Handwriting Worksheet Generator

Make handwriting and name tracing worksheets. Type any name or word, pick print or cursive, dotted or outline letters, and print at true size on A4 or Letter.


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10 practice rows with 14 mm letters. Print at 100 percent for true size.

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How name tracing teaches writing

A child learns a letter by making the same movement over and over until the hand does it without the head. Tracing gives that repetition a track to run on: the shape is already there, so all the attention goes into the movement rather than into remembering what the letter looks like. Starting with their own name is deliberate. It is the word they care most about, it is short, and it mixes a capital with lowercase letters, so it teaches letter height as well as letter shape from the very first sheet.

What the four guide lines mean

Every row has a top line for capitals and tall letters like l and h, a dashed middle line marking where lowercase letters stop, a solid baseline that letters sit on, and a faint descender line below for the tails of g, j, p, q and y. The dashed line does the real teaching: it is what tells a child that a only reaches halfway while b goes all the way up. Without it, letter proportions drift and handwriting stays uneven no matter how much practice is done.

Choosing the letter height

Younger hands need bigger letters because they are still using the whole arm rather than the fingers. Around 20 mm suits a three or four year old, 15 mm works at reception or kindergarten age, and by the time a child is writing sentences 10 to 12 mm is comfortable. Going smaller too early is the most common reason tracing sheets frustrate a child: the shapes stop being reachable and the pencil control needed simply is not there yet.

Print, cursive and the letters your device has

Print style uses a face with a single storey a, which is the shape children are taught to write, rather than the double storey a used in most printed books. Cursive uses a joined face. Both are drawn with the fonts installed on the device doing the printing, so the exact letterforms can differ slightly between a phone, a laptop and a school computer. If your school teaches a specific handwriting scheme, check a printed sheet against it before running off a class set.

Worth knowing

  • Print at 100 percent, not fit to page, or the letters will not be the height you asked for.
  • Trace once then copy is the better sheet once a child can already form the letters.
  • Solid grey is easier for a very young child than a dotted outline, which needs finer control.
  • Slip the sheet into a plastic wallet and it becomes reusable with a dry wipe pen.
  • Nothing is stored. The worksheet is drawn on our server and discarded as soon as it is sent.

Frequently Asked Questions

Type the name in the box, choose print or cursive, set the letter height and press make worksheet. The sheet fills with the name repeated on ruled guide lines, ready to print. At 15 mm letters an A4 page holds 9 practice rows, and at 10 mm it holds 14, so one sheet is usually a whole session.

Around 20 mm. Children of three and four write with the whole arm rather than the fingers, so they need shapes big enough to reach. Reception and kindergarten age is comfortable at about 15 mm, and once a child is writing sentences 10 to 12 mm is usually right. Making letters smaller too early is the most common cause of frustration.

Solid grey prints the letter as a light filled shape, which is the easiest to follow and best for a first attempt. Hollow outline gives just the edges, so the child has to stay inside them. Dotted outline is the traditional broken line and asks for the most control. Working down that order as a child improves is a natural progression.

Yes, switch letter style to cursive. Bear in mind the letters are drawn with a joined font installed on the device you print from, so the exact shapes may not match the specific scheme your school uses. If a scheme matters, print one sheet and compare it before making copies for a class.

Because the word was too long to fit across the page at that height. Rather than let it run off the edge, the sheet shrinks the letters and the guide lines together until the whole word fits, and tells you the size it used. Shortening the text or switching to landscape will get you back to the height you asked for.

They mark the x height, which is where lowercase letters stop. That single line is what teaches a child that a, c and e reach only halfway while b, d and l go up to the top line. It is the difference between letters that are the right shape and letters that are the right shape and the right size.

Yes, anything up to 40 characters. Spelling words, sight words, a short phrase or the days of the week all work. The limit exists so letters stay large enough to trace; a longer string would have to shrink so far that the tracing stops being useful practice.

No. The sheet is drawn on our server and uses whatever suitable fonts your device already has, preferring a print face with a single storey a and a joined face for cursive. That is why nothing needs downloading and why the letterforms can differ a little between devices.

How do you make a handwriting worksheet?

Type a name or word, choose print or cursive, pick a tracing style and print at 100 percent. This generator makes name tracing and handwriting practice sheets with four line guides, letter heights from 8 to 30 mm, on A4 or Letter. Everything is measured in millimetres so it prints at true size.