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Home » Teacher Tools

The Best Free Handwriting Font for Kindergarten

By Leslie Simpson · About 6 minutes to read this article.

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When we teach handwriting or how to form letters in kindergarten - it's easy to focus on the wrong things.

Let me help you teach handwriting more simply with the best handwriting font for kindergarten.

best handwriting font for beginners

In kindergarten, teaching handwriting is super simple.

Think that's a loaded statement? I'll break it down and show you what I mean and then I'll teach you how to use the best handwriting font to your advantage.

And the neat part -- you can pretty much kiss those handwriting books and stacks of worksheets goodbye.

Why it works

Here is a free font that I created just for kindergarten. I used it mainly to teach how to form the letters.

It's unique since it shows students where to start their handwriting strokes and gives them a pathway to trace within instead of a dotted line to trace on top of.

Teach handwriting of lowercase letters in kindergarten

There is a dot to show students where to start.

If there is more than one stroke (they have to lift their pencil off the paper) then there is more than one dot.

Think of it like driving - they have to stay within the boundaries of the road. Don't drive on the grass!

Here are some introducing letter strokes posters and worksheets that cover the basics made with this style of font.

So many letters are formed similarly it makes grouping them together easy.

The Best Handwriting Free Font for Kindergarten

This font is the best for teaching students how to properly write their names (check out this name sheet).

I'd consider it a tracing font that will remind you of a Handwriting Without Tears style based on the fact that the letters show beginning dots.

Want to download this font to use in your classroom?

Download starting dots font

[terms of use - personal use only] [How to Install a Font]

Now, if that simple font combined with understanding how letters are formed doesn't make handwriting easy... then we may just not understand what handwriting is in kindergarten.

Let me explain.

Handwriting in kindergarten

What it isn't

Let me start with sharing what I think handwriting in kindergarten isn't. I start here because I said earlier it's easy to focus on the wrong things.

  • Handwriting in kindergarten isn't about writing in the traditional "lines" - you know the ones I'm talking about. The solid top and bottom line with a dotted line in the middle. Those lines have their place - but not in kindergarten.
  • Handwriting isn't about worksheets.
  • Handwriting isn't about neatness. Well, not entirely.
  • Handwriting does not effectively teach letter identification or sound production.

And I don't care if you don't agree - or the handwriting curriculum company doesn't agree. I'm the one who has to teach it to these young people - a skill they will use for their ENTIRE life. How I teach this - matters.

Plus, I learned from personal experience how easy it is to over-work this area of the curriculum and make some kids hate school "work." {sigh}

What it is

So, now I've cleared up what handwriting isn't - let me share the simple beauty in what it is in kindergarten.

Handwriting is teaching kids how to form letters with correct directions of pencil strokes so it leads to writing letters fluidly now and later in life.

That's it.

It's about the formation.

The cool thing is that it helps strengthen writers in kindergarten when they are ready to write with letter strings, phonetically spelled words, sight words and more.

What is developmentally appropriate

I've got an opinion about what is developmentally appropriate for 5-6-year-olds in regard to handwriting. Here's my list:

  • The proper handgrip is appropriate for kindergartners to learn.
  • Understanding that each letter has a specific way it's formed - is appropriate.
  • Understanding that many letters have a pattern in the way they are formed - is appropriate.
  • Using a rectangular box versus the traditional "handwriting lines" is appropriate to help teach space definition as needed. But not all students need this. It's why you see me use a rectangle in place of the "name" line on the top of any paperwork.
  • Using tools to practice letter formations (pencil, crayon, markers, dry-erase, playdough, wikki stix) are age-appropriate.

If we take all that is appropriate about handwriting in kindergarten - then our instruction becomes pretty simple.

Ways to use this font

Let's put that together and make it work for you with this handy-dandy new font you're armed with now.

backwards circles handwriting letters

To support them in learning those strokes - give students a visual starting place. This way they will know where to form the letters until it comes naturally - and it will!

The beauty in this handwriting font is that it has the starting dots to support teaching those strokes.

It is the most simple and yet effective tweak to teaching handwriting. It's not designed to use forever - it's a tool to support them until they do it on their own.

When they know where to start - creating or following the path to form the letter becomes simplified and routine.

teach how to form letters by strokes

Remember I said earlier you could pretty much ditch the handwriting curriculum and worksheets? Well, that doesn't mean this will teach itself.

Students still need to practice - but they won't need to practice in the same traditional ways we've come to learn as "handwriting."

I did use a small set of "worksheets."

Name handwriting worksheet for kindergarten for tracing
Personalized Name Homework

Let me list them for you. We practiced:

  • names (everyone had their own sheet... and if they were proficient they worked on their last name)
  • rainbow book (letters from A-Z... think of this as replacing the traditional "workbooks" and it teaches the order of strokes/dots)
  • forming letters (using these free pages I made... there's only 3!)
  • small group testing sheet (laminated and used with dry-erase markers... students only worked on the letters they needed to master)

And we even worked on forming letters using playdough work cards in the playdough literacy center.

Playdough Handwriting Letter Formation Cards (with starting dots) for Kindergarten

Then the rest was all application and helping students whenever they were writing as needed.

But, you know, we already do that naturally.

When handwriting isn't a separate thing and just part of "how we write" then you're using your time and talents as the teacher most effectively.

Conclusion

I hope this free tracing font and understanding how to teach forming letters by their strokes can help you teach your best.

Want this font without the starting dots? Then grab this handwriting outline font for your teaching arsenal.

Let's continue breaking this down and find out how to teach handwriting in kindergarten.

breaking handwriting down - teach handwriting in kindergarten

If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.

More handwriting

  • 2 Free Teacher Fonts and a Ten Frame Font
  • Breaking Handwriting Down: Free Handwriting Strokes Posters
  • 5 Quick Tips for Teaching Handwriting in Kindergarten
  • Tracking Handwriting Progress: The Simple System that Works

The Best Free Handwriting Font for KindergartenThe Best Free Handwriting Font for Kindergarten
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About Leslie Simpson

Leslie is the teacher behind KindergartenWorks. She believes in teaching kinders how to be pretty incredible along with teaching them to read, write and think for themselves. She enjoys drinking hot tea, making mud pies with her three kids and sharing what she's learned with teachers.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mrs. Cook says

    December 11, 2022 at 7:30 pm

    Do you have a link for the little video that shows in the corner ? Your voice saying the stokes as you form the letters ? It's perfect.

    Reply
    • Leslie Simpson says

      December 21, 2022 at 2:07 pm

      I sure do! You can see the entire video here: https://www.kindergartenworks.com/kindergarten-teaching-ideas/breaking-handwriting-down/#songs

      Reply
  2. Hayden Vick says

    November 03, 2022 at 2:07 pm

    Hi Leslie - could you add a new link to download starting dots? The one embedded on your post is not expanding from the zip file when downloaded. Thanks for this awesome font!

    Reply
  3. Hannah says

    June 01, 2022 at 7:11 pm

    I found that opening it in Safari helped for those who are mac users. When I opened in chrome the file wouldn't open. 😀
    Love the font and the tips on this website! 😀

    Reply
    • Nick Eubank says

      August 31, 2022 at 10:00 am

      Huh! Same issue. Thanks. Looks like there's a dropbox re-direct that safari handles well but chrome doesn't.

      Reply
  4. Kim says

    September 27, 2021 at 8:57 pm

    I'm unable to download this font. I get to the install font button on font book (Mac user), the screen flickers a few times, but does not install. Tried multiple times on 2 browsers. Any advice?

    Reply
  5. KFC says

    August 06, 2021 at 2:33 am

    hi Leslie, your zipped file cannot be unzipped, it says there's an error with the file format.

    Reply
    • Leslie Simpson says

      August 08, 2021 at 7:46 pm

      You might want to give it another try - sometimes computers can just be finicky. You could also try another browser or device to see if that helps. Right next to the download button there is also a link to more troubleshooting help.
      - Leslie

      Reply
      • Avery says

        August 20, 2021 at 4:29 pm

        Hi! I had the same problem. I checked the FAQ and the fonts file just cannot be opened it says "inappropriate file type or format".

        Reply
      • Avery says

        August 20, 2021 at 5:18 pm

        Me again! I have solved the problem! I am a MAC user and the download worked from Safari NOT Chrome.
        Thank you!

        Reply
        • Leslie Simpson says

          August 20, 2021 at 7:36 pm

          Thanks for sharing your solution Avery - wouldn't it be nice if all technology played nicely together? 😉 Hopefully this can help someone else in the same boat.
          - Leslie

          Reply
  6. Leslie Simpson says

    April 25, 2020 at 9:03 am

    Megan - you were so right! I literally just made some changes to that download button the day before and acidentally copied the wrong download URL. My apologies. It's working and available now.
    Thanks,
    Leslie

    Reply
  7. Natalie says

    March 25, 2020 at 2:49 pm

    I love love love this font for teaching formation. I would love to use it with some kids who have learned most of their letters with proper formation and are ready to begin working on line placement and letter sizing while continuing to practice tricky letters. The only problem with this is that the small letters, fall letters, and tall letters are not proportional (For example, the small letters are 2/3 the size of the tall letters, the falling letters don't fall enough to go under any sort of line I could add. I have tried taking screenshots of letters and resizing them to get the heights I am looking for, but then it looks awful. Is there any chance you might consider making the outline font with more accurate letter sizes? I am sure that is a lot to ask for, but I thought I would try since otherwise I will need to find a way to create something along these lines myself and I have not been very successful in my past font creation attempts). Thank you again so much for this wonderful font!

    Reply
    • Natalie says

      March 27, 2020 at 4:49 pm

      I have now made outlines of the letters but would love any advice you might be able to offer with regards to creating a font! Last time I made letters that looked great, tried to make a font, and then all the letters were on top of each other with no spacing whatsoever lol. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

      Reply
      • Leslie Simpson says

        March 28, 2020 at 9:33 am

        I think there is a good font-making app you can find in the app store! It's worth checking into because it would make the process easier.
        - Leslie

        Reply
  8. Ana Rodriguez says

    February 29, 2020 at 10:10 am

    Oh, how I wish I had found you sooner. You are incredibly talented st what you do! Thanks for sharing your gifts!

    Reply
  9. Jordan says

    December 01, 2019 at 6:14 pm

    This is extremely helpful and my preschool kid really likes it.

    Is one or two strokes used for these letters: 'a', 'd', 'g', 'p', 'b'. 'q' ? The mechanics are different in the 'Rainbow Book' vs the 'Outline' font. The 'Rainbow Book' has two dots suggesting two strokes. The 'Outline' font only has one dot suggesting it is 1 stroke.

    Reply
    • Leslie Simpson says

      December 03, 2019 at 8:12 pm

      Glad to hear that Jordan. The letters you listed - I teach them all to have one stroke. I understand that it is different, but the rainbow book was also made by someone else so that accounts for the differences. I also couldn't make multiple dots in the font (because fonts can't have multiple colors) so that kinda explains another difference you'll see between the two, but with perhaps other letters. I teach one smooth stroke because it lends itself to cursive later on!
      - Leslie

      Reply
  10. Kim says

    March 13, 2019 at 7:23 am

    I am trying to install the font but my computer keeps saying it "isn't a valid font." Help!!

    Reply
    • Leslie @KindergartenWorks says

      March 13, 2019 at 11:08 am

      Hi Kim - no problem.

      If you download the entire zipped folder, then you'll need to unzip it first. You can see how to do that here: https://www.kindergartenworks.com/zipped-files-explained/. Then you'll just want to install the .ttf file in your font folder. 😉 If you try to install the whole folder you downloaded, it can't install the terms of use pdf too, which is why it gives the "not a valid font" error.

      Thanks! I hope you get a lot of great use out of it.
      - Leslie

      Reply
  11. Katie says

    March 09, 2019 at 9:51 am

    I'm having trouble with the Starting Dots link taking me to Dropbox -- from there into an infinite loop with opening a pdf. I can't seem to download it no matter what I do! I love your fonts and have never run into this before. Any suggestions? Thanks

    Reply
    • Leslie @KindergartenWorks says

      March 09, 2019 at 8:40 pm

      Hi Katie,
      Don't click on the file to see what's inside 😉 Okay - so click on the link in the post and then go directly to the "Download" button (next to the blue "sign in" button) and select "direct download." I hope that can help!
      Thanks,
      Leslie

      Reply
  12. Karla Johnson says

    August 06, 2013 at 1:31 am

    I think you should make a tshirt from your "I teach kinders how to...." at the bottom of your blog page. I would snap it up in a minute!!!

    Reply
    • Leslie @KindergartenWorks says

      August 06, 2013 at 1:23 pm

      Thanks Karla - what a fun idea!
      - Leslie

      Reply
  13. Angela says

    April 19, 2013 at 6:06 pm

    I found you via Freebie Friday at TBA. LOVE your fonts, especially New Fringe ! I'm a fontaholic! Thanks for generously sharing them! Downloaded and already installed <3

    Reply
    • Leslie @KindergartenWorks says

      April 19, 2013 at 6:11 pm

      Thanks Angela! I'm right with you and the fontaholic-itis syndrome 😉
      - Leslie

      Reply

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