Smile with Smiley Face! A Fun Tracing Worksheet for Preschoolers
Tracing a smiling mouth teaches children ages 3-5 the upward curved stroke used in letters like u and later cursive forms, while also tying that curve to something personally meaningful, a smile. Because the shape mirrors an expression children make and recognize every day, this worksheet connects fine motor practice to social-emotional awareness about what a smile looks like and means.
Part of the pack
Pattern Writing Pre-writing Skills Activity Book for 3-4 Year Olds
This is page 32 of the pack. Ages 3-4 · PreschoolAges 3-4 · NurseryAges 3-4
Made for your child
A whole activity pack made with their name
60 pages to spot, build, trace and write their own name, plus pages about their favourites, feelings and family. See a free preview with their name.
Make an All About Me packFree preview · free for members
Or start free: a name tracing sheet with their nameCurriculum
- Pre-Writing > Curved Lines
How to use this worksheet
Ask your child to make a big smile and notice how their mouth curves upward before they start tracing. Guide their pencil along the dotted curved line forming the smiling mouth, encouraging one smooth upward-then-downward motion rather than several short strokes. Move on to any other facial features included on the page, like eyes, tracing those as well. Color the finished smiley face and ask your child how it makes them feel to look at it.
Materials needed
- Pencil
- Crayons
Extension activities
- 1Stand in front of a mirror and practice making the biggest smile possible, then a small one, comparing the two.
- 2Make a simple snack, like a smiley face out of banana slices and berries, to reinforce the shape in a fun context.
- 3Draw a large smile shape on paper with sidewalk chalk and hop along its curve outside.
- 4Play a guessing game where you make different facial expressions and your child names the feeling.
- 5Decorate a paper plate as a smiley face using glued-on buttons, yarn, or cutout shapes.
Written by
Hemsweta Jain · Teacher Cheena
MBA and Early Childhood Educator, teaching since 2014 · Founder of RaisoActive, Mumbai
Every RaisoActive worksheet is designed and checked by the founder before publishing.
Published · Last reviewed
More from Pattern Writing Pre-writing Skills Activity Book for 3-4 Year Olds
Community Helpers Matching Worksheet for Preschoolers
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
By tracing a line from each community helper to the tool or vehicle they use, children ages 3-5 practice pencil control while learning the beginnings of social studies: that people in their community have different jobs and different equipment to do them. Pairing a firefighter with a fire truck or a doctor with a stethoscope also builds cause-and-effect thinking about why each helper needs that particular item.
Shape Tracing Fun: Trace & Color the Shapes Worksheet for Preschoolers!
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
Tracing and coloring several different shapes on one page gives children ages 3-5 practice switching between distinct stroke patterns, since a circle requires a continuous curved motion while a square or triangle requires straight lines and sharp corners. Naming each shape while tracing it also reinforces shape vocabulary alongside the physical practice, connecting the word to the motion that draws it.
Zigzag Lines Tracing Worksheet: Brush Your Teeth!
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
Tracing a zigzag line representing a toothbrush's back-and-forth motion gives children ages 3-5 practice with sharp direction changes, a stroke pattern used in letters like Z, W, and M, while tying the abstract line shape to a real daily action, brushing teeth, they already understand. Zigzag lines are more demanding than smooth curves or straight lines because the pencil has to change direction abruptly and repeatedly rather than flowing continuously.
Fly Airplanes Tracing Worksheet for Preschoolers
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
Unlike letter tracing, this worksheet has children follow long, curving flight-path lines from a globe down to the ground, which builds sustained hand-eye coordination and the ability to keep a pencil moving smoothly over a longer distance than a single letter requires. For 3-5 year olds, this kind of extended line tracing is an important bridge between short scribbles and the longer, controlled strokes needed for writing full letters and words.
Fish Hook Tracing Worksheet for Preschoolers
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
Tracing a hook-shaped fishing line curve gives children ages 3-5 practice with a tight, small curved stroke, different from the wide, sweeping curves used in other worksheets, which builds fine control over shorter pencil motions. This particular curve shape is also an early building block for letters like j, which end in a small hook, making this good preparatory practice.
Rain Rain Tracing Worksheet for Preschoolers
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
Tracing rain-themed curved or drip-shaped lines gives children ages 3-5 practice with the smooth, flowing pencil motion used in curved letters, while the weather theme introduces simple vocabulary about rain and rain clouds. Tying the tracing motion to something children have actually seen, rain falling outside, helps make an abstract curved line feel like a familiar, recognizable shape.
Trace the Curved Lines: Give Balloons to the Girls! Worksheet
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
This worksheet has children ages 3-5 trace curved balloon strings, practicing the rounded, flowing pencil motion needed later for letters like c, o, and s. Curved lines demand a different wrist and finger movement than straight lines, since the hand has to continuously adjust direction rather than pushing in one line, which makes this an important complement to straight-line tracing practice.
Trace and Color the Funny Joker Face Worksheet for Preschoolers
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
Tracing the curved and circular shapes that make up a funny, exaggerated face gives children ages 3-5 practice with rounded strokes while the silly theme, a joker or clown face, adds humor that tends to boost engagement on what could otherwise feel like a repetitive shape-tracing task. Placing and tracing multiple facial features also reinforces facial feature vocabulary and proportion, similar to other face-based worksheets but with a playful, exaggerated twist.
Related worksheets
Curved Lines Tracing Worksheet for Preschoolers
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
Children ages 3-5 practice tracing curved lines in various directions, building the specific hand-eye coordination and wrist flexibility needed to later form curved letters like c, o, and s. Curved-line control is a distinct pre-writing skill from straight-line tracing, since it requires a smoother, more continuous pencil motion.
Sight Word 'We' Worksheet: Trace, Write, and Find!
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
This worksheet builds deep familiarity with the sight word 'we' in children ages 3-5 through four different practice formats — tracing, independent writing, circling, and finding the word within sentences — layered onto a single page. Repeating the same word across so many formats in one sitting is specifically designed to move 'we' from a word your child sounds out each time into one they recognize instantly on sight.
Caterpillar Counting Worksheet for Preschoolers
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
Counting the segments of each caterpillar teaches children ages 3-5 one-to-one correspondence — touching or marking each segment exactly once while saying a number — which is the core skill underlying accurate counting. Writing the final total in a box also connects the physical act of counting to its written numeral, reinforcing early number-writing practice.
Spider Count Worksheet: Finger Painting Fun for Halloween!
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
Dabbing fingertips or Q-tips in paint to create the exact number of spiders shown on each web gives children ages 3-5 hands-on practice with one-to-one counting while also strengthening the small hand muscles needed for pencil control later on. Because each web has a target number, children must count as they paint rather than just decorating freely, which reinforces number recognition in a playful, low-pressure way. The messy, sensory nature of finger painting also supports focus and engagement at an age when seated paper-and-pencil tasks can be hard to sustain.
Decorate the Christmas Tree! Cut and Paste Worksheet
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
This cut-and-paste activity builds scissor control and hand strength in children ages 3-5 as they snip out ornaments, stars, and lights to decorate their own Christmas tree. Deciding where each decoration goes also develops spatial planning and following a visual guide, since children compare their tree to the sample image while placing pieces.
Cut and Paste Puzzle: Complete the Pictures!
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
This cut-and-paste puzzle challenges children ages 3-5 to visually compare cut-out image pieces to the gaps in a larger picture, strengthening visual discrimination and problem-solving as they figure out which piece fits where. Because more than one cut-out may look similar at a glance, children must attend closely to small details like color, shape, and orientation before gluing. This close visual comparison builds the same attention-to-detail skills used later in reading, where small differences between letters and words matter.
Merry Christmas Coloring Worksheet for Preschoolers
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
Filling in Christmas-themed pictures with crayons or colored pencils helps children ages 3-5 refine their pencil grip and hand control while practicing the concept of staying within a defined boundary. Because the pictures include multiple familiar holiday objects, this worksheet also gives children a chance to build vocabulary by naming each item as they color it. Repeated coloring practice at this age steadily improves the wrist and finger strength needed for later writing tasks.
Easter Bunny Coloring Worksheet for Kids
Ages 3-5 · Preschool–Pre-KAges 3-5 · Nursery–ReceptionAges 3-5 · Nursery–LKGAges 3-5
Children ages 3-5 build fine motor control and creative expression while coloring an Easter bunny and egg using crayons or colored pencils. Open-ended coloring tasks like this one, without a strict color code, give children room to make independent choices while still practicing the pencil grip and control needed for later writing.
Guides for this topic
Pre-Writing Strokes in Order: From Standing Lines to Loops (With Printable Patterns)
The developmental order of pre-writing strokes, from vertical lines to loops, and why practicing them in sequence makes letter formation much easier to learn.
Portfolio Assessment with Young Children: A Comprehensive Guide to Meaningful Documentation
Learn how portfolio assessment captures your child's growth through meaningful documentation. Practical tips, templates, and age-appropriate strategies for ages 1-8.
What Makes a Good Worksheet vs. a Poor One: A Parent's Guide to Quality Educational Materials
Learn what separates high-quality educational worksheets from poor busy work. Discover design principles, red flags, and how to evaluate free worksheets online for your child aged 1-8.
Reviews
Every worksheet for ages 3–5, no watermark
Members download the full library of 1,000+ worksheets and every activity pack without watermarks or daily limits. One year costs ₹999 in India or $20 elsewhere.
See membership plansOr download any worksheet free with a watermark (5 a day).