One of the best ways to practice speaking and articulation is tongue twisters for kids. These not only aid in their pronunciation skills but also provide a way for kids to improve their fluency in language.
Many of these tongue twisters for kids can be fun too. They provide a way to put their language and speaking skills to use through rhymes and fun sayings.
What are Tongue Twisters for Kids?
Tongue Twisters usually focus on a particular sound or makes use of alliteration to help kids to practice their pronunciation and fluency.
They can be short or long, easy or difficult, and come with all sorts of silly rhymes. Made up by a whole series of carefully selected words words, tongue twisters can make it fun to learn the English language. Repeating them over and over again can be a challenge for kids and even adult.
Yes, tongue twisters are not just for kids. They are often used by orators and public speakers to practice their speech. It is a great way to get comfortable with speaking tricky sentences.
These tongue twisters can even be used as a party game, allowing kids to take on the challenge of saying their repeatedly or as fast as possible to determine a winner. It can be an easy, no-fuss and little setup game for kids to play, similar to a game of charades.
Let’s discover some of these great tongue twister for kids below. The tongue twisters are highlighted in italics below.
Short and Easy Tongue Twisters for Kids
Funny Bunnies
Bad money, mad bunny
We wonder what the bunny did.
Zig-zagging Zebras
Zebras zig and zebras zag
This tongue twister for kids will get them started on the “z” sound.
Six Snails
Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward
We hope that the snails are sea snails!
Grapes from Greece
Greek grapes, Greek grapes, Greek grapes.
Try saying this tongue twister as quickly as possible. It’ll be a fun challenge for the kids.
Bread for Fred and Ted
Fred fed Ted bread and Ted fed Fred bread.
This is a silly little rhyme for practicing the “ed” sound.
An Irish Watch
Irish wristwatch. Irish wristwatch. Irish wristwatch.
Another one to try to say as quickly as possible.
Lorry Time
Red lorry, yellow lorry.
Just because this is a short tongue does not mean that it is easy. Start slow and be sure to pronounce the individual words clearly.
Shellfish being Selfish
Selfish Shellfish.
This is another short tongue twister for kids. It alternates between the “sel” and the “shel” sounds, with the latter having the “h” in it.
Toy Boat
Toy boat. Try boat. Toy boat. Try boat.
Row, row, row the toy boat along.
Kitty in the Kitchen
Kitty caught the kitten in the kitchen.
We hope that the kitten is ok while in the kitchen.
Cheesy
She sees cheese
Who doesn’t love cheese, especially when one see its!
A Rural Rhyme
Truly rural
This little two word tongue twister looks easy enough doesn’t it? However, give it a try for yourself and find out if you can articulate it clearly.
Lucky Rabbits
Lucky rabbits like to cause a ruckus.
It must be very noisy with the loud lucky rabbit around.
Friends Fighting over a Phone
Four furious friends fought for the phone
This little rhymes makes use of the “f” sound and the sound even makes an appearance in the “ph” of phone.
Thick and Quick
Spread it thick, say it quick
This one reminds us a delicious bread spread.
More Easy Tongue Twisters for Kids
Ready for more tongue twisters to get children’s tongues in a twist? Here are more to challenge your ability to speak and articulate clearly.
Door Daddy
Daddy draws doors.
“D” is the main sound that kids will get to practice with this little rhyme.
Blabbering Billybob
Billybob blabbered boldly.
Try not tripping over this one.
The Fellow
Follow the fellow.
Follow along.
Scissors and Thistles
Scissors sizzle, thistles sizzle.
This one sounds prickly as much as it is tricky.
Lights in the Night
Light the night light tonight.
At least it will be bright in the night tonight.
Blinking Bluebird
The blue bluebird blinks
This one allows kids to practice pronouncing the “b” sound.
Six Skeletons
Six sticky skeletons
This may be a fun little tongue twister for Halloween. Make it part of a Halloween party game and it can be great fun challenge.
Three Free Throws
He threw three free throws.
If you are looking for a fun game for a basketball-themed party, why not get the kids to try saying this tongue twister ten times as quickly as possible.
Divers Diving
Divers dive deep.
This one lets kids practice switching fluently between the words “Divers” and “Diving”.
Classic Tongue Twisters
There are some tongue twisters that are just classic and must-know for kids. Here, we have together a collection of rhymes and tongue twisters to get kids going.
Seashells by the Seashore
She sells seashells by the seashore.
This may be a classic but it is still a really great one for kids to get under their tongue.
Betty and the Butter
Betty bought some butter, but the butter was bitter.
So Betty bought some better butter to make the bitter butter better.
This is a kid-friendly variation on the classic Better Botter tongue twister. If you wish to read more about the original and get some other variations, and a downloadable printable, visit this page.
Woodchuck Chuck
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?
If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
This is another popular tongue twister that kids can learn. It actually is not that easy to pick up so give it a good go and try the best that you can. We also have a downloadable printable on this Woodchuck Chuck tongue twister.
Peter Piper
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper,
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper,
Where’s the peck of pickled pepper that Peter Piper picked?
Peter Piper is another classic tongue twister. You can read more about the Peter Piper tongue twister and get a free printable here.
Fuzzy Wuzzy
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy, was he?
This rhyme is not just fuzzy, it is funny too!
Susie Shoeshine
Susie works in a shoeshine shop.
Where she shines, she sits,
and where she sits, she shines.
She sure is a hardworking one, Susie.
Scream for Ice Cream
I scream, you scream,
we all scream for ice cream!
This is one that we can get behind for sure! We love ice cream!
Can a Can
Can you can a can as a canner can can a can.
Do you think you can say this can tongue twister? It makes us wonder, “what’s in the can?”. Could it be something to do with chemistry?
New York, New York
You know New York,
you need New York,
you know you need unique New York.
This one is uniquely about New York. We think that it is a great way to practice the “n” sound with all the variations of know, need and unique.
Two Witches and their Watches
If two witches would watch two watches,
which witch would watch which watch?
This one is a doozy. Try saying it without tripping up over which witch is watching which watch.
An Annoyed Oyster
Any noise annoys an oyster,
but a noisy noise annoys an oyster even more.
This one is can get quite annoying.
Date at the Gate
I have got a date at a quarter to eight;
I’ll see you at the gate, so don’t be late.
We think it is a dinner date, or if they ate, perhaps it is just fate.
Sailor at Sea
A sailor went to sea to see what he could see.
And all he could see was sea, sea, sea.
We wonder if we could turn this into a little sea shanty.
Longer Tongue Twisters for Kids
Do you need a real challenge for kids? Need something that will get them tripping up over difficult rhymes? We’ve got a selection of difficult rhymes below for you to let kids try out.
Doctor Doctoring
When a doctor doctors a doctor, does the doctor doing the doctoring
doctor as the doctor being doctored wants to be doctored,
or does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as he wants to doctor?
This one is not just hard to say but it is also hard to remember. We hope that you don’t need to see a doctor after attempting this tongue twister.
Fresh Fried Fish
Fresh fried fish,
fish fresh fried,
fried fish fresh,
fish fried fresh.
This one may seem a little fishy but we but you will have plenty of fun with it. If you like fishy jokes, we think that you will enjoy this collection of fish jokes that you should be herring.
Cross Cow
If you must cross a cross course cow
across a crowded cow crossing,
cross the cross coarse cow
across the crowded cow crossing carefully.
This one gives us a headache just looking at it.
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
If practice makes perfect and perfect needs practice,
I’m perfectly practiced and practically perfect.
Keep on practicing it! After all, perfect practice makes perfect!
Warm Weather
Whether the weather is warm,
whether the weather is hot,
we have to put up with the weather,
whether we like it or not.
This is a funny little rhyme but it is so true. While we can’t control the weather, we can at least dress up for it and sure that we are prepared for the different seasons.
How to Make Use of these Tongue Twisters for Kids
If you are planning to make use of these tongue twisters to teach kids about articulation, the first thing to consider is what is their ability level.
If they are very young and just starting out, get them started with short tongue twisters first. You may even want to shorten some of the longer tongue twisters to make them accessible to children.
For example, you can shorten the Peter Piper tongue twister to the single line:
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper
Or, extract out a line from a rhyme such as the Woodchuck Chuck tongue twister and reduce it to:
- How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?
Once the child becomes more used to the one line, then expand the challenge by introducing the second line of the tongue twister.
Another tip for those who are starting out is to start slowly. Very often, it may be tempting for kids to race through a tongue twister. This is perfectly understandable since it is part of the fun and it can be extremely silly tripping over the words.
However, start kids off slowly at first. Get them to get used to the words – both the vowels and the consonants – before letting them speed off with the rhyme on their own.
It can also be helpful to break down and analyze the words that make up the tongue twister. Granted, many of these tongue twisters are rather nonsensical but if you break them down, they do have some meaning.
Getting to know the meaning behind the tongue twister can be a good way for kids to better remember the tongue twister and what it is all about. Instead of just spouting out sounds, kids will also be able to relate to what is being said.
One other tip to encourage kids to practice these tongue twisters is to start off by having them repeat after you. Say one line and then get them to repeat that line. This can be especially useful if you have shy or self-conscious kids who may be intimidated by the words of the tongue twister.
By having them follow and repeat after you, you can help them overcome their fear of speaking out loud and allow them to build up their confidence as well.
We hope that these have been useful teaching tips for making use of tongue twisters to help kids pronounce and articulate themselves better.
If you enjoyed this story, we think that you will also enjoy this one about hard tongue twisters.
