Tracing Words

Learning how to write takes time and practice. Tracing words is one activity that teachers and parents  can use to give their students help with proper writing skills.

Tracing is a self-guided task that ensures students learn the correct way to form letters.  It helps them to form straight lines, whether they're vertical, horizontal, or diagonal.  It can also help them to improve their curved lines for trickier letters like "s" or "c".  Even more importantly, it shows your child how to position letters (above the line, below the dashed, etc.) correctly on a sheet of writing paper.

Our son had trouble with writing for the longest time. He had developed some bad habits with pencil grip and it showed in his letters.

Whenever he was able to trace the letters, he wrote wonderfully.  Eventually, he was able to give up the tracing and he now writes words with the grace and style of most any 3rd Grader.  (Which is to say it could still use some work!)  Although, now we have started working on tracing cursive words and letters!  (He's not thrilled about it.)

Print out these worksheets below to give your child the same opportunity to develop quality handwriting skills.

Tracing Words - Worksheets

The papers are divided up into different sections.  There are various categories of sight words ranging from pre-primer to 3rd grade level and then some general education words that can be used with some of the other lessons on our site such as learning about numbers and colors.

Each paper has one line for tracing words followed by a blank line that students can use to practice their handwriting.  If you find that your child is struggling with a particular letter, you can also create your own words by printing out the 3-lined paper template below.

Tracing Pre-Primer Sight Words

This group of words focuses on the Pre-Primer sight words.  I created these for our son to use when he was first learning to read. For more worksheets covering sight words be sure to see the link at the bottom of this page.

Tracing General Education Words

The words on these tracing worksheets are grouped by different themes. There are word groups of colors, numbers, directions, and some holiday-themed words too. These words can be used with other lessons found throughout the site. For example, if you're working on colors or numbers, you can take a break from some of the worksheets by using one of these word tracing activities.  You're still working on the same concept, but you've introduced it in a new way.

This is just a small sample of all the tracing worksheets that I have created. There are plenty more available for you to practice handwriting with your child.  You can find them and more lessons including sight words and cursive handwriting on the pages here: