Tracing Pictures for Kids: Spirals and Loops

This page is laid out like a small gallery with five framed pictures, and every picture is made of spirals or loops. The biggest frame holds a smiling snail whose shell winds round and round to the middle. Next to it a tall lollipop swirls from its edge to its center. Below them a bow loops out on both sides, a pretzel twists into its three holes, and a pinwheel turns its blades around a little circle. All five pictures are drawn in dashes, ready to be traced one frame at a time.

A spiral turns and turns again without stopping, and following it asks the hand to keep a steady, rounded movement over a long distance. That movement is the base of loops in joined handwriting and of letters such as e and l. Spirals are the hardest part, so the turns of the snail shell and the lollipop are spaced wide enough for a child's pencil. Tiny details, such as the salt on the pretzel, are printed solid, so the child is never asked to trace a mark smaller than a fingertip. Work frame by frame and let the child choose the order.

This printable PDF suits kindergarten and confident preschoolers who have already traced round pictures. It follows the zigzag page in the set and leads on to the trace-and-color picnic. Each finished frame also makes a lovely little picture to color in. Picture tracing follows the outline of whole pictures; abstract line practice, step-by-step drawing and numbered dot-to-dot have their own pages.