Free · print at home · ages 3 to 5
Letter A worksheets and tracing
The first letter of the alphabet, and the one that tumbles out of the apple.
“Out tumbles a, right off the table, doing a little cartwheel.”
Watch it write itself
See a write itself
It starts at the green dot and goes the way the arrows go, in the same order your child traces it. Press Slowly and follow it with a finger.
Tap A to see the capital write itself too.
On a phone or tablet, Bring it into your room puts the letter on your floor or table, through the camera. No app to install.
How to write it
How to write a and A, in words
One line for each stroke, to read aloud while your child traces. On the sheets: the top line, the dashed middle line, and the base line, where the letters sit. If your child's school uses a different style, follow the school.
Small a
- Start at the green dot, just under the middle line on the right. Go up and round to the left, down to the base line, and all the way round, back up to the dot.
- Dot 2: go straight down the right side of the circle, from the middle line to the base line.
Capital A
- Start at the green dot on the top line. Slant down to the left, to the base line.
- Dot 2: start at the top again and slant down to the right.
- Dot 3: go straight across, from left to right, a little below the middle line.
Print · free, no sign-up
Letter A tracing worksheets and coloring page
Five sheets for A and a: tracing the capital and the small letter, the small a only, the capital A only, a coloring page and a find every a page. US Letter and A4, black and white first, then color.
Letter A a tracing worksheet
A and a on the road with arrows, then fainter, then from the dots alone. Then the word apple.
1 page · PDF
Small a only
Four rows of a, from the road to the dots alone. Then the word apple.
1 page · PDF
Capital A only
Four rows of A, from the road to the dots alone, and a line to write on.
1 page · PDF
Letter A coloring page
A big A and a with eyes to color, and a box to draw the apple it hides in.
1 page · PDF · black and white
Find every a
A page of letters, many of them look-alikes. Color every a, then count them. The answer is upside down.
1 page · PDF · black and white
Free for home and classroom use. To pass them on, please share the link to this page and not the file. The whole alphabet at once (the ABC chart, the A to Z tracing booklet and the desk strip) is on the alphabet page.
For show and tell
Things that start with A
Everyday things a child can carry to school for letter A day. The first one is where a hides in our book.
- acorn
- airplanea toy one
- action figure
- albumof family photos
- alarm clock
- apron
- anchora toy one
- armbandfor swimming
- avocado
- astronauta toy one
- alphabet puzzle
The book's game, with no screen
- Print the letter. The coloring page works well: your child colors it first, then it goes into hiding.
- While nobody is looking, hide it in something that starts with its sound: in the fruit bowl under an apple, or in an apron pocket.
- Say the sound together, as the book does: “a, a, a... Where can a be?” When your child finds it, they trace it with a finger and shout “Got you, little a!”
Animals
Animals that start with A
Tap one with an arrow to meet it on our dinosaur pages.
- alligator
- ant
- anteater
- antelope
- armadillo
- alpaca
- albatross
- axolotla salamander from Mexico
- aardvarkit eats ants and termites
- Ankylosaurusan armored dinosaur with a club on its tail
- Apatosaurusa long neck dinosaur
Good to know
Why does a look different in books?
Look at the a in a storybook. It often has a little hook over the top. That is the printed a.
Children write the simple one: a circle, then a line down the right side. That is the a on our sheets and in our book.
Both are the same letter. Show your child the two side by side, and they'll start spotting the printed one everywhere.
Questions
Grown-ups ask
- How do you write a lowercase a?
- Start just under the middle line on the right. Go up and round to the left, all the way round to make a circle, then draw a straight line down the right side. The letter on this page writes itself in that order, and the sheets show it with a green start dot and arrows.
- What can my child bring for letter A show and tell?
- An apple is the easy one, and it's where a hides in our book. An acorn from the park, a toy airplane, an action figure or an alarm clock work too.
- What animals start with A?
- Alligator, ant, anteater, armadillo, alpaca and axolotl are good ones to start with. Two dinosaurs too: Ankylosaurus, with the club on its tail, and Apatosaurus, with its long neck.
More letters
Our own book
Catch the Letters! A Bedtime Alphabet Book
By Katia Sunn · for grown-ups · coming soon
In the book, a hides in the apple. Your child finds it, traces it with a finger, and catches it. Every letter hides somewhere in the house, inside a thing that starts with its sound.
Every letter page has a code: scan it with a phone or tablet and the letter comes into your room.