Six rows by default, each one a Christmas drawing on the left and the word beside it in hollow dotted letters sitting on a proper handwriting band: a light top line, a dashed midline and a solid baseline. Short words print twice across the row, longer ones once, and the rest of the line is left to write on.
Words, letters or numbers
Words is the default and gives festive vocabulary such as santa, star, robin, stocking, snowman and penguin, with the matching drawing at the start of the row. A child traces the dotted word and then writes it again on the line, which is why the row is longer than the word.
Letters prints a single letter repeated across each row, which is the sheet for a child still learning formation rather than spelling. Numbers prints the digits one to ten in the same way. Both keep the three line guideline band, so the letter height stays consistent.
Lower case or capitals
The Letters control switches the whole sheet between small letters and capitals. Lower case is what children are taught to write first in the UK and in most of Europe, and it is the default here. Capitals are easier to form and are often where a younger child starts in North America.
Mixing the two on one sheet was left out on purpose. A child learning to form letters benefits from one consistent model on the page in front of them.
Guidelines and paper
The three line band is the thing that makes a tracing sheet work. The dashed midline tells a child where an a, an e or an o should stop, and the solid baseline stops the whole word drifting downhill. Without it, tracing teaches the shape but not the size.
The Rows control sets five, six or seven rows. The letters stay the same size at all three; what changes is the space between the rows. Five leaves the most room, which suits a child who is still pressing hard and overshooting the line. Seven is for a child who is neat and needs the practice rather than the space.
Questions
- How many words are on a Christmas tracing worksheet?
- Six by default, one to a row with its own picture. The Rows control above the paper changes it to five, which leaves more space between the rows, or seven, which fits more practice on one page.
- Can I get capital letters instead?
- Yes. The Letters control switches the whole sheet between small letters and capitals. The handwriting guideline band stays the same either way, so the letter height is consistent down the page.
- Can a child trace numbers rather than words?
- Yes. The Trace control offers Words, Letters and Numbers. Numbers prints the digits one to ten as dotted outlines on the same guidelines, repeated along each row.
- Are the words the same on every sheet?
- No. A different set is drawn every time the page opens and every time Regenerate is pressed, so a child can trace a fresh six words a day without the sheet repeating.
- What is the dashed line in the middle for?
- It marks the x height, the point where letters such as a, c, e, o and s stop. Writing to it keeps the small letters the same size as each other and stops them growing to the full height of a letter like h or l.