Lying Figure Eights Tracing Worksheet — Medium Patterns, Full Tracing, 5 Rows, Ages 6–8

Ten or eleven sideways figure eights stand on the bottom line of every row here, and all five medium rows are dashed from end to end, a smooth warm-up for 6–8-year-olds.

6 Years

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1 A4 page · for home and classroom use

All printables: Tracing lines

Lying figure eights

How to use this worksheet

Each eight is drawn in one go: start at the dark dot where the two loops meet, go up and around the left loop, back through the middle, then up and around the right loop.
Follow the solid model once with a fingertip before picking up the pencil.
Trace every dashed eight, lifting the pencil only between eights.

What this worksheet teaches

A lying eight changes its direction of turning halfway: the left loop goes counterclockwise, the right loop clockwise, and the line passes through the middle twice. Switching direction inside one smooth movement is exactly what letters like s and many cursive joins ask for. With full tracing, a 6–8-year-old can put all the attention on a clean crossing point and two loops of the same size.

Play idea

Give each finished row a second pass with a different colored pencil, so every eight is traced twice. Then ask your child to choose the roundest eight on the page and draw a star next to it.

Questions and answers

Questions from parents

Where does each figure eight start?

At the dark dot in the middle, where the two loops touch. The pencil goes up into the left loop first, comes back through the middle, then goes up into the right loop.

Why is this sheet fully traced for ages 6–8?

The figure eight changes direction halfway, which is hard even for older children. Full tracing lets them focus on a smooth crossing; the draw-from-the-model version is the next step.

My child lifts the pencil in the middle of each eight. Should I correct it?

Gently. Each eight is one continuous line, so encourage finishing both loops before lifting.