Color Tracing Worksheets

Each color word prints in dotted letters to trace, with an empty row under it for writing the word alone.

The sheet shows the list "All 11 color words". Type or paste your own words to replace it.

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NameDateMade at homeroomtools.comredredredredorangeorangeyellowyellowgreengreengreenTrace and writeTrace each word. Then write it on your own.1.2.3.4.All 11 color words
NameDateMade at homeroomtools.combluebluebluepurplepurplepinkpinkpinkbrownbrownblackblackblack5.6.7.8.9.
NameDateMade at homeroomtools.comwhitewhitewhitegraygraygray10.11.
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11 words (All 11 color words), trace and write, on 3 pages, Letter portrait.

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Next step Read the color words to color a pixel pictureFind the color words in a word search

Sample sentences used in the examples

One for each color word 10

  • A green bug sat on the rug.
  • A pink pig can dig.
  • An orange cat sat on my mat.
  • The black cat had a nap.
  • I have a purple mug.
  • I see a brown dog.
  • My cap is blue.
  • The red hen sat on a log.
  • The sun is yellow.
  • The van is gray and white.

Short a 2

  • A man has a map and a cap.
  • The fan is in the van.
Show all 20 sentences (8 more)

Short e 2

  • The hen is in the pen.
  • My pet got wet.

Short i 2

  • The big pig has a wig.
  • The pin is in the tin.

Short o 2

  • The dog can jog in the fog.
  • Hop on top of the log.

Short u 2

  • The cub is in the tub.
  • It is fun to run in the sun.

How this list was compiled: Sentences written for this site from the words in the word lists of this page, plus a few common words such as the, is, on and my. Each starts with a capital letter and ends with a period, which is what Common Core Language standards L.K.2.a and L.1.2.b ask children to do (https://learning.ccsso.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ELA_Standards1.pdf, read 2026-09-18). The standards give no sentences: these are our own. Licence: own work

The spelling lists

All 11 color words 11

  • black Starts with the blend bl and ends in ck, like duck and sock. Tall letters: b, l and k.
  • blue Starts with the blend bl and ends in ue, like glue and true. Tall letters: b and l.
  • brown Starts with the blend br. The ow sounds as it does in cow and down. Tall letter: b.
  • gray Gray is the American spelling. In British English the same color is spelled grey. Tails: g and y.
  • green Starts with the blend gr. The double e says its own name, as in see and tree. Tail: g.
Show all 72 words (67 more)

All 11 color words, continued

  • orange Named after the fruit, which had the word first. The first known use of orange as a color name in English dates from 1502. Tail: g.
  • pink Ends in nk, like sink and wink. The color is named after a garden flower called the pink. Tall letter: k. Tail: p.
  • purple Two beats, pur-ple, with a p at the start of each. The word goes back to the Latin name of a purple dye. Tall letter: l. Tail: p.
  • red The shortest color word, and the outer band of a rainbow. It is a short e word too: it rhymes with bed and fed. Tall letter: d.
  • white Starts with wh, like when and what, and ends in a silent e. Tall letters: h and t.
  • yellow Two beats, yel-low, with a double l in the middle. The only one of the 11 that starts with y. Tall letter: l. Tail: y.

Rainbow with indigo and violet 2

  • indigo The deep blue between blue and violet. Isaac Newton added it, with orange, to make 7 rainbow colors. Dot both of the i letters. Tall letter: d. Tail: g.
  • violet The inner band of a rainbow. The color is named after the violet flower. Tall letters: l and t.

Short a: -at words 4

  • cat A pet that purrs. Keep the at and change the first letter to get hat, mat and sat. Tall letter: t.
  • hat It goes on your head. The small a stands between two tall letters. Tall letters: h and t.
  • mat A small rug by the door. The m has two humps where n has one. Tall letter: t.
  • sat What you did on the chair. Swap the a for i to get sit. Tall letter: t.

Short a: -an words 4

  • fan It moves air to cool a room. Swap the a for i or u to get fin and fun. Tall letter: f.
  • man A grown-up boy. Swap the a for e and one man turns into many men. All small letters.
  • pan For frying an egg. Swap the a for e or i to get pen and pin. Tail: p.
  • van Bigger than a car, with room for boxes. The v is two slanted lines that meet at the bottom. All small letters.

Short a: -ap words 4

  • cap A hat with a brim at the front. Swap the a for u to get cup. Tail: p.
  • map A drawing of a place seen from above. Swap the a for o to get mop. Tail: p.
  • nap A short sleep in the daytime. Backward it spells pan. Tail: p.
  • tap A light knock. Swap the a for i or o to get tip and top. Tall letter: t. Tail: p.

Short e: -en words 4

  • den The home of a fox or a bear. The d has its circle on the left of the stick, and b has it on the right. Tall letter: d.
  • hen A mother chicken. The h is an n with a taller stick. Tall letter: h.
  • men More than one man. Only the vowel changes. All small letters.
  • pen It writes in ink. Swap the e for a or i to get pan and pin. Tail: p.

Short e: -et words 4

  • jet A fast plane. The j needs a dot, as i does. Tall letter: t. Tail: j.
  • net It catches fish or butterflies. Backward it spells ten. Tall letter: t.
  • pet An animal that lives with you. Swap the e for o to get pot. Tall letter: t. Tail: p.
  • wet Not dry. The w opens to the top and m opens to the bottom. Tall letter: t.

Short e: -ed words 3

  • bed The b and the d stand at the two ends like bedposts, with their circles facing the e in the middle. Tall letters: b and d.
  • fed Gave food to. I fed the cat this morning. Tall letters: f and d.
  • led Went in front to show the way. She led the line to lunch. Tall letters: l and d.

Short i: -ig words 4

  • big Not small. Change the b to d and it turns into dig, so check which side the circle is on. Tall letter: b. Tail: g.
  • dig To make a hole in the ground. The circle of the d comes before its stick. Tall letter: d. Tail: g.
  • pig A farm animal that oinks, and often a pink one. Leave room under the line for both tails. Tails: p and g.
  • wig Pretend hair that comes off. Dot the i last. Tail: g.

Short i: -in words 4

  • fin The part a fish steers with. Cross the f and dot the i. Tall letter: f.
  • pin Small, sharp and made of metal. Backward it spells nip. Tail: p.
  • tin A metal, and a can made from it. Cross the t and dot the i. Tall letter: t.
  • win To come first in a race or a game. Every letter is the same height. All small letters.

Short i: -ip words 4

  • dip A quick dunk. One tall letter, one small letter and one with a tail, in that order. Tall letter: d. Tail: p.
  • lip The edge of your mouth. The l is one tall stick and nothing more. Tall letter: l. Tail: p.
  • tip The pointed end of a pencil. Swap the i for a or o to get tap and top. Tall letter: t. Tail: p.
  • zip To close a coat. The z is all straight lines: across, slant, across. Tail: p.

Short o: -og words 4

  • dog A pet that barks. One tall letter, one small letter and one with a tail, in that order. Tall letter: d. Tail: g.
  • fog A cloud that sits on the ground. Tall letter: f. Tail: g.
  • jog A slow, steady run. Dot the j, and leave room under the line for both tails. Tails: j and g.
  • log A thick piece of a tree trunk. Swap the o for e to get leg. Tall letter: l. Tail: g.

Short o: -op words 4

  • hop A jump on one foot. Swap the o for i to get hip. Tall letter: h. Tail: p.
  • mop It cleans the floor. Swap the o for a to get map. Tail: p.
  • pop The sound a balloon makes. It reads the same forward and backward. Tail: p.
  • top The highest part, or a toy that spins. Backward it spells pot. Tall letter: t. Tail: p.

Short o: -ot words 4

  • cot A small, light bed for camping or for a nap. Tall letter: t.
  • dot A small round mark, like the one on i and j. Tall letters: d and t.
  • hot Not cold. Swap the o for a to get hat. Tall letters: h and t.
  • pot For cooking soup, or for a plant. Backward it spells top. Tall letter: t. Tail: p.

Short u: -ug words 4

  • bug A small insect. The word uses all 3 heights: tall, small and tail. Tall letter: b. Tail: g.
  • hug A squeeze with both arms. Tall letter: h. Tail: g.
  • mug A big cup with a handle. Tail: g.
  • rug A small carpet. Swap the u for a to get rag. Tail: g.

Short u: -un words 4

  • bun A small round bread roll. Swap the u for i to get bin. Tall letter: b.
  • fun A good time. The u is an n turned over, so both shapes sit side by side here. Tall letter: f.
  • run To move fast on your feet. Every letter is the same height. All small letters.
  • sun The star that lights the day. Pair it with the color word yellow. All small letters.

Short u: -ub words 4

  • cub A baby bear, lion or fox. Swap the u for a to get cab. Tall letter: b.
  • hub The middle of a wheel. Tall letters: h and b.
  • rub To press and slide, as an eraser does. Swap the u for i to get rib. Tall letter: b.
  • tub Where you take a bath. Backward it spells but. Tall letters: t and b.

How this list was compiled: Words chosen and notes written for this site. Checked on 2026-09-18: the 11 basic color words of English (black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, orange, pink, purple and gray, after Brent Berlin and Paul Kay, 1969) and the Latin dye name behind purple at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_term; the 7 rainbow colors, Newton adding orange and indigo to his first 5, red on the outer edge and violet on the inner edge at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo; orange named after the fruit and first recorded as a color name in English in 1502 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_%28colour%29; violet named after the flower at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violet_%28color%29; pink named after the garden flowers called pinks at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink; gray as the American spelling and grey as the British one at https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gray. The 60 short-vowel words are consonant-vowel-consonant words. None ends in l, r or x, the endings that Common Core standard RF.K.2.d sets aside (https://learning.ccsso.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ELA_Standards1.pdf, read 2026-09-18). The standards list no words: the choice of words and the rhyming families are ours. Spellings were checked against the macOS word list. The tall letters (b, d, f, h, k, l, t) and the tails (g, j, p, q, y) were worked out from each spelling and describe this tool's Print letter style. Licence: own work

How it works

These color tracing worksheets open on the 11 color words, red to gray, in dotted print 14 mm tall, on 3 pages. Each word repeats across its row. Word list has the rainbow, shorter color lists and 15 rhyming lists of short-vowel words.

Read the full guide

What the 3 pages hold

Page 1 holds red, orange, yellow and green, page 2 blue, purple, pink, brown and black, and page 3 white and gray. At Medium, red fits 4 times across its row, blue 3 times and orange twice. Under More options, clear Add an empty row to write without help, or pick Small (10 mm), and the 11 words take 2 pages.

CVC tracing worksheets: 15 rhyming lists

Word list holds 26 lists. Five are color lists: all 11, the rainbow, and the 11 split by length. Fifteen are rhyming families of 4 CVC words each, from -at to -ub, 1 page a list at Medium. Five reviews put the 12 words of one short vowel on 3 pages.

  • Start with Colors with 3 or 4 letters: red, blue, pink and gray fit 1 page at Medium.
  • First grade tracing worksheets can ask for more than copying: set What goes on the sheet to Write a sentence.

Questions and answers

Do the color words print in color?

No. Every sheet prints black on white. The color comes from the crayon box: the child traces red in red and green in green. For a pale crayon such as yellow, set Letters to Outlined under More options and let the child fill the letters.

Can I trace my own words instead?

Yes. Type or paste up to 20 words into Your words, one per line, and they replace the list on the sheet. What you type stays in this browser. Share link carries the words, so keep student names out of a list you share.

Which CVC words are on the lists?

Sixty three-letter words with a short vowel in the middle, 4 to a rhyming family, from -at to -ub. None ends in l, r or x: Common Core standard RF.K.2.d, on saying the three sounds of such a word, sets those endings aside.

Can I use these as tracing worksheets for 1st grade?

Yes. Under More options, set What to practice to Words or sentences and Letter height to Small (10 mm). It opens on The red hen sat on a log, one of 20 sentences. A sentence adds a capital letter and a period.

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