Straight-Line Picture Tracing: Down, Across and Slanted

The page is divided into three columns, and a round badge at the top of each one shows an arrow. The first column points down and holds a wardrobe and a tall cabinet, pictures made mostly of upright lines. The middle column points across and holds a park bench and a chest of drawers, full of flat lines. The last column points on a slant and holds an envelope and a star, made almost only of slanted lines. Every picture is drawn in dashes and built almost only from straight lines.

Children learn straight lines in a set order: first down, then across, then slanted, and a slanted line is the hardest of the three. This page follows that order from left to right, so the child practices each direction in a real picture rather than in a row of abstract strokes. The upright lines of the wardrobe prepare l and t, the flat lines of the drawers prepare E and the crossbar of t, and the slants of the star prepare v, w and k. Ask the child to say the direction aloud while tracing: down, across, slanted.

This printable PDF suits kindergarten and children who already trace round shapes with ease. It sits naturally between the round-and-round page and the zigzag page, where slanted lines meet in sharp points. Every picture here was measured to be mostly straight lines, and mostly in its own column's 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.