Making 4-Line Handwriting Sheets and Kanji Practice Sheets: Choosing Line Height and Grid Size for Home Study

What the four lines mean

Four-line paper has guide lines for keeping the height and position of letters consistent. Count them from the top as lines 1 to 4, and call the spaces between them the top, middle and bottom bands. The most important is line 3, the baseline: almost every letter sits on it.

Making the baseline red helps children remember: "sit on the red line" and "only g, j, p, q and y hang below it". Japanese elementary school English materials often colour the baseline too. Making line 2 dotted gives a clear guide to the height of lowercase letters and makes it easier to keep the round parts of b and d the same size.

Choose the line height by school year and handwriting size

The size of the four lines is set by the gap between lines (the height of one band). Three times the band height is the height of the whole set of four lines. The basic rule is large for beginners, getting smaller as they get used to it. With the presets in the Printable Graph & Lined Paper tool, the number of sets on A4 portrait is as follows.

The space between sets (5 mm by default) is margin so that letters don't run into the sets above and below. Widening it helps when writing words with lots of descenders or when you want room to write a translation. Adding a name and date field gives 13 sets on A4 portrait at 5 mm.

Kanji grid size and the cross guides

Kanji practice squares generally get smaller as children move up the years. New characters and those with many strokes are learned in large squares, then repeated in smaller ones once they're familiar. The number of squares on A4 portrait is as follows.

The dotted cross inside each square is a guide for balance. It shows where the centre of the character is and how big the left/right and top/bottom parts should be, which makes it easier to grasp the width ratio between a radical and the rest of the character, or the direction of a sweeping stroke. Once characters look well formed, try writing in squares without guides to see whether the shapes have stuck.

Making sheets with a model character and tracing

1. 1

   Choose "Kanji practice grid" and set the square size

   Choose from 12 to 25 mm to suit the school year, and decide here whether to include the cross guides.

2. 2

   Enter the characters to use as models

   Enter the kanji you want to practise and they are laid out one per column, starting from the right-hand column. The top square holds the dark model character.

3. 3

   Set the number of faint tracing characters

   Decide how many squares of faint characters for tracing follow below the model. The remaining squares are left blank for writing on your own.

4. 4

   Add a name and date field and print

   For homework or daily practice, adding a name and date field at the top makes sheets easier to keep track of.

The advantage of tracing over copying from a model is that it trains the hand in the correct stroke order and shape. It works well to go in stages: start with 3–4 tracing squares, reduce to 1–2 as the child improves, and finish by writing while looking only at the model.

Tips for keeping up home study

• One sheet per session at most: writing each character carefully builds the shape better than writing lots
• Make the lines pale: grey or light blue lines make pencil writing stand out, so mistakes are easier to spot
• Print with the same settings: the tool's settings are saved in your browser, so you can start from the same sheet the next day
• Keep sessions short: breaking at 10–15 minutes helps concentration last. For ways to divide study time, the Pomodoro Technique is also worth a look

The same tool can also make manuscript paper for composition practice. The settings for 400-character sheets are in how to print manuscript paper.

FAQ

Which of the four lines is the red one?

Line 3 from the top, the baseline. Almost every letter sits on this line, and only g, j, p, q and y hang below it.

What line height is best for elementary school children?

For early grades writing for the first time, a 7 mm gap between lines (21 mm for the whole set) is easy to write in; for middle and upper grades, about 5 mm (15 mm overall). As they get used to it, go smaller to 3.5 mm and then 2.5 mm.

Where do lowercase letters go?

Short letters such as a, c, e, m, n and o go between lines 2 and 3; b, d, h, k and l use lines 1 to 3; and g, p, q and y use lines 2 to 4.

What is the cross in kanji practice squares for?

It's a guide for balancing the centre of the character and the size of its left/right and top/bottom parts. It makes it easier to grasp the width ratio between a radical and the rest of the character, and the direction of sweeping strokes.

Can I make kanji tracing worksheets for free?

Yes. In the Kanji practice grid of the Printable Graph & Lined Paper tool, enter the characters you want to practise and you get a sheet with a model character and faint characters for tracing. You can also choose the square size and the number of tracing squares.