Free · print at home · ages 3 to 5
Create free name tracing worksheets
Type your child's name, or a whole class, and print a tracing sheet for every name, with a green start dot and arrows on every letter.
One name a line, up to 30. Each name gets its own sheet.
Type a name to print its sheet.
The names stay on this page. They are drawn here, in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or saved, and when you close the page it is gone.
An example sheet: type a name above
On every sheet
Name tracing worksheets with start dots and arrows
Many name tracing makers print the name in a dotted font, with no sign of where to start. Ours draws every letter from the same strokes as our alphabet book, so each one shows where the pencil starts and which way it goes.
- The name on the roadEvery letter with its green start dot, its numbered lines and its arrows, the way our book shows them. Trace this row with a finger first.
- The name, fadingPaler rows to trace with a crayon or a pencil, a little fainter each time.
- Start dots onlyJust the dots where each line starts. Your child writes the name from them.
- Lines to write on aloneEmpty writing lines, under the words from the last page of our book: “Once upon a time, there was a child named”.
A short name comes up to four times on a row. A long one is drawn a little smaller, so it always fits the line. Black and white saves ink; in color, every letter keeps its own color from the book. Big letters suit children of 3 and 4, medium ones a child who already writes a little.
Name writing practice
How to teach a child to write their name
For many children, their name is the first word they want to write. Five short steps, with a sheet from the maker above.
Start with the first letter.
It is often the letter a child knows best, the one they spot on cereal boxes and on a friend's backpack. Trace that one until it feels easy, then add the next.
A capital first, then small letters.
That is how most US schools teach a name: Sam, not SAM. If your child already writes it all in capitals, that is a fine start, and the small letters come next. The maker does both.
Finger first, pencil later.
Trace the top row with a finger, from the green dot, the way the arrows go. Then a crayon or a pencil on the paler rows.
A little each day.
One row is plenty for a small child. Stop while it is still fun, and keep the sheet for tomorrow. A few minutes a day is enough.
Praise the try.
Praise the trying more than the neatness. A wobbly letter is still their letter. Put the sheet on the fridge next to last week's, so your child can see how far they have come.
Questions
Grown-ups ask
- Is this name tracing maker free?
- Yes. There is no sign-up, no email and no limit. Make as many name tracing worksheets as you like, for home or for a class.
- Does my child's name leave my computer?
- No. The sheets are drawn right here, in your browser, on your computer, phone or tablet. The names are not sent to us or to anyone else, they are not put in the page's address, and they are not saved: close the page and they are gone. When you press Print, we count that sheets were printed and how many, never the names.
- Can I make name tracing worksheets for a whole class?
- Yes. Type or paste up to 30 names, one name a line, and you get one sheet for each child, all in one print. Pick the size and the paper once and every sheet comes out the same.
- Which letter style do the sheets use?
- Plain upright print, the style most schools in the United States teach first: round letters and straight lines that do not join up. They are the same letters as our book, Catch the Letters!, with the same green dots and arrows, and the small a and g have one round part, the way children write them. If your child's school uses a different style, follow the school.
- What about names with accents, like Zoë or José?
- The accents are not drawn yet. The sheet draws the plain letter (e for ë) and prints the name at the top the way you typed it, accent and all, so you can add the accent with your child. Spaces, hyphens and apostrophes are drawn, so Anne-Marie and O'Brien work.
One letter at a time
Practicing one letter of the name? Every letter has its own page, with tracing worksheets, a coloring page and the letter writing itself in 3D. The ABC chart and the A to Z tracing booklet are on the alphabet page.
Our own book
Catch the Letters! A Bedtime Alphabet Book
By Katia Sunn · for grown-ups · coming soon
The book ends with your child writing their own name. The last page of the story says: “Once upon a time, there was a child named ______ who caught every letter, from a to z.”
Before that, every letter hides somewhere in the house, inside a thing that starts with its sound, and your child catches each one by tracing it with a finger.
Every letter page has a code: scan it with a phone or tablet and the letter comes into your room.