What is a number tracing worksheet?

A sheet of numerals printed as dotted outlines to trace, one number to a row, with the rest of the row free to write the number alone. This page prints 1 to 10, 11 to 20, 0 to 9 or 1 to 20.

What age is number tracing for?

Three to five. Most preschoolers start with 1 to 10 after they can trace lines and shapes; the 11 to 20 range is for kindergarten.

How is this different from counting?

Tracing is the hand learning the shape of the numeral. Counting is knowing how many. The preschool counting sheets on the math side do the second job; this sheet does the first.

Which range for a preschooler?

1 to 10 first, then 0 to 9 for the zero. 11 to 20 is a kindergarten range; the 1 to 20 sheet puts two numbers on each row for a child who has both.

A dotted outline shows where the pencil goes without covering the paper, so the traced number reads as the child's own. It is the style most classrooms use.

Preschool number tracing

Preschool number tracing worksheets

Number tracing for preschool, for three and four year olds, prints the numerals as dotted outlines on penmanship guides, one number per row, with room after the trace to write it alone. Choose 1 to 10, 0 to 9, 11 to 20, or 1 to 20 with two numbers on every row.

Free printable PDF worksheet.

One page for every number

Each number from 1 to 20 has its own page, with its strokes in words, the mix-ups to watch for and a sheet of that one numeral to trace. The numbers 1 to 10 are preschool pages and 11 to 20 kindergarten ones.

The kind of words you'll practice

Trace each number across the line. Then write it yourself on the rest of the line.

12345678

Each word appears twice in light gray for tracing, then once as a blank line for writing it without help.

This sheet doesn't change from one print to the next. The same choices always give the same page, so a whole group can work from matching copies.

What's on a preschool sheet

Number tracing. Trace each number across the line. Then write it yourself on the rest of the line. 10 rows per page.

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

How to teach this

Trace 1 to 10 with a finger first, saying each number. Then a fat pencil or crayon, one row at a time, and stop while it is still fun. 0 to 9 is the set the child will meet on a phone and a clock; 1 to 10 is the counting set. Either order works.

Watch for: A number is a shape before it is a quantity. Say the number's name on each trace, but do not turn the row into a counting lesson; the counting pages do that. Reversed numbers, 3 and 7 especially, are normal at this age. Fix them by watching the start point, not by erasing the result.

Common questions about preschool number tracing

What is a number tracing worksheet?: A sheet of numerals printed as dotted outlines to trace, one number to a row, with the rest of the row free to write the number alone. This page prints 1 to 10, 11 to 20, 0 to 9 or 1 to 20.
What age is number tracing for?: Three to five. Most preschoolers start with 1 to 10 after they can trace lines and shapes; the 11 to 20 range is for kindergarten.
How is this different from counting?: Tracing is the hand learning the shape of the numeral. Counting is knowing how many. The preschool counting sheets on the math side do the second job; this sheet does the first.
Which range for a preschooler?: 1 to 10 first, then 0 to 9 for the zero. 11 to 20 is a kindergarten range; the 1 to 20 sheet puts two numbers on each row for a child who has both.
Why dotted outlines?: A dotted outline shows where the pencil goes without covering the paper, so the traced number reads as the child's own. It is the style most classrooms use.