Handwriting Practice Worksheets: From Tracing to Cursive

Good handwriting is built in order: first the hand learns to follow a line, then to draw numbers and letters the right way, and later to join the letters. This guide follows those steps with real pages made with the free handwriting worksheet generator.

The four steps of handwriting practice

Worksheet	Ages	What the child does
Pencil control	3 to 6	Follows dotted lines from the dot to the star
Trace the numbers	3 to 7	Traces 0 to 9, with circles to colour for the youngest
Capital letters	4 to 7	Traces the alphabet with the stroke order
Lowercase letters	5 to 7	Traces letters on 4 writing lines
Cursive letters	6 to 10	Traces joined letters, then writes them alone
Cursive words	6 to 11	Traces words, then sentences, and copies them

The handwriting worksheets of the LogikLand generator and their ages.

Pencil control lines

Before letters, the child learns to hold the pencil and to follow a path without lifting it. Each line starts at a dot and ends at a star: straight lines, waves, bridges, zigzags and loops. There are 4 big lines per page at ages 3-4, 5 at ages 4-5 and 6 at ages 5-6.

Pencil control worksheet for ages 3-4 with four big dotted lines to trace from the dot to the star — Pencil control, ages 3-4

Capital letter tracing worksheet for ages 4-5 with the starting dot and numbered strokes on the model letter — Capital letters with stroke order, ages 4-5

Numbers and letters with stroke order

The first letter of each line is the model: it shows where to start, the number of each stroke and its direction. Then come dotted letters to trace. At ages 3-5 the letters are big and every box is dotted; from ages 5-6 they are smaller and the last boxes are empty, so the child writes alone. Lowercase letters sit on 4 writing lines, so the child sees which letters go up and which go down.

Lowercase letter tracing worksheet for ages 5-6 on four writing lines, with empty boxes at the end of each line — Lowercase letters, ages 5-6

Cursive words worksheet for ages 8-9: words to trace in grey, then to copy on an empty line — Cursive words, ages 8-9

Tip

Ask the child to put a finger on the starting dot and say the stroke numbers before tracing the letter.

Cursive letters and words

From ages 6-7 the child can start joined-up writing: one cursive letter per group, a black model, grey letters to trace, then room to write alone. The cursive words page follows: short words of up to 5 letters at ages 6-7, longer words after, and short sentences at ages 9-11. The cursive follows the school font of the language you choose, for example American cursive in English or French school cursive on Seyès lines.

Tips for a good practice session

Short pages, every day

A few lines done carefully help more than a long page done in a hurry.

Let the alphabet continue

Click New worksheet to move on to the next letters or numbers: the alphabet continues from page to page.

Start with the child’s name

Children like to write their own name. The free name tracing worksheet maker makes a page with the name, its starting dots and stroke numbers. For a whole book with alphabet games and spelling, see how to make a handwriting workbook.

Questions

What should a child trace before letters?

Lines. The pencil control pages have dotted lines to follow from the dot to the star: straight lines, waves, bridges, zigzags and loops. They exist for ages 3 to 6.

Do the worksheets show the stroke order?

Yes. On the number and letter pages, the model shows the starting dot, the number of each stroke and an arrow in its direction.

Which cursive is used?

The school cursive of the language you choose: American cursive in English, French school cursive on Seyès lines in French, and the school fonts of Spain, Germany and Italy.

Can my child trace their own name?

Yes, with the free name tracing worksheet maker. In the handwriting workbook, you can also type the first name in the book settings.

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Sources

This article is based on LogikLand's own puzzle generators.

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