Preschool Letter A Tracing Activity

The formation of letters is a key part of preschool and Kindergarten instruction The concept of letter formation is a very abstract concept for four year olds to grasp. Not to mention, holding a pencil or crayon can be difficult for little fingers. This preschool letter A tracing activity helps young children practice how to form the letter ‘A’ without needing to use a pencil or crayon.  It will also help develop fine motor coordination so little hands develop the strength to hold pencils and crayons properly.

Objective: Help three and four year olds become familiar with the way uppercase ‘A’ and lowercase ‘a’ are written.

Materials: Letter ‘A’ traceable worksheet.
Click here for the Uppercase Letter A Tracing Activity Printable and here for the Lowercase Letter A Tracing Activity Printable.
3 yards of yarn
Glue bottle

Directions: This activity uses repetition of motion to help children learn how the letters are formed. The first step is to show the child how letter is formed by tracing down the arrows with the pointer finger. Have the child copy the movements a couple of times. Next, help the child apply a line of glue, again following the arrows so that correct letter formation is mimicked. Follow this step by having the child spread the glue with a finger – again following the arrows. The repetition of the letter formation throughout this activity is what will help the child become familiar with how the letter is formed. Finally, it’s time to apply the string. Again, be sure to have the child place the string following the proper letter construction pattern. Place the string in the letter form several times.

This activity is a fast and simple way of introducing the way the letter ‘A’ is constructed. The repetition of movement, while doing different things, helps little fingers get used to how the letter is created. This activity should be used as an introduction to how the letter is formed. This activity should not replace actual writing practice.

My preschooler was really excited to do this activity. Although she didn’t enjoy spreading the glue so much, she enjoyed making the letter shapes with her finger, with the glue bottle, and with the string. She was very thoughtful as she placed her string. She wanted to make sure it was just right and so she took her time.

She was also very excited and proud of how her letters ended up. My preschooler also liked that she could feel the letters because of the texture of the strings. She declared the project “fridge worthy” and proudly displayed her A’s on the fridge. She thought it was cool to have some “homework” to display next to the fridge worthy papers made by her brothers and sister.  My preschooler always seems to be excited to learn and do new things. It really is so much fun to watch her learn and grow every day.

We also did this activity with a three year old girl. She needed a lot more help with the tracing and placing of the string. However, the repetitions built into the activity made it so that by the end of the activity, she was able to make the movements to form the letter ‘A’.