Tracing shapes builds the pencil control that writing needs: the round stroke of a circle becomes the letter o, the straight lines of a square and a triangle become the lines of letters like E, A and V. Every row on this sheet shows one shape in color with its name, then three dotted copies to trace, then an empty box where the child draws the shape alone.

Set Shapes to Basic shapes for a circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval and diamond, to More shapes for a star, heart, crescent, pentagon, hexagon and cross, or to Mixed for all twelve. Choose four, five or six rows on a page; no shape repeats until the set runs out.

Press New sheet for another mix, or click a row to pick its shape. There is no answer key: every row shows exactly what to trace. Every sheet prints in color or black and white, on US Letter or A4. Nothing to sign up for.

12 ready-to-print sheets

• Shape tracing · Basic shapes · 6 rows
• Shape tracing · Basic shapes · 6 rows · set 2
• Shape tracing · Basic shapes · 6 rows · set 3
• Shape tracing · Basic shapes · 4 rows
• Shape tracing · Basic shapes · 5 rows
• Shape tracing · More shapes · 6 rows
• Shape tracing · More shapes · 6 rows · set 2
• Shape tracing · More shapes · 4 rows
• Shape tracing · More shapes · 5 rows
• Shape tracing · Mixed shapes · 6 rows
• Shape tracing · Mixed shapes · 6 rows · set 2
• Shape tracing · Mixed shapes · 5 rows