to make a few strokes on purpose: a line down, a line across, a circle, a curve. Tracing lines practises those strokes on their own, with a dot to show where the pencil starts, so that when letters come the strokes are already there.
Cutting works the same small muscles of the hand. A child who can cut along a line can usually control a pencil better too. The cutting sheets start with straight lines and end with steps and hills, where the paper has to turn.
The two stroke pages come from the Print Handwriting Workbook, which teaches every letter with the same strokes. When the strokes are easy, move on to the letter formation worksheets and the number tracing worksheets. For alphabet rows and a generator, see the tracing worksheets; for scissor work with letters and pictures, see the cut and paste worksheets.
More for writing: letter formation worksheets (kindergarten), number tracing worksheets (kindergarten), draw and write worksheets (kindergarten), sentence writing worksheets (grades Kâ1), picture writing prompts (grades 1â2), handwriting practice worksheets (grades 1-2), topic sentence worksheets (grades 3â5), graphic organizers for planning, grammar worksheets, and the rest of the writing printables.
They are the lines and shapes letters are made of: straight lines down and across, slanted lines, circles and curves, and crosses. Children practise them before writing letters, starting at a dot and going in one direction.
About 3 to 5, preschool and kindergarten. The tracing sheets work as soon as a child can hold a crayon. The cutting sheets need child-safe scissors and a grown-up nearby.
Thumb on top, fingers underneath, and elbow close to the body. Open and close the scissors with the cutting hand while the other hand holds the paper and turns it. Start with straight lines and short snips before curves.
Either. Thick crayons and short pencils are easier for small hands to grip. The dotted rows are drawn thick enough for a crayon.
No. There is nothing to mark right or wrong. Praise a steady line and a careful cut more than speed.
Printable Scholar