Tongue twisters: 30 hard, easy and kid-friendly
Easy tongue twisters for kids, medium ones to practice and hard ones for anyone who thinks they talk fast. Polarzinho tried them all out loud and tripped on several.
By Polarzinho ·
A tongue twister is a phrase built to tangle your tongue: similar words, repeated sounds and a huge urge to say it fast. As a panda, I tried them all out loud. Some came out fine. Others turned into alphabet soup.
Here are easy tongue twisters for kids, medium ones to practice and truly hard ones, all classics passed down for generations, plus tips to say them without tripping.
Easy tongue twisters for kids
- Red lorry, yellow lorry.
- Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat.
- Unique New York.
- I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.
- Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.
- Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.
- A big black bug bit a big black bear.
- Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
- Four fine fresh fish for you.
- Green glass globes glow greenly.
Medium tongue twisters to practice
- She sells seashells by the seashore.
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
- Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch.
- Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter is bitter.
- A proper copper coffee pot.
- Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.
- Which witch is which?
- Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
- Three free throws.
Hard tongue twisters
- The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.
- Pad kid poured curd pulled cod.
- Brisk brave brigadiers brandished broad bright blades.
- Six sticky skeletons.
- Truly rural.
- Thin sticks, thick bricks.
- Scissors sizzle, thistles sizzle.
- Mixed biscuits.
- Red leather, yellow leather.
- Rolling red wagons.
Tips to say tongue twisters without tripping
- Read it out loud very slowly, syllable by syllable.
- Repeat it three times slowly before speeding up.
- Exaggerate your mouth: open wide on vowels and hit the consonants.
- Split long ones into pieces and put them together later.
- Record yourself on your phone and listen for where you trip.
How to play tongue twisters in a group
- Everyone picks a tongue twister and tries to say it three times fast.
- Trip up? Pass the turn. The last one standing wins.
- Challenge version: the group picks the next player’s tongue twister.
Word games to play online
Enjoy playing with words? Two Polar Games titles keep the fun going in your browser:
Stop!: the categories word game
A letter is drawn, everyone fills the categories and the first to call Stop! ends the round. Create a room and invite your friends with a link.
PolarzinhoIn Stop I only have to type, not talk. My tongue is grateful.
Letter River: spell answers from clues
Read the clue and drag across the letters to spell the answer. Each correct word clears the way for the next.
PolarzinhoHere the letters stay still. Very different from a tongue twister.
FAQ
What is a tongue twister?
A phrase with similar, repeated sounds that is hard to say quickly without tripping.
What is the hardest tongue twister?
The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick is often called one of the hardest in English.
What are tongue twisters good for?
Besides being fun, they help practice diction and pronunciation.
Now say it fast
Pick one from the list, say it three times in a row and send it to your friends to try. Then play Stop! and Letter River below.