Cursive Letter Z Worksheets
Cursive z drops below the line, which surprises almost everyone, because the printed z does not. Large model, the pair, zip, zoo and zen, then a sentence to end the page.
Curated by 
Poppy Fox
Cursive Z Sentence
A whole sentence to trace and then copy: Zoe saw a zebra at the zoo. Joining letters inside real words is the step single letters cannot teach.
Download PDFCursive z is the letter that surprises people most, because it drops below the line. Enter with an overcurve from the baseline, make a small arch, come down to the baseline, then carry the stroke down into the descender space, loop to the left, and return to the baseline to exit forward. It looks far more like a handwritten figure 3 with a tail than like the printed z.
Nothing about it matches the printed letter
Printed z is three straight lines. Cursive z is a curve, a dip below the baseline and a loop, and a child cannot deduce one from the other. This is the same problem r and s present, and the same answer applies: show the two forms side by side once, name the difference plainly, and then practise only the joined shape. Trying to reason from the printed letter produces a hybrid that reads as neither.
The last letter, and often the least practised
Because z sits at the end of the alphabet it tends to get the least attention, and because it is rare in English it gets very little incidental practice inside words. That combination is why so many adults cannot write a cursive z from memory. If you are working through the alphabet in order, it is worth giving z a second session a week later rather than treating the first pass as finished.
What is inside the three free sheets
The extra large page prints Z and z at a size where the descender loop is unmistakable, with a solid model followed by three dashed copies on each of three bands. The guided page shows the pair at 96 point, then rows of seven capitals, seven lowercase and four Zz pairs on three line guides, and ends with two ruled lines. The words page traces zip, zoo and zen.
Does cursive z really drop below the line?
In traditional American school cursive, yes. The lowercase z carries a descender loop that swings below the baseline and returns, which is why it resembles a handwritten 3 more than a printed z. Some modern simplified styles keep z on the baseline, so it is worth matching whichever form the child's school uses.