40 Must-Try Tongue Twisters for Kids

Every once in a while, we feel like our tongue has tied into a knot and we blurb a sentence that’s all wrong, especially if we’re speaking fast. When this happens, we usually see it as an amusing and funny situation which reminds us that speaking is a skill that shouldn’t be taken for granted. And this is something that young learners know better than everyone. For children who are just learning how to speak or read, everything is a challenge. So, why should you introduce tongue twisters for kids?

It might seem counterintuitive, but challenging kids even further will speed up their journey in becoming fluent speakers. Even older kids can benefit by practicing their English language pronunciation as part of their presentation and public speaking skills. 

All in all, tongue twisters for kids represent an amazing speaking exercise! On top of that, they’re incredibly fun and amusing, making kids laugh out loud! 

In this article, we’ll talk about tongue twisters a little and discuss their benefits, before continuing toward some classical, some unique, and some very funny tongue twister examples. 

What Is a Tongue Twister?

Tongue twisters are sentences or phrases designed with the purpose of being hard to pronounce, which makes them perfect for a challenge or a word game, but also as exercises for fluency and pronunciation. This is usually due to the arrangement of syllables and same sounding consonants, making pronunciation extremely difficult. 

When we speak fast, tongue twisters put an extra challenge to our vocal system during the process of physical articulation of sounds because we have to produce a pattern of movement which is unusual or very demanding. 

However, by challenging ourselves, with time, we’ll get more control over our vocal system, making us even better speakers. And, this is exactly what kids need! But, are tongue twisters created for educational and training purposes? Maybe some today, but that was not the reason why tongue twisters became popular!

Origins of Tongue Twisters 

Tongue twisters were originally orally passed down from generation to generation, which makes it very difficult to find the exact time when they originated or even estimate the time they were first invented. However, we know that in 19th century England, tongue twisters became really popular! 

The history of tongue twisters usually concentrates on the story behind one of the world’s most famous tongue twisters: “She sells seashells by the seashore!” According to folk etymology, this tongue twister was first published as part of a song in 1908 by British songwriter Terry Sullivan. 

The inspiration for the tongue twister supposedly came from the work of Mary Anning, who was a fossil collector. The story says that Mary was used to collect shells and fossils on the beach, selling them to wealthy families. 

Fun fact: Mary Anning was the woman who discovered the fossil of the first flying dinosaur, which you can see on display at the British Museum. 

Terry Sullivan, however, published the song with the tongue twister as a diction exercise. 

Benefits of Tongue Twisters for Kids

Did you know that tongue twisters were recommended for curing hiccups or speaking impediments such as lisps? Yap, and we’ve seen that even in 19th century England, songwriters were using tongue twisters as diction exercises. 

Therefore, it is safe to argue that tongue twisters deserve a much more serious place in education, than their current mainly entertaining value. Here are a couple of benefits commonly associated with tongue twisters. 

Improved Pronunciation

Improved pronunciation and enunciation is the scientifically proven benefit of tongue twisters, both in native speakers and foreign language speakers (Ali Abdulilah Ghani (2018)). This means that kids will not only improve the way they pronounce the words, but also their enunciation, which is the way words are expressed. 

For instance, in the English language, many words do not sound exactly how they’re spelled, while some sounds like “r” or “sh” and “th” can have a different pronunciation in different words. Tongue twisters will help kids overcome these difficulties and improve their pronunciation, as well as reading and spelling skills. 

Excellent Vocal Exercises

Singers are probably familiar with this, but tongue twisters are great for asserting control over the vocal system and making one’s speaking a lot more clear. This is because, as we’ve mentioned in the previous paragraph, tongue twisters challenge the muscles of our mouth and vocal cords. And, just like running strengthens the muscles of the leg, tongue twisters strengthen the muscles needed to produce coherent sounds. 

Using tongue twisters as vocal exercises is especially beneficial for kids who prepare to publicly present a topic, debate, have a public speaking assignment, or sing. 

Improve Reading Skills

With everything that we’ve mentioned so far, it’s already become clear how tongue twisters can improve reading skills. A very common problem for kids in early education is the increasing volume of textbooks and other educational material which might overwhelm and demotivate kids whose reading skills can’t keep up. However, thanks to tongue twisters, students can learn to read faster and more efficiently. They’ll recognize words more easily and pronounce them internally like a piece of cake!

Must-Try Tongue Twisters for Kids

If you’re inspired to try funny tongue twisters for kids in the classroom and see students have a great time while practicing their pronunciation, here are some examples!

Funny Short Tongue Twisters to Repeat

• Red leather, yellow leather. (x5)
• Red lorry, yellow lorry. (x5)
• Toy boat. Try boat. Toy boat. Try boat. (x5)
• She sees cheese. (x5)
• Snap crackle pop (x5)
• Thin sticks, thick bricks (x5)
• He threw three balls. (x5)
• Greek grapes, Greek grapes, Greek grapes. (x5)
• A synonym for cinnamon is a cinnamon synonym. 
• She sells seashells by the seashore.
• Kitty caught the kitten eating chicken in the kitchen.
• A big black bug bit a big black dog on his big black nose.
• I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and the slitted sheet I sit.
• I saw a saw that could saw out any other saw I ever saw.
• Fred fed Ted bread and Ted fed Fred bread.
• Six slimey snails slid slowly seaward.
• Send toast to ten tense stout saints’ ten tall tents. (really hard)
• Six sick hicks nick six slick bricks with picks and sticks. (really hard)
• Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie.
• Light the night light tonight.

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy, was he?

The Can Question

Can you can a canned can into an uncanned can like a canner can can a canned can into an un-canned can?

Peter’s Pick

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers? If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Proper Coffee Pot

All I want is a proper cup of coffee,

Made in a proper copper coffee pot

I may be off my dot

But I want a cup of coffee

From a proper coffee pot.

Tin coffee pots and iron coffee pots

They’re no use to me –

If I can’t have a proper cup of coffee

In a proper copper coffee pot

I’ll have a cup of tea.

How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck?

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.

How Much Ground Would a Groundhog Hog?

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.

Betty Botter As a Baker

Betty Botter had some butter, “But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter. If I bake this bitter butter, it would make my batter bitter. But a bit of better butter – that would make my batter better.” So she bought a bit of butter, better than her bitter butter, and she baked it in her batter, and the batter was not bitter. So ’twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.

Thinking Frenzy

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.

Nott and Shott

Ned Nott was shot and Sam Shott was not.

So it is better to be Shott than Nott.

Some say Nott was not shot.

But Shott says he shot Nott.

Either the shot Shott shot at Nott was not shot,

Or Nott was shot.

If the shot Shott shot shot Nott, Nott was shot.

But if the shot Shott shot shot Shott,

Then Shott was shot, not Nott.

However, the shot Shott shot shot not Shott, but Nott.

The Sailor and the Sea

A sailor went to sea to see what he could see. And all he could see was sea, sea, sea.

Crossing Crowded Cow Crossing

If you must cross a course cross cow across a crowded cow crossing, cross the cross coarse cow across the crowded cow crossing carefully.

The Tutor Who Tooted

A tutor who tooted the flute tried to tutor two tooters to toot.

Said the two to the tutor, is it harder to toot or to tutor two tooters to toot?

Many Doctors

If one doctor doctors another doctor, does the doctor who doctors the doctor doctor the doctor the way the doctor he is doctoring doctors?

Or does the doctor doctor the way the doctor who doctors doctors?

From “The Foot Book” by Dr. Seuss

Slow feet, quick feet. Trick feet, sick feet. Up feet, down feet. Here come clown feet. Small feet, big feet. Here come pig feet. His feet, her feet. Fuzzy fur feet.

From “Oh Say Can You Say?” by Dr. Seuss

As he gobbled the cakes on his plate, the greedy ape said as he ate, ‘The greener green grapes are, the keener keen apes are to gobble green grape cakes. They’re GREAT!

If your daddy’s name is Dwight, and he likes to look at birds at night, the gift for Dwight that might be right is a Bright Dwight Bird-Flight Night-Sight Light.

Dark Dock

To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,

In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,

Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,

From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!

Cheese Trees

Through three cheese trees three free fleas flew

While these fleas flew, freezy breeze blew

Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze

Freezy trees made these trees’ cheese freeze

That’s what made these three free fleas sneeze.

Butter and Jelly

Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.

Spread it thick, say it quick!

Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread,

Spread it thicker, say it quicker!

Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.

Don’t eat until you are spreading it like a spread!

The Toughest Tongue Twister in The World

According to The Guinness Book of World Records, the award for the toughest tongue twister in the word goes to:  “The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.”

Before You Go

Did you know that each year the second Sunday of November is dedicated to National Tongue Twister Day? Yes, they’re so popular, fun, and beneficial that people created a holiday celebrating tongue twisters! However, don’t wait until November to introduce some tongue twister exercises for kids. Thanks to our examples, you can entertain and challenge kids all year round. In fact, this could be your playful tradition before or after each English class. 

If you’re interested in learning a little bit more about tongue twisters, for instance, how to create your own tongue twisters which serve specific needs (example: overcoming difficulties in pronunciation of a specific letter),  visit our website and check out our worksheet packs on assonance and alliteration – the two literary devices combined to form tongue twisters. 

While you’re there, don’t hesitate to look around and see everything else we have to offer. We have a massive library of worksheet packs for almost every unit taught in K-12 education, so make sure you use this to your advantage. 

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