How to Create Your Own Cursive Handwriting Worksheets

Learning to write in cursive is a rite of passage that many adults remember from their own school days. Worksheets with extra wide writing space and one dotted line down the middle are part of many childhood memories. Though many of today's classrooms are focusing more on technology and typing skills than penmanship, cursive is still an important skill. When learned by children, it helps them to develop hand-eye coordination and muscle control. Making your own cursive worksheets for your class or child is a simple way to provide them with more space for handwriting practice.

Load your own worksheet creation software onto your computer or use a website like Writing Wizard or Start Write. Some websites will allow you to create worksheets for free while others charge a fee or require you to purchase software.

Title your worksheet. If you are making a worksheet to practice the letter "Q," you could call it something simple like "Practicing the Letter Q" or something cute like "Quirky Q's." You can even use vocabulary words to combine handwriting and vocabulary lessons.

Decide whether you would like the page layout to be portrait or landscape. For younger children, landscape can be a good layout because it allows for more of a sense of space; it also gives you more opportunities to put in pictures without overcrowding the lines.

Write a practice sentence or letters. This will be what your students use the worksheet to copy and practice.

Choose the letter size and style. For younger students, you will want to make larger letters so they can copy them more easily.

Choose the number of lines on your worksheet and the line patterns. For older students, you can add more lines and more practice, but you will want to be sure you do not overwhelm younger students with too many lines that they must write.

Preview your worksheet. Check to be sure it is formatted the way you would like it to be and make sure that everything is spelled correctly with no typos.

Print your worksheet on paper of your choosing. You might want to use colored paper for younger students to make the worksheet more fun.