These worksheets are used at our CEFA Early Learning schools for our 2 to 3 year old children (Junior Kindergarten One and Two), to prepare them for writing alphabet letters and numbers, amongst other things. They are the exact fine motor skills required for your child to learn to form letters.
This line specifically also teaches your child to follow the left to right direction as they will do when reading (in English), so it has an added benefit.
If your child is not attending our schools and you would like to try these at home, make sure you follow the directions indicated on the large letters (green means start, red means stop, and the arrows will point you in the right direction.
We teach this to our students one child at a time, as the teacher needs to observe to make sure the child is following the right directions (otherwise they are learning it and practicing it wrong, which will impact their writing skills in the future). Make sure you do the same so your child can learn to write the right way (no pun intended!)
You can download this practice sheet here.
Best Ages for This Activity
Two to three
How to Make It
What You Will Need
- Paper
- A printer
Let’s Get Started!
- Print the practice sheet
- Invite your child to practice writing
- Show them the practice sheet and invite them to trace it with their index finger first (without using a writing utensil first). Say “green says go” at the green dot, and “red says stop” at the red one. Also say “the arrow tells us to go this way” and try “gooooooo (as you trace with your finger) and stop! (as you arrive at the red dot)”.
- Now repeat the process with a writing utensil. Give them a fine felt marker if they are beginners, because a pencil is harder for them.
- Only do a maximum of two of these worksheets. If your child wants to keep working, invite them to draw at the back of their worksheet. Drawing is an excellent fine motor activity to prepare your child to write.
- If your child can perfectly follow the line without going (too) slowly, they are ready for a higher level of curves practice sheets next time (make sure you complete all the different curves for that level before moving on to the next level).
Learning Opportunities
This activity will give your child literacy skills: they will learn writing skills as they trace the letters and reading skills as they learn to follow from left to right.
Your child will also learn vocabulary by telling you about what they see on the page.
Extended Learning Opportunities
- Draw on the back of this practice sheet. This is great for their imagination and creativity, as well as for their fine motor skills. If you talk about the colours your child is using, it will also teach them math (colour recognition).
- Help your child make “snakes” or lines with play dough and “trace” the line on the practice sheet (where they drew) with the play dough lines. This will further reinforce your child’s understanding of this particular curve, as well as enhance their fine motor skills, which are essential for writing. you can find my homemade playdough recipe here.
- Use cereal, lentils or pony beads to follow the curve instead of tracing it. This will enhance their fine motor skills, which are essential for writing.
- Invite your child to cut the practice sheet (one finished) into a few pieces and then put the pieces back together (a home-made puzzle). This will help them acquire scissor skills.
- help your child write their name at the bottom of the practice sheet