To help children learn how to print the letter “x,” teach them a verbal pathway that will cue them with what motions to make with their pencil. Use the phrase, “Slant down, slant down” as you model how to print an “x.” This verbal pathway can be used for both the uppercase and lowercase “x,” but you will need to point out how the former is a tall letter and the latter is a short letter. Provide children with opportunities to trace each letter then follow up with independent practice.

When children learn how to print letters properly, they can increase their speed and accuracy. As well, as they begin writing longer passages, their focus can be on the content of their writing and not the mechanics of forming each letter.

Provide children with tools such as fingerpaints, whiteboard markers, chalk, and sand or salt trays to practice printing the letter “x.” They can also use juggling scarves to practice the motions needed to form an “x.”

Have children associate the letter “x” with words that begin with the sound. For example, they may choose words like “x-ray,” “Xmas,” or “xylophone.” Have them create their own visual by filling a block letter “x” with pictures of the items.

Other visual children can reference when learning their letters and sounds is an individual alphabet book. Each page contains one letter, displaying the uppercase and lowercase formation. Children can then add pictures to the page that begin with the letter’s sound.

To provide further practice learning the sound the letter “x” makes, have children engage in matching activities. For example, have them match the letter “x” to pictures of objects that begin with “x.” You can also use coloring activities, where children color only the pictures that begin with the letter “x.” (e.g., Color the xylophone. Do not color the cake.)