Tracing Games for Kids

Tracing activities provide a great way for children to learn how to spell words and identify objects, all while working on their fine motor skills such as grasping a pencil and learning how to write and draw.


By making a game out of a tracing activity you are adding a bit of fun competition into the learning process. Be sure to have a few prizes on hand such as stickers, small inexpensive toys, or maybe a great snack for everyone.

  1. Flashcard Tracing

    • Create or purchase a set of flashcards which have pictures of simple objects on them. These objects can range from shapes such as a square or a triangle, to animals, such as pigs, horses, and cows or other objects which children can easily identify.

      Divide the flashcards into groups of five and place them upside down in front of each child. Each child must turn the card over, identify what it is, and then trace over it on tracing paper. The first once to trace all five images correctly wins.

    Sentence Tracing

    • Write out several sentences on a piece of paper. Depending on the childrens&' reading levels, they can be quite simple like "Mom is happy," or a little more complicated like "Mom went to the store to buy food for dinner."

      Instruct each child to trace the sentences on the paper. The first person to correctly trace the sentences and then read the paper aloud correctly wins. This activity will simultaneously help them learn to spell and read .

    Online Shape Tracing

    • There are many sites online that offer shape tracing games. (See below for free online game tracing.) The user will see an image of a shape, the shape then disappears, and the user must then trace the shape as accurately as possible from memory. The player is then scored on the shape. After a player achieves a certain score, they are allowed to move onto the next tracing shape.

    Seasonal Tracing

    • Help kids learn about seasonal and holiday objects by playing a tracing game that involves shapes and objects that only come around once a year. For instance, during the holiday season, print out several holiday themed shapes from sources you can easily locate with an online search query.

      The children can make a game out of tracing the shapes by tracing, coloring, cutting, and then mounting them on construction paper. After they are mounted, the children must tell a story by each adding a sentence that uses the shape that they traced.

      This game will focus on fine motor and verbal skills of the children.

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