Move over Comic Sans – Best Fonts to Use for Learners & Beginner Writers
Comic Sans the rounded, sans serif font, with a single storey ‘a’ and a simplified ‘g’ has often been the go-to choice for teachers looking to create teaching and learning materials.
Visually of course, designers tend to groan inwardly whenever they see an instance of Comic Sans being used; perhaps it’s a case of having been ‘used to death’, maybe it’s just not quite that appealing visually or as some font designers explain – it has been inappropriately used too much and for too long. Either way, Comic Sans has been soundly mocked, in fact there’s even a ‘ban-Comic Sans‘ movement.
With this in mind, we took at look at the vast array of font types freely available from Google fonts and found a few options that would be perfect for beginner writers (both print and cursive) and some hand-writing based fonts.
We list our favourite free fonts from Google according the following:
Best Cursive Fonts from Google
Here are 7 of the best cursive fonts from Google. Better known as script fonts, the letters in these fonts make the word appear to be linked just like when you write in cursive. In technical terms, these are connected or semi-connected script inspired mainly by hand-lettering, brush or calligraphy. Some cursive fonts are more formal while others veer towards casual and playful. Note that all cursive fonts featured below have single-storey “a” glyphs.
Best Dotted Fonts from Google
Dotted fonts are perfect for children learning to write. These are fonts inspired by billboards, signs and lights. You can use it for headlines and posters and workbooks well as big headings. While Google has a limited collection of dotted fonts, you can find other dotted fonts below.
Dotted fonts from sources other than Google Fonts
- Quicksand Dash – a nice, clear, printed font that comes in a range of styles including dotted version
- KG Primary Dots – a dotted print in four styles – plain letters, and three different lined versions.
Best Handwriting Fonts from Google
Handwriting fonts offer a more informal and friendly display of content. These are different from the cursive brush or cursive handwriting list above as they are mainly disconnected letters and are more casual and playful in nature. Note that all the fonts below have single-storey “a” glyphs.
Handwriting fonts from Sources other than Google:
- KG Primary Penmanship – this clear handwriting font comes in several styles including displaying on dotted third lines as shown above.
- Berner Basisschrift – this handwriting font comes in two styles – one printed and one pre-cursive with the little hooks on the letters, as shown above.
Best Children Friendly Print Fonts from Google
These fonts are great for children’s story books, workbooks, posters and leaflets. They appeal to little ones as they are simple and friendly with definite shapes to support those learning to read and write. The idea is that the letterforms are clear and not easily confused with one another. Where fonts are specially designed for learning, they are highlighted below:
July 4, 2020 @ 1:37 am
why wouldn’t you use “the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog,” so we can see all letters?
July 9, 2020 @ 11:21 am
I wondered exactly that too, Lauren. This is what Google shows on each font page as a sample.
August 10, 2020 @ 4:03 am
thank you very much for this super helpful collection
August 21, 2020 @ 2:55 pm
That would have to be “jumps”, not “jumped”, as otherwise there’s no S in it.
September 3, 2020 @ 11:22 am
That is true Simon. Thankfully, all of Google’s choices shows the S.