Picture Tracing for Kindergarten: Where Do I Start?

A staircase runs down the page from the top left corner to the bottom right, and on every step there is one simple picture: a flag at the top, then a heart, a stocking and a bell at the bottom. Each picture is made of only one, two or three lines. Every line begins with a solid dot and has a small arrow beside it showing which way to go, and a sample dot and arrow in the top corner explains the sign. Where two lines start at the same point, they share one dot with two arrows.

Knowing where to start a line and which way to go is the habit that later makes letters easy to form. On this page most lines start at their top or left end, and round lines start near the top right and go round anticlockwise, the same rules children meet in handwriting. The pictures were drawn stroke by stroke for this purpose, so there are no confusing extra lines. Ask the child to put a finger on each dot first, follow the arrow with the finger, and only then trace. Work down the stairs one step at a time.

This printable PDF suits kindergarten and children who are getting ready to write letters. It is deliberately light, because the lesson is the order of the lines rather than their length. Afterwards, any page in the set can be traced with the same habit: find the start, follow the direction. Picture tracing follows the outline of whole pictures; abstract line practice, step-by-step drawing and numbered dot-to-dot have their own pages.