Early learning
Letter D Tracing Worksheet
Printable tracing practice for capital D and lowercase d, on proper writing lines with dots showing where the pencil starts. D is for dog, duck, door. Print it straight away or save it as a PDF.
Four steps
How to practise the letter D
- 1
Say the stroke aloud
Straight line down, back to the top, then one big curve out and back to the bottom.
- 2
Trace the guided row
Start on the dot each time, not wherever is nearest.
- 3
Try the blank row
The second row has no guide, so the child writes it unaided.
- 4
Finish with a word
Trace dog to connect the letter to its sound.
Writing capital D and lowercase d
Capital D. Straight line down, back to the top, then one big curve out and back to the bottom.
Lowercase d. Round back to make the circle first, then a tall line down the right.
Say the instruction out loud while the child writes. A spoken cue is what a preschooler can actually follow, and it builds the habit of starting the stroke in the right place, which matters more than how tidy the first attempts look.
The mix-up to watch for
Lowercase d begins with the circle, not the line. That single rule separates it from b.
The sound D makes
A tap of the tongue behind the teeth, as in dog.
Pair the shape with the sound from the start. Tracing the letter while saying its sound links handwriting to phonics, so the practice does double duty. Words worth using here are dog, duck, door, dinosaur.
Where this fits
Work through the whole alphabet in whatever order suits, then move on to the name tracing worksheet, which uses the same writing lines for a child's own name. When guide letters are no longer needed, handwriting paper gives the same rulings blank.
Answers
Frequently asked questions
Lowercase d: Round back to make the circle first, then a tall line down the right.