Finish the Word
Kids · 5–8A picture, and its name with one letter missing. Write the letter in. The first letter is never the one taken out — a child working from the picture and the shape of the word has nothing to start from without it, and the exercise stops being spelling and becomes a guess. Read the letters that are there aloud before writing, including the gap as a pause. A free printable for ages five to eight, on A4 or US Letter.
Why the first letter never goes
A child filling in a missing letter is working from two things: the picture, and the shape of the word in front of them. Take the first letter out and the second one disappears — there is nothing to start reading from, and a sensible child falls back to guessing. Keeping the first letter is what makes this spelling rather than a lottery.
Read the gap out loud
Read what is printed, including the gap as a deliberate pause: "zeb — a". Hearing the word with a hole in it is usually enough, and it is a strategy that transfers to real reading, where children meet unknown words with the same move. Writing the letter in is the easy part by then.
Frequently asked questions
- What age is a missing-letter worksheet for?
- Five to eight. It needs a child who recognises most letters and can hold a word in mind; before that, a beginning-sounds sheet is the better fit.
- My child writes the right letter backwards. Does it count?
- Yes. Reversed letters are normal well into six and are a handwriting matter, not a spelling one — the word was still worked out correctly.