Letter O Preschool Printable Worksheets

All printables for personal or classroom use only.

These letter of the week printables are great for tot school, preschool, and kindergarten children. Children can work on one letter activity each day.

Click on the picture to download the printable.

See the entire Letter of the Week curriculum.
 

Blank lowercase letter- great for crafts, painting, or decorating.

LETTER O UPPERCASE TRACING WORKSHEET-

Trace the uppercase letter O.

How to Teach the Letter O

O is the letter where a lot of kids first feel like real writers, because it's just one round shape. The sound takes a bit more attention since O is a vowel with more than one job. Here's how I'd use the letter O worksheets on this page.

1. Begin with the short O. The sound to start with is /o/ as in octopus. Have your child open their mouth wide, like they're at the dentist, and say "o, o, octopus." Your child can hold the sound while looking in a mirror and notice how round their mouth gets. The long O sound, like the one in open, can wait until your child is comfortable with the short one.

2. Draw the circle. Capital O and lowercase o are the same shape in different sizes. Start at the top, go around to the left, and finish where you began, which is a counterclockwise direction. Many children want to start at the bottom or go the other way, so it helps to put a dot at the top and trace around it. Try making giant circles in the air with a ribbon, or on the driveway with chalk, before moving to paper.

3. Collect O words. Short O words that work well for this age are octopus, otter, ostrich, olive, ox, on, and off. Draw eight legs on a paper circle for an octopus craft, or toss a ball into a hoop and say "on" and "off" as you play. Sorting a few toy animals by starting sound is another easy way to practice.

4. Plan for the common slips. The most frequent trouble spots are circles that don't close and shapes that turn into ovals. Some children also mix lowercase o with a, since an a starts with a circle too. Remind your child that o is just a circle, and an a gets a stick on its side.

The tracing pages, coloring sheets, and beginning sounds worksheets on this page give your child a chance to practice each step.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Letter O

How early can a child learn the letter O?
Often by age 3, since a circle is one of the first shapes toddlers learn to draw. Recognizing the letter usually comes quickly. Getting the circle closed neatly and starting from the top may take until 4 or 5.

What sounds does the letter O make?
O has a short sound, /o/ as in octopus and hot, and a long sound, /ō/ as in open and go. It also appears in other sounds, like in orange and owl. For preschoolers, begin with the short O, and wait on the other sounds until kindergarten or first grade.

What words start with the letter O?
Good words for beginners are octopus, otter, ostrich, olive, ox, on, off, and opposite. Words like open, oval, oatmeal, and ocean start with the long O. Choose the ones your child can see or hold, like an olive from the pantry or a toy otter.

How is the letter O different from the number 0?
They look almost the same, and in some fonts they're identical. The easiest way to tell them apart is by how they're used. A letter O belongs in words, and a number 0 appears in numbers like 10 or 205. Showing both in context, like in Octoberand a phone number, helps it make sense.

Why does my child draw circles from the bottom?
It feels natural to a lot of kids, and it's a habit that's easier to fix now than later. Letters like a, d, g, and q all begin with the same top-left curve as o, so starting at the top makes those letters easier down the road. A green dot at the top and a little arrow showing the direction can help.

What's a good way to teach the short O sound?
Pair it with a mouth position kids can feel and see. Open wide, like at a doctor's visit, and say "o, o, octopus." Then try a few words together, such as hop, mop, and top, and ask your child where they hear the same sound.

Where should I start with the letter O worksheets?
Tracing is a good first step, since the focus is on starting at the top and closing the circle. The beginning sounds sheet can come next to check whether your child hears /o/ at the start of words. For a more laid-back activity, the coloring page is a good fit.