Primary Writing Paper

Printable primary writing paper for kindergarten and the early grades. Each writing space is a group of three lines — a solid line at the top, a dashed guide through the middle, and a solid line to sit the letters on — with a clear gap before the next group. That dashed middle line is what tells a child how tall a lowercase letter should be, and it is the difference between this and ordinary lined paper.

Customize this writing paper

The lines

Line height

incmmm

College ruled is 0.28 in, wide ruled 0.34 in, narrow 0.25 in.

Which lines Top line Dashed middle line Writing line Descender line

Middle line styleDashedDottedSolid

ColourAll blackRed writing lineBlue top and writing lines

Spacing

Space between linesNoneHalf a lineA full line

Number of lines0 fills the page.

Left margin line

Picture box

Box height

incm

0 for no box. A box gives children room to draw above their writing.

The page

Margin

incm

Sheets in this PDF

Name and date line Border DadsWorksheets logo at the foot

Download PDFPrintCopy link to this sheetStart over

0.5 in ruling · top + middle + base · 1 sheet

Print at 100% or Actual size — not “Fit to page”, which shrinks the sheet and makes the measurements wrong.

0.5 in ruling · top + middle + base · 1 sheetUS Letter · print at 100%

Get PDF

Options ↓

Choosing a Line Height

The sheet above uses a 1/2 inch writing space, which suits most kindergarten and first grade work. Younger children, or any child whose letters are still large and uneven, do better with taller lines — try 5/8 or 3/4 of an inch. As handwriting settles down, drop towards 3/8 inch and then move on to wide ruled paper.

Two other controls are worth knowing about. The descender line adds a fourth line below the writing line, showing where the tails of g, j, p, q and y should reach. The number of lines control sets exactly how many writing spaces appear, which is handy when you want a sheet with room for four sentences and nothing more.

Writing Paper With a Picture Box

If you want a box at the top of the page for a drawing, with writing lines underneath, that is on our story paper page. It is the same three-line ruling with space above for an illustration — the usual shape for a young child's first pieces of writing, where the picture comes first and the sentence describes it.

Printing

Print at 100% or Actual Size. "Fit to Page" shrinks everything by a few percent, which quietly changes the line height you chose. All of these sheets are built for US Letter (8.5 x 11 inch) paper.