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Cursive P: How to Write Uppercase P and Lowercase p

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A big model of cursive P and p with step-by-step directions, plus practice pages for lowercase p, uppercase P, joins and p words.

Download the Letter P worksheets

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these letter P worksheets

This is cursive P and p in modern cursive: joined lowercase letters with simple capitals. How to write lowercase p: start at the dashed midline. Pull straight down below the baseline to the line below. Push back up to the midline, go over the hump to the right and down to the baseline, ending with a flick. How to write uppercase P: pull straight down from the top line. Go back to the top and curve forward to the midline.

Lowercase p ends with a flick on the baseline that swings straight up into the next letter, so ppp and words like pig are written without lifting the pencil. In the usual teaching order, p is learned with the undercurve letters (i, t, u, w, e, l, b, h, f, k, r, s, j, p).

The four worksheets below start with a large chart of P, p and ppp, then give a page each for lowercase p, uppercase P, and joins and words such as pig, pen, pot, pan, park and plum.

Standards

  • Texas TEKS Grade 2 (handwriting)develop handwriting by accurately forming all cursive letters using appropriate strokes when connecting letters
  • Texas TEKS Grade 3 (handwriting)write complete words, thoughts, and answers legibly in cursive leaving appropriate spaces between words

How to use them

  1. Start with the chart page. Read the steps aloud while your child traces the big p with a finger, then writes it on the rows below.
  2. On the lowercase page, trace each single p, then the joined ppp, then write your own on the blank rows.
  3. Use the uppercase page for P and names like Pam, Pia and Pete.
  4. Finish with the words page: the joins, the words pig, pen and pot, and the sentence “Pam packs a picnic.”

Teaching tips for P

  • Lowercase p: Start at the dashed midline. Pull straight down below the baseline to the line below. Push back up to the midline, go over the hump to the right and down to the baseline, ending with a flick.
  • Uppercase P: Pull straight down from the top line. Go back to the top and curve forward to the midline.
  • Watch for p and q mix-ups. The p starts with the line; the q starts with the round part.
  • Print at actual size (100%). The gray letters are solid, so they copy cleanly, and each row has a black model at both ends for left-handed writers.

Questions about letter P

How do you write a cursive p?

Start at the dashed midline. Pull straight down below the baseline to the line below. Push back up to the midline, go over the hump to the right and down to the baseline, ending with a flick.

How do you write a capital P in cursive?

In modern cursive: pull straight down from the top line. Go back to the top and curve forward to the midline. Capitals don't join to the next letter, so write the P, then start the lowercase letters close by.

How does cursive p join to other letters?

The p ends with a small flick on the baseline. Keep going from the flick up into the next letter without lifting the pencil, as in pa, pe and pi.