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Letter P Worksheets

4 free PDFsUS Letter or A4Answer key includedNo login

Trace uppercase P and lowercase p, trace the words pig, pen and pan, and circle every P and p in a letter hunt.

Down, back up, one bump.

How to form uppercase P
Next Qq

Download the Letter P worksheets

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Alphabet packets A–Z

About these letter P worksheets

These letter P worksheets include uppercase P tracing, lowercase p tracing, a words page for pig, pen and pan, and a letter hunt with an answer key. P makes the /p/ sound, a small pop of air with no voice. Hold a tissue in front of your mouth and it flutters.

Capital P sits on the baseline. Lowercase p is a different story: its line starts at the dashed midline and drops below the baseline, and the ball sits on the right between the midline and the baseline. That drop below the line keeps p from looking like b, and starting with the line keeps it from looking like q.

Standards

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.1.APrint many upper- and lowercase letters.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.1.DRecognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

How to use them

  1. Start with the uppercase page. Tell your child the bump on P is small: it only goes halfway down.
  2. Before the lowercase page, point to the line below the baseline. The line of p goes all the way down to it.
  3. Trace pig, pen and pan, and try the tissue test on each word.
  4. Finish with the letter hunt and check it against the answer key.

Teaching tips for P

  • Uppercase P: start at the top line and pull down straight to the baseline. Lift, go back to the top, slide right, curve forward down to the dashed midline, and slide left back to the line. Say it while writing: “1. Pull down. Lift. 2. Slide right, curve forward, slide left.”
  • Lowercase p: start at the dashed midline and pull down straight past the baseline to the line below. Push back up and circle forward all the way around, closing the ball against the line. Say it while writing: “Pull down, push up, circle forward.” p: line first, the ball is on the right.
  • Common mix-ups: p and q, a p that sits on the baseline (it looks like a short b), and a capital P with a bump that goes all the way down (that is D) or an extra leg (that is R).
  • Quick activities: make a P from a pencil and a cotton ball; pop one bubble on a strip of bubble wrap for each word you say that starts with /p/.

Questions about letter P

Why does lowercase p go below the line?

It is one of five lowercase letters with a tail below the baseline: g, j, p, q and y. The round part of p is the same size as an o, so the line has to drop down below it.

How can my child tell p and q apart?

Watch the start. Lowercase p begins with the line and then makes the ball forward; q begins with a circle back, like c, and then adds the line. Saying “line first” for p and “circle first” for q is often enough.