Word Templates

Shape Tracing Worksheets: 10 Free Printables for Preschool and Kindergarten

Preview every worksheet, choose colour or black and white and your paper size, then download your shape tracing worksheets in one small ZIP file.

Made by a teacherA4 and US Letter10 worksheetsFree

Published 15 November 2026 · By Patrick Elliott

Can’t find the template you need? Request a template and I’ll make it in Word, free.

Get new free printables first: follow Word Made Easy on Pinterest

These free shape tracing worksheets help preschool and kindergarten children learn to draw the basic shapes: one page each for the circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, diamond, star and heart, a four-shape review page and a trace and color picture, on US Letter and A4, in colour and in black and white. I’m Patrick Elliott, a teacher and Inclusion Lead. I drew every shape myself, set the dots one by one so they never blur on the page, and printed each worksheet to check that the dots are clear enough for a crayon.

In this guide, you’ll find what each tracing shapes worksheet practises, which order to use them in, and simple ways to turn them into a shapes lesson.

What’s in the Shape Tracing Worksheets

👉 Every trace shape has a green start dot and an arrow, and the dots fade from dark to faint across each row, so children need a little less help each time. The shape names are ordinary Word text in Century Gothic.

What Do the Shape Tracing Worksheets Practise?

Tracing shapes is one of the first pre-writing skills: the straight lines, corners and curves of a square, a triangle or a circle are the same strokes children later use to write letters and numbers. Each worksheet follows one simple pattern. Children look at the coloured shape and say its name, trace the same shape three times as the dots get lighter, then draw it on their own in the empty box. The green start dot and arrow show where to begin and which way to go: round for the circle, oval and heart, along the top for the square and rectangle, and point to point for the star. The shapes are original drawings by Patrick Elliott for Word Made Easy.

Which Shapes Worksheet for Preschool Should You Use?

• Trace the Circle, Square, Triangle and Rectangle: the four core shapes, one page each with four rows to trace.
• Trace the Oval, Diamond, Star and Heart: the next four shapes, with curves, slanted sides and sharp points.
• Trace the Shapes: a review page with the circle, square, triangle and rectangle on one sheet.
• Trace and Color the Shapes: a dotted picture of a house, sun, kite, star and tree made from all eight shapes, with a color key (A4 files say colour).
• For more pre-writing practice, the name tracing worksheets and the alphabet worksheets come in the same style.

How to Use the Shape Tracing Worksheets

1. Choose your paper size above, download the ZIP and print one shape page per child.
2. Point to the coloured shape and say its name together, then count its sides and corners.
3. Show how to put the crayon on the green start dot and follow the arrow, then trace the three copies from dark to faint.
4. Let children draw the shape on their own in the Draw box, and praise a closed shape over a perfect one.
5. Finish the week with the review page or the trace and color picture to check which shapes children know.

Start with the circle and square, then the triangle and rectangle, before the oval, diamond, star and heart. Thick crayons or triangular pencils are easier for small hands than thin pencils. Black and white copies double as coloring pages: children color the model shape first. Ready for the next step? The printable mazes and the directed drawing worksheets build the same pencil control.

Black and White Versions

Every shape tracing worksheet also comes in black and white: the same fading dots with black start dots and arrows, and white model shapes for children to color in, so it prints clearly on any printer. In the download box, choose Colour, Black and white or All, then your paper size: A4, US Letter or both.

How to Print the Shape Tracing Worksheets

Print at 100% (Actual size) on the same paper as the file, US Letter or A4. Each worksheet is one page. On older printers, the faint dots print best at normal or high quality rather than draft.

FAQs

Conclusion

These shape tracing worksheets give preschool children a calm, step-by-step way to learn their shapes, made by a teacher in Microsoft Word.

Choose your paper size above, download the ZIP, and for letters, try the name tracing worksheets.

Related Tutorials

• Free Name Tracing Worksheets for Word
• Alphabet Worksheets: 5 Free Printables for Preschool and Kindergarten
• Free Printable Mazes for Kids