Bubble Letters

Bubble letters are fat, round letters that look as if someone blew them up like a balloon. This free sheet has the words Bubble and Letters, plus a big ABC, all drawn with thick soft outlines so they are easy to color. Print the PDF, grab some markers, and fill each one with a different color.

You can also use this page as a guide for drawing your own. Kids and teens use the style on posters, notebook covers and birthday signs.

How to draw bubble letters

It is easier than it looks, and you need only a pencil and a pen. Here is the simple way.

• Write your word in plain capital letters with a pencil.
• Leave plenty of space between each letter.
• Draw a round outline around each pencil line, like a sausage.
• Curve every corner, since sharp points ruin the puffy look.
• Go over the outline in pen, then erase the pencil inside.

Holes matter too. Letters like A, B and O have small spaces inside. Keep those holes tiny and round. That is what makes the letter look full of air.

How to color them so they pop

Try a rainbow, with one color for each letter. That is the look in the colored idea on this page. You can also fade one color from dark to light, from the bottom to the top. Add a small white curve near the top of each letter, and it will look shiny, like a real balloon.

Outline the whole word in a dark marker when you are done. A soft shadow on one side lifts the letters right off the paper.

Where to use bubble letters

A big birthday sign is the classic use. Print or draw the name, color it in and tape it to the wall. They also look great on a school poster, a science fair title or the front of a card. Many kids decorate their binders this way.

Teachers use them for classroom door signs and bulletin boards. Young kids get fine motor practice as they color inside the thick shapes, and they learn letter shapes at the same time.

Where the style came from

Puffy letters have a long history in street art. In the 1970s, New York writers made quick rounded letters called throw ups, and the look spread from there. Wikipedia has a long entry on graffiti. Today you will see the same round shapes on toys, cereal boxes and birthday party banners.

Paper and banners

Plain paper is fine for colored pencils. For markers, use thicker paper so the ink does not bleed through. To make a banner, print a few sheets and cut around each letter, then string them along a ribbon.

Common mistakes and easy fixes

The most common problem is crowding. If your first letter is too wide, you will run out of paper before the word is done. Plan ahead by marking a small dot where each letter should go. Another mistake is making some letters fat and others thin. Try to keep the same thickness all the way through the word.

Letters like S and G are the hardest because of their curves. Practice those two on scrap paper first. If the middle of an E looks crowded, shorten the arms a little. Bubble letters look best when they are slightly messy, so do not worry about making them perfect.

For a neat trick, let your bubble letters overlap a bit. Draw the front letter first, then stop the next one where it touches. This makes the whole word look stacked, as if the letters were pushing against each other. Add a dark shadow below and the word will seem to float.

More to print

Need every letter? Print the full bubble letters A to Z sheet, or get the digits on the bubble numbers page. Find more ideas in our free printables for kids, or color something new from the cute coloring pages.

Questions