My child writes d for b. What helps?

Teach the two letters on different days, each with its own stroke order. Small d is around, up, down. Small b is down, up, around. Saying the order out loud while tracing does more than looking at the finished letters.

What words are on the D words sheet?

Six from dog, duck, doll, drum, dress, donut and dinosaur, in a different mix each time you print. Every one has a picture beside it.

Is capital D or small d harder?

Small d, because it starts with a curve and then needs a tall line in the right place. Let your child trace the capital rows first, then the small ones.

Letter D worksheets for preschool, free printable PDF

Letter D worksheets

Letter D tracing worksheet for preschool, capital and small letter on penmanship guides — The picture follows the options you pick. Tap to see another version.

Letter D worksheets for three, four and five year olds, in preschool or starting kindergarten. The first sheet traces capital D and small d as dotted outlines on alternate rows. The second shows six pictures, a dog or a drum, with words to trace.

Free printable PDF worksheet.

One page for every letter

Each letter has its own page, with its strokes in words, its sounds and, for most letters, a sheet of words that start with it.

The words you'll trace

Say each picture's name. Listen for the first sound. Then trace the word beside it.

dog
duck
doll
drum
dress
donut
dinosaur

Every picture's name starts with the letter's sound, and beside it the word is printed as a dotted outline on a writing guide. The key page writes the words out in ink.

These are every picture the sheet has for this letter. Each print takes 6 of the 7, so the next sheet is a different mix.

What's on each sheet

Letter tracing. Trace the letter on each line. Then write it yourself on the rest of the line. 6 rows per page.
Words that start with the letter. Say each picture's name. Listen for the first sound. Then trace the word beside it. 6 of the 7 words, a new mix every time you print.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

Every other letter prints from one form on Preschool letter tracing.

How to teach this

Capital D is a straight line and one big curve. Pull a line down from the top line to the bottom, go back to the top, and make one wide bump out to the right that comes back to meet the line at the bottom. Small d starts the other way round from b: make a c first, starting at the middle line, then go up to the top line and pull a long line straight down to the bottom, touching the curve. Say it as you go: around, up, down. The d sound is a tap of the tongue behind the top teeth, d, not duh. Dog, duck and doll all start with it.

Watch for: Small d and small b are the same two shapes facing opposite ways, so they get swapped. The fix is the order: d starts with the c, b starts with the line. A child who begins with the round part has made a d. Capital D drawn with the curve on the left becomes a backwards D. The straight line always comes first and stays on the left.

Common questions about letter D

My child writes d for b. What helps?: Teach the two letters on different days, each with its own stroke order. Small d is around, up, down. Small b is down, up, around. Saying the order out loud while tracing does more than looking at the finished letters.
What words are on the D words sheet?: Six from dog, duck, doll, drum, dress, donut and dinosaur, in a different mix each time you print. Every one has a picture beside it.
Is capital D or small d harder?: Small d, because it starts with a curve and then needs a tall line in the right place. Let your child trace the capital rows first, then the small ones.