+30 fun tongue twisters to do with kids

Trying to say a tongue twister as quickly as possible without making mistakes is a big challenge. Try saying, “Three plates of wheat for three sad tigers.” Or repeat three times: “Dirty floor, dirty house”. Sure, your tongue will stumble at some point, but you won’t stop laughing at yourself.

Tongue twisters are not only a fun language game, but also have a practical purpose for speech and language development in general. Regular recitation stimulates control of the muscles involved in speech, provides clearer pronunciation of words with difficult syllables, and expands the child’s vocabulary.

Then learn about the benefits of tongue twisters for kids and check out some of the best examples to practice!

According to Houaiss dictionarya tongue twister is a kind of “verbal play consisting of saying clearly and quickly verses or sentences with a high concentration of syllables that are difficult to pronounce, or syllables formed with the same sounds, but in a different order”.

Tongue twisters generally depend on the alliteration, which is the repetition of a sound that begins with a similar letter. This is how sentences are formed that, pronounced quickly, lead us to roll our tongues and miss the pronunciation of words (hence the fun).

By exercising the muscles involved in speech, Verbal games help improve diction, that is, the way of articulating or pronouncing words. This is why many actors and singers recite tongue twisters as a “warm-up” before performing.

you speech therapists also use tongue twisters to improve children’s consonants and vowels. Tongue twisters encourage patients to articulate syllables and not mix sounds. Likewise, if the child has difficulty with the ‘p’ and ‘b’ sounds, the therapist will have the child practice tongue twisters that focus on these sounds.

While tongue twisters challenge our ability to pronounce the individual sounds in each word, they force us to pay close attention to the precise sounds of each word. Mastering the individual sounds in words is an important skill for successful reading, so Tongue twisters can also aid in the process of: literacy.

1. Tell the child to start reciting the tongue twisters slowly until they are able to recite all the sentences clearly.
2. The next step is to memorize the tongue twister, which also boosts memory.
3. The child should repeat the tongue twister as quickly as possible, until it is mastered and can be recited three times in a row without making a mistake.
4. When the child has mastered one tongue twister, start over with another.
5. Finally, one more tip:

The personalized children’s book “The Escape of the Mafagafo” is a playful and fun way to introduce children to tongue twisters. In the story, the child is the main character who goes in search of the mafagafo who has mysteriously disappeared. During the adventure you will meet traditional tongue twisters, which expand your language repertoire and stimulate diction and speech development. Click here for the full story!

From the age of 2 it is possible to encourage children to say simpler tongue twisters. At this stage, the child is in the process of acquiring phonemes and therefore it is normal for many syllables to be mispronounced. In general, they still begin to pronounce the sound of the letter “l”, as in “wolf”.

Sounds like “lh” in “roof”, “r” in “yellow”, as well as consonant clusters like “tr”, “br”, “fr”, “cr”, “gr”, “bl” and “pl” lasts longer to acquire, up to about age 5. But tongue twisters, as well as poems rich in alliteration, can aid in this process of speech development.

Here are some of the little ones’ favorite tongue twisters:

Easy Level

1. The mouse gnawed at the clothes of the king of Rome.
2. Did you know that the thrush can whistle?
3. Time asked time how long time is.
4. Behind the crooked door is a nut.
5. Your Veiga eats oatmeal and bread and butter.
6. Bruna’s earring shines.
7. Let go of your aunt, lizard. Gekko, let go of your aunt.
8. The cat fled into the forest and caught a tick on the spot.
9. Father Pedro’s cassock is black.

middle level

1. Dirty house dirty floor. Dirty house dirty floor. Dirty house dirty floor.
2. Farofa made with airy flour makes ugly gossip.
3. A plate of wheat for three sad tigers.
4. The stupid nanny drank the baby’s milk.
5. No more bad laundry smell.
6. Peter drove a nail into the black door.
7. The cobbled street is all paved.
8. Hi, is the armadillo there? – No, the armadillo isn’t here. But the armadillo’s wife is the same as the armadillo.
9. Juca helps: fits in the box, squats, lubricates;
10. Pedro drove a nail into the stone;
11. While Bia plays, Bianca fights
12. The priest has a small cape, because he has bought a small cape;
13. Under the sink is a cock that sinks, the more the sink drips, the more the cock sinks!

Difficult level

1. A nest of mafagafos had seven mafagafinhos. The one who unclogs bumblebees’ nest will be a good bummer.
2. The spider scratches the frog. The frog scratches the spider. Even the spider doesn’t scratch the frog. Even the frog doesn’t scratch the spider.
3. If you understand it, you understand it. If you didn’t understand, make sure you understand so I understand you understand. Did you understand?
4. Look at the frog in the bag. The bag with the frog in it. The frog chatters and the chatter releases the wind.
5. The candy asked the candy which candy is sweeter than the sweet potato candy. The candy replied to the candy that the candy that is sweeter than the sweet potato candy is the sweet potato candy.
6. Whoever buys the paca dear, the paca dear will pay.
7. The cashew from Juca, and the jackfruit from the cajá. The jacá from Juju, and the cashew nuts from Cacá.
8. If it came and went, it went back and forth, but if it goes and doesn’t come, it doesn’t go back and forth.
9. A weaver weaves the cloth into seven silks from Zion. It is the silk woven in the weaver’s happiness.
10. Tick-tock, tick-tack, tick-tock. After a tap is played, a tap is played.