Fun tongue twisters for kids

102 Tongue Twisters for Kids (To Practice Speaking)

Tongue twisters for kids are not just an easy way to elicit a few giggles. They can also be an excellent tool to boost language skills, improve brain function, and promote confidence.

Many professionals who speak in front of an audience use tongue twisters to warm-up, and they are also used in the treatment of some speech impediments.

Get set to reap the benefits of tongue twisters by exploring this fascinating topic.

Table of Contents

• What Are Tongue Twisters?
• Benefits of Tongue Twisters for Kids
• Funny Tongue Twisters for Kids
• Easy Tongue Twisters for Kids
• Short Tongue Twisters for Kids
• Hard Tongue Twisters for Kids
• Famous Tongue Twisters for Kids
• What Is the Hardest Tongue Twister in the World?
• Which Tongue-Tripping Tongue Twister Trips Your Tongue?

What Are Tongue Twisters?

A tongue twister is any set or series of words that are difficult to say, correctly, quickly, and in sequence.

They may or may not make sense. But the goal of a good tongue twister isn’t to make sense, so that’s okay.

For example:

I have got a date at a quarter to eight; I’ll see you at the gate, so don’t be late:

This tongue twister is also a short poem, and the words are in an order that makes sentences we can understand.

Weathered weather leather better:

This is also a tongue twister, but the words are not in an order that makes sense as a sentence.

Benefits of Tongue Twisters for Kids

So, back to those claims that tongue twisters have brain, language, and confidence-boosting benefits.

Here’s an overview of some of those benefits.

• Speaking is a motor skill. The brain must learn to connect each sound we make to a series of specific muscle movements. Tongue twisters can help to strengthen these brain-muscle connections.
• Tongue twisters stretch and work the muscles we use when speaking and this helps us pronounce words more clearly. Children with clearer pronunciation will experience less frustration when attempting to share their needs, thoughts, and feelings.
• Having fun playing with tongue twisters provides a low-pressure way to talk about words and their meanings. During these chats, you can discuss and reinforce rhyming, vocabulary, antonyms, synonyms, and other important aspects of language.
• Kids who have strong speech and language skills are more likely to speak with confidence. That also makes them more likely to ask questions and take on leadership roles.
• Tongue twisters require the speaker to slow down, pay attention, speak precisely, and practice repetition. These skills can be beneficial in other areas of life.

Ready to get your child started on these fun word challenges? Or maybe you want to practice some to impress your child before you introduce them to the world of tongue twisters. Either way, you may be familiar with a few tongue twisters, but here are 102 examples so you have plenty to choose from.

Funny Tongue Twisters for Kids

These are not only amusing on their own, but you’re also likely to crack up laughing at the linguistic mistakes they induce.

If you know your child is motivated by humor, these are a great place to start.

1. A big black bug bit a big black dog.
2. The great Greek grape growers grow great Greek grapes.
3. Smelly shoes and socks shock sisters.
4. Chester Cheetah chews a chunk of cheap cheddar.
5. Five frantic frogs fled from fifty fierce fish.
6. Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.
7. A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
8. How much caramel can a canny cannonball cram in a camel if a canny cannonball can cram caramel in a camel?
9. If colored caterpillars could change their colors constantly could they keep their colored coat colored properly?
10. Did Dick Dickens prick his pinkie picking cheap pickles?
11. I saw a kitten eating chicken in the kitchen.
12. Six sticky skeletons.
13. Ned Nott was shot and Sam Shott was not, so is it better to be Shott than Nott?
14. Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread, spread it thick, say it quick.
15. There was a fisherman named Fisher who fished for some fish in a fissure. ‘Til a fish with a grin pulled the fisherman in. Now they’re fishing the fissure for Fisher.
16. If Stu chews shoes, should Stu choose the shoes he chews?
17. I was born on a short, shiny, ship at shore.
18. One-one was one racehorse. Two-two was one too. One-one won one race. Two-two won one too.
19. Gobbling gargoyles gobbled gobbling goblins.
20. Pirates’ private property chest.
21. Birdie birdie in the sky laid a turdie in my eye.
22. How many cans can a cannibal nibble if a cannibal can nibble cans? As many cans as a cannibal can nibble if a cannibal can nibble cans.
23. A snake sneaks to seek a snack.

Easy Tongue Twisters for Kids

For younger children, those with less confidence, or kids with additional speech challenges, begin with one or more of these easy twisters.  They won’t be as frustrating as some of the longer and more complicated ones. Once these are mastered, you can move on to the harder twisters.

24. He threw three balls.
25. Eddie edited it.
26. Mommy made me eat my M&Ms.
27. Busy buzzing bumblebees.
28. Big nose, big blows.
29. Friendly fleas and fireflies.
30. Popular peppers popping.
31. Sing, ping, sling, pling.
32. Splish, splash, splosh, went the dog in the wash.
33. Bella laughed ‘til she barfed.
34. What a terrible tongue twister.
35. Annie and Andy’s April anniversary.
36. How many cookies could a good cook cook If a good cook could cook cookies?
37. Two tried and true tridents.
38. Loose lips long licks.
39. Four furious friends fought for the phone.
40. Great glass globes glow greenly.
41. Stanley stands sadly on the steep steps.
42. The queen in green screams.
43. Bears breathe blackberries.
44. Rubber rudders bounce.
45. A happy hippo hopped and hiccupped.

Short Tongue Twisters for Kids

Short tongue twisters for kids are great for those with a shorter attention span. That makes them a good choice for younger kids or those who suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder.

These short ones won’t be as entertaining or funny as some of the others on the overall list, though.

46. She sees cheese.
47. The black bat’s back.
48. Daddy draws doors.
49. Red lorry, yellow lorry.
50. Fresh French fried fly fritters.
51. Irish wristwatch.
52. Red Buick, blue Buick.
53. Flashy fish massage.
54. Selfish shellfish.
55. Double bubble gum, bubbles double.
56. Greet with glee.
57. Eleven benevolent elephants.
58. Ed had edited it.
59. Slap shot shiner.
60. She threw three balls.
61. Specific Pacific.
62. Flash place.
63. Stop said Sid.
64. Sheena leads, Sheila needs.
65. Russian Rob runs.
66. Santa’s short suit shrunk.
67. Big black bugs.
68. Pirates’ private plank.
69. Rudder valve reversals.
70. Stupid superstition.
71. Argyle gargoyle.

Hard Tongue Twisters for Kids

If you have a little tongue twister master in the home, challenge them with these fun and hilarious examples.

Since these are more difficult, they should keep them happily practicing for a while.

72. Six sick hicks nick six slick bricks with picks and sticks.
73. Shave a single shingle thin.
74. I slit a sheet, a sheet I slit. Upon the slitted sheet I sit.
75. To begin to toboggan first buy a toboggan, but don’t buy too big a toboggan. Too big a toboggan is too big a toboggan to buy to begin to toboggan.
76. Rugged rubber baby buggy bumpers.
77. Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie.
78. Rory the warrior and Roger the worrier were reared wrongly in a rural brewery.
79. Sort three short sword sheaths.
80. Thirty-three thirsty, thundering thoroughbreds thumped Mr. Thurber on Thursday.
81. Wide right turns.
82. Brisk brave brigadiers brandished broad bright blades, blunderbusses, and bludgeons — balancing them badly.
83. Send toast to ten tense stout saints’ ten tall tents.
84. Supposed to be pink pistachio, supposed to be pistachio pink.
85. The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
86. Six sleek swans swam swiftly southwards.
87. Opposite octopus ocular optics.
88. Dark dusty disks.
89. Seven sleazy shysters in sharkskin suits sold sheared sealskins to seasick sailors.
90. Shut up the shutters and sit in the shop.
91. If you must cross a course cross cow across a crowded cow crossing, cross the cross coarse cow across the crowded cow crossing carefully.

Famous Tongue Twisters for Kids

How many of these famous tongue twisters for kids do you know? You can let your child know that these were popular way back in the day when you were little.

Try not to be disheartened by their amazed expressions when they have trouble picturing you as a child.

92. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
93. I saw Susie sitting in a shoeshine shop. Where she sits she shines, and where she shines she sits.
94. If Stu chews shoes, should Stu choose the shoes he chews?
95. I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!
96. Betty Botter bought some butter, But she said the butter’s bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter, but a bit of better butter will make my batter better. So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.
97. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
98. Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Then Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy, was he?
99. Whether the weather be fine or whether the weather be not, whether the weather be cold or whether the weather be hot, we’ll weather the weather whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.
100. I thought a thought, But the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought I thought. If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought, I wouldn’t have thought so much.
101. She sells sea shells by the seashore, and the shells she sells by the seashore are sea shells for sure.
102. Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran.

In 2013, a team from MIT, in conjunction with Haskins Laboratories in New Haven, Conn., Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, used tongue twisters to research the brain’s speech planning process ⁽¹⁾.

They recorded volunteers saying or trying to say both word list and full sentence tongue twisters. One stood out as so difficult most people couldn’t say it once, let alone ten times fast.

As a result, they declared the most difficult tongue twister in the world to be:

“pad kid poured curd pulled cod.”

Whether you’re in the car, on the bus, waiting in line, or anywhere else with a few minutes on your hands, tongue twisters are a fabulous way to distract, amuse, and entertain your child.

You can use them for some covert teaching, as a way to boost confidence, or to create a moment where you and your child are focused purely on each other.

Who knew that Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers would be so useful?

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About the Author

Patricia Barnes

Patricia Barnes is a homeschooling mom of 5 who has been featured on Global TV, quoted in Parents magazine, and writes for a variety of websites and publications. Doing her best to keep it together in a life of constant chaos, Patti would describe herself as an eclectic mess maker, lousy crafter, book lover, autism mom, and insomniac.

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55+ of the Best Tongue Twisters For Kids, Ranging from Easy to Impossible

Entertainment

Because watching a parent repeatedly trip over their words is hilarious.

Updated: July 26, 2022

Originally Published: Jan. 14, 2021

Most people think of tongue twisters as a trivial activity for kids, full of gibberish and phrases that are equally fun and frustrating. But really, these seemingly random constructions of alliterative words and palindromic phrases are a surefire way to improve fluency and pronunciation. And it’s a great way to get your kid’s speaking skills up to par. In fact, Natalie Portman dedicated an entire section in her acting MasterClass to the tongue-twisters she uses before going on set to perfect her speech. Politicians and news anchors are also known to practice tongue twisters before going on air.

Of course, these deliberately difficult expressions can be the opposite of fun for kids who are still learning to speak, so it’s important to find that balance between challenging tongue twisters and downright impossible ones. We’ve compiled a list of the best easy-to-memorize tongue twisters that will give your kid (and you) instant satisfaction when they finally get them right.

1. I thought a thought. But the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought I thought. If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought, I wouldn’t have thought so much.
2. I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop where she shines, she sits, and where she sits, she shines.
3. A big black bug bit a big black dog on his big black nose.
4. Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.
5. Whether the weather is warm, whether the weather is hot, we have to put up with the weather, whether we like it or not.
6. The bottom of the butter bucket is the buttered bucket bottom.
7. A sailor went to sea to see what he could see. And all he could see was sea, sea, sea.
8. If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?
9. Five frantic frogs fled from fifty fierce fishes.
10. Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair, Wuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy, was he?
11. If practice makes perfect and perfect needs practice, I’m perfectly practiced and practically perfect.
12. Betty and Bob brought back blue balloons from the big bazaar.
13. I saw a saw that could saw out any other saw I ever saw.
14. Nine nice night nurses nursing nicely.
15. I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.
16. A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
17. Any noise annoys an oyster, but a noisy noise annoys an oyster more.
18. Four furious friends fought for the phone.
19. Chester Cheetah chews a chunk of cheap cheddar cheese.
20. Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.
21. We surely shall see the sun shine soon.
22. Wayne went to Wales to watch walruses.
23. Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.
24. Betty Botter bought some butter; “But,” said she, “The butter’s bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter.” But a bit of better butter will make my bitter batter better. So she bought some better butter, better than the bitter butter, Put it in her bitter batter, made her bitter batter better.
25. Birdie birdie in the sky, laid a turdie in my eye. If cows could fly, I’d have a cow pie in my eye.
26. How much ground would a groundhog hog, if a groundhog could hog ground? A groundhog would hog all the ground he could hog, if a groundhog could hog ground.
27. “Surely Sylvia swims!” shrieked Sammy, surprised. “Someone should show Sylvia some strokes so she shall not sink.”
28. The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
29. Can you can a canned can into an un-canned can like a canner can can a canned can into an un-canned can?
30. Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry.
31. Thin sticks, thick bricks, thin sticks, thick bricks, thin sticks, thick bricks.
32. Stupid superstition, stupid superstition, stupid superstition.
33. Two tried and true tridents, two tried and true tridents, two tried and true tridents.
34. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
35. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
36. 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?
37. If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?
38. If you notice this notice, you will notice that this notice is not worth noticing.
39. If you must cross a course cross cow across a crowded cow crossing, cross the cross coarse cow across the crowded cow crossing carefully.
40. Something in a 30-acre thermal thicket of thorns and thistles thumped and thundered, threatening the 3D thoughts of Matthew — although, theatrically, it was the 13,000 thistles and thorns through the underneath of his thigh that the 30-year-old thought of that morning.
41. To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a prickly pot with a lifelong lock, playing with bees that give you short, sharp shocks.
42. Six sleek swans swam swiftly southwards.
43. Willie’s really weary.
44. He threw three free throws.
45. Denise sees the fleece, Denise sees the fleas. At least Denise could sneeze and feed and freeze the fleas.
46. These thousand tricky tongue twisters trip thrillingly off the tongue.
47. Gobbling gargoyles gobbled gobbling goblins.
48. Picky people pick Peter Pan Peanut-Butter, 'tis the peanut-butter picky people pick.
49. Brisk brave brigadiers brandished broad bright blades, blunderbusses, and bludgeons—balancing them badly.
50. Six sticky skeletons.
51. Each Easter, Eddie eats eighty Easter eggs.
52. Six sleek swans swam swiftly southwards.
53. Cooks cook cupcakes quickly.
54. Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie.
55. Six Czech cricket critics.
56. Babbling baby boys blurted boldly.
57. Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches?
58. I’m a mother pheasant plucker; I pluck mother pheasants.
59. The two-toed tree-toad tried to win. The three-toed she-toad’s heart,

This article was originally published on Jan. 14, 2021

Tongue twisters for children - I'm happy MOM

Tongue twisters for children are funny poems for the development of speech and diction. Agree, it's nice to listen to a beautiful, correct speech, when a person clearly pronounces each sound and pronounces all the endings; when everything is clear and you do not need to guess what the interlocutor had in mind.

Many mistakenly believe that the ability to speak beautifully is a special talent, a gift that not everyone can be honored with. This is a big misconception.

To improve colloquial speech, tongue twisters were invented - small rhymes built from difficult-to-pronounce words, syllables and sounds.

On our site we have collected online poems for every taste. The section "patter tongue twisters for children" presents rhyming quatrains for the development of speech and improvement of diction, for learning English and just for fun.

We have divided tongue twisters for children into several sections. In the first two, we have collected touching rhymes for staging the "r" sound and funny tongue twisters to amuse the kids. The next three included short rhymes for practicing hissing consonants [zh], [sh], [h], [u], complex tongue twisters “for advanced” and modern tongue twisters. The last section includes English quatrains with translation for those who study a foreign language, as well as other beautiful tongue twisters.

Tongue twisters for children starting with the letter "r"

In this section, we have collected online tongue twisters, working through which the child learns to pronounce the sound "r". For some reason, of all the sounds, this one is the most difficult for a child. To pronounce it, you need to use not one, but several parts of the tongue at once.

An otter in the tundra

In the bowels of the tundra
Otters in spats
They are digging into buckets
Kernels of cedars!

Otter from an otter
Leggings in the tundra
Otter from a cedar kernel
0023 I'll wipe the otter's muzzle with a gaiter
Cannonballs into buckets
Otter into the tundra!

Margarita

Margarita collected daisies on the mountain,
Margarita lost daisies in the yard.

Karl from Clara

Karl stole corals from Clara,
Clara stole the clarinet from Karl.

A Greek rode across a river

A Greek rode across a river,
He sees a Greek - there is cancer in the river.
Threw the Greek's hand into the river,
Cancer for the Greek's hand - tsap!

Chattering Magpies

Three Chattering Magpies chattered on a hill.

Ships tacked

Ships tacked, tacked, but not caught.

Beavers go

Beavers go to bora cheese.
Beavers are kind, beavers are cheerful.

Grass in the yard

Grass in the yard, firewood on the grass
Do not cut firewood on the grass in the yard.

Drawings

Larisa painted daffodils in watercolor.
Natasha painted dahlias with gouache.

Patter about purchases

Tell us about purchases,
About which purchases?
About purchases, about purchases,
About my purchases.

Pine

It grew behind the mountain, behind the hillock
pine with suckers.

Children's funny tongue twisters

In this section you will find excellent material for playing learning. Learning together funny tongue twisters for children will create a positive attitude and attract the attention of even the most restless kid.

Parrot

The parrot said to the parrot:
I'll parrot you, parrot.
The parrot answers him:
Parrot, parrot, parrot!

Koschei

Skinny and weak Koschei
Carrying a box of vegetables.

Mouse

Mouse crawled under the lid,
To gnaw a crumb under the lid,
Probably the lid for the mouse -
The mouse forgot about the cat!

crucian

crucian once crucian
Gave a coloring book.
And Karas said:
"Color, Karasyonok, a fairy tale!"
On the coloring page of the Karasyonka -
Three funny pigs:
The Karasyonka repainted the piglets into crucians!

Forty forty

Cunning magpie to catch trouble,
And forty forty - forty trouble.

Turtle and tea

Turtle, not bored, sits for an hour with a cup of tea.

Glutton Zhora

Glutton Zhora ate one hundred pancakes and one hundred cutlets for lunch.
Zhora's stomach hurts. It's dangerous to be a glutton!

Toad, crane and yellow bug

Toad, crane and yellow bug
We went to the meadow to visit the hedgehog,
So that the dressmaker sewed in place
Letter Sh and it became quiet in the forest.

Patter with hissing sounds [w], [w], [h], [u]

To tongue twisters with hissing [w], [w], [h], [u] parents and teachers turn most often. These sounds are the most difficult for children.

Hooded cuckoo

Cuckoo bought a hood.
Cuckoo put on a hood.
How funny he is in the hood!

H tongue twister

Four turtles have four turtles.

In a hut

Rustling silks in a hut
A yellow dervish from Algeria
And, juggling knives,
Shtuk eats figs.

Four little imps

Four black, grimy little imps
Draw a drawing in black ink.

Sasha was walking along the highway

Sasha was walking along the highway and sucked dry.

Red cat

Red couch potato

Patter with the letter Щ

Two puppies, cheek to cheek,
Pinch the brush in the corner.

Patter with the letter Zh

A bear cub was frightened
A hedgehog with a hedgehog and a hedgehog,
Swift with a shear and a short haircut.

Sh 9 tongue twister0020