Free · print at home · ages 3 to 5
Letter P worksheets and tracing
One long leg going down and a round, puffy head: the letter under your pillow.
“You lift the pillow... and out pops p, with a round, puffy head and one long leg.”
Watch it write itself
See p 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 P 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 p and P, 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 p
- Start at the green dot on the middle line. Go straight down, past the base line, to the line below.
- Dot 2, on the line halfway between the middle line and the base line: go up and round to the right, down to the base line and back to the first line.
Capital P
- Start at the green dot on the top line. Go straight down to the base line.
- Dot 2: from the top of the line, go out to the right and round a bump, back to the line at the middle line.
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Letter P tracing worksheets and coloring page
Five sheets for P and p: tracing the capital and the small letter, the small p only, the capital P only, a coloring page and a find every p page. US Letter and A4, black and white first, then color.
Letter P p tracing worksheet
P and p on the road with arrows, then fainter, then from the dots alone. Then the word pillow.
1 page · PDF
Small p only
Four rows of p, from the road to the dots alone. Then the word pillow.
1 page · PDF
Capital P only
Four rows of P, from the road to the dots alone, and a line to write on.
1 page · PDF
Letter P coloring page
A big P and p with eyes to color, and a box to draw the pillow it hides in.
1 page · PDF · black and white
Find every p
A page of letters, many of them look-alikes. Color every p, 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 P
Everyday things a child can carry to school for letter P day. The first one is where p hides in our book.
- pencil
- paintbrush
- puzzle piece
- pinecone
- puppet
- pear
- postcard
- piggy bank
- penny
- pom-pom
- pajamas
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: under a pillow, in a pocket, or inside a paper bag.
- Say the sound together, as the book does: “p, p, p... Where can p be?” When your child finds it, they trace it with a finger and shout “Got you, little p!”
Animals
Animals that start with P
Tap one with an arrow to meet it on our dinosaur pages.
- penguin
- pig
- panda
- parrot
- peacock
- polar bear
- puffin
- porcupine
- platypusa mammal that lays eggs
- python
- Pachycephalosaurusa dinosaur with a thick, bony dome on its head
- plesiosaura sea reptile with four flippers, not a dinosaur
Good to know
p, q, b or d?
Four letters, nearly the same shape turned around: b, d, p and q. Children mix them up for a while, and that's normal.
The way they start tells them apart. p starts with the line, going down below the base line, then the round part. q starts with the round part, like a, and then the line goes down.
It's the same rule as b and d: one letter of each pair starts with the line, its partner starts with the circle.
Questions
Grown-ups ask
- How do you write a lowercase p?
- Start on the middle line and go straight down, past the base line, to the line below. Then start again on that line, halfway between the middle line and the base line, and go up and round to the right, back to the line.
- How do I help my child tell p from q?
- Teach the start. p starts with the line going down, then the round part. q starts with the round part, like a, then the line. Say it while your child traces: line first for p.
- What starts with P for show and tell?
- A pillow (where p hides in our book), a pencil, a paintbrush, a pinecone, a puppet, a pear, a postcard or a piggy bank.
More letters
Our own book
Catch the Letters! A Bedtime Alphabet Book
By Katia Sunn · for grown-ups · coming soon
In the book, p hides in the pillow. 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.