14 English tongue twisters for kids (with audio)

How to play

• Play the slow version first and say it together, word by word.
• When it sounds right, say it three times in a row, a little faster each time.
• Make it a game: whisper it, say it like a robot, clap on every word.
• Tripping up and laughing is the point. Clear mouth shapes matter more than speed.

Short ones for ages 4 to 6

• Toy boat.The oy and oa vowels. Say it five times fast. (Traditional.)🐢
• Red lorry, yellow lorry.R and L. Hard for native speakers too, so expect giggles. (Traditional.)🐢
• She sees sheep.SH (round lips) and S (smile). Sheep has a long ee.🐢
• Thin thumb, thick thumb.TH: tongue between the teeth, then blow.🐢
• Nine nice lemons.N and L. Pinch your nose on "lemons": if it sounds blocked, it was an N.🐢
• Big black bug.B, and the end sounds g and k. Do not drop them.🐢
• Fish in a fresh dish.SH at the end of fish, fresh and dish.🐢
• Six sticks, six stones.The st cluster, and the ks at the end of six.🐢

Classics for older kids and grown-ups

• She sells seashells by the seashore.The classic S and SH twister. Go slowly first. (Traditional.)🐢
• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.Puffed P, and -ed endings: picked ends in /t/, pickled in /d/. First printed in London in 1813. (Traditional.)🐢
• How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?W, and the end sounds d and k. Wood and would sound the same. (Traditional.)🐢
• I thought a thought. But the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I thought.A TH workout for grown-ups. (Traditional.)🐢
• Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.A D at the end of every word. (Traditional.)🐢
• Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said, "The butter's bitter."B and T. Butter and bitter differ only in the vowel. (Traditional.)🐢

Practice the sounds

• TH, SH and S, L and N, long and short vowels: Minimal pairs (10 questions with a score).
• End sounds: Ending sounds.
• -ed endings as in picked and pickled: -s and -ed endings.

Phrases marked "traditional" are old folk rhymes. The other short ones were written by English for Fun. The voice is the Kokoro voice used in the games.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Peter Piper (first printed in 1813)

Try it

Free practice that goes with this page:

• Sound Pairs: Hear one word and pick it from two that sound alike (think or sink?): 23 word pairs, 20 questions, score and streak.
• Sounds that are easy to mix up