Help Your Childs Language Development With This Classic Word Game

When I was a kid I used to struggle with my spoken language, in fact it was so bad my school had to hire a speech therapist.

The problem wasn’t that I was a bad kid just that I couldn’t sit still and I preferred playing to learning.

All of this led to me having a hard time interacting with the other kids because they couldn’t understand what I was saying. I don’t blame them because I’ve since listened back to the tapes of my early days with Burt (my speech therapist) and it was all nonsense.

In the beginning Burt had the same problem that all the other teachers had, I just wanted to play.

But Burt, being the clever guy that he is, made learning the English language a series of fun games for me to play. I went from dreading having to go and see him, to it being the best part of my day.

Today I want to share with you a simple and fun word game that we used to play – Tongue Twisters.

Below are a number of short and long Tongue Twisters, which I’m sure a lot of you will remember playing as a kid.

Remember all of these have to be said out loud, they don’t work as well when you sound them out in your head.

Short Tongue Twisters

• The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick. (according to the Guinness world records this is the hardest tongue twister in the world)

• Sure the ship’s shipshape, sir

• How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?

• If Stu chews shoes, should Stu choose the shoes he chews?

• No need to light a night-light on a light night like tonight.

• Betty better butter Brad’s bread.

Longer Tongue Twisters

Peter Piper

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?

Who Doesn’t Like To Sell Seashells

She sells seashells by the seashore.

The shells she sells are surely seashells.

So if she sells shells on the seashore,

I’m sure she sells seashore shells.

Woodchucking

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

As much wood, as a woodchuck would, if a woodchuck could chuck wood

Betty Botter

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.

Repeating Tongue Twisters

These are a little bit different to the other tongue twister in that saying it just once shouldn’t cause you any problems. But watch what happens to the way you pronounce these words when you repeatedly say them at a fast pace, they key here is a fast pace.

• Red Lolly, Yellow Lolly

• Stupid superstition (I struggle on the first go with this one!)

• Seventy seven benevolent elephants

• Good blood, bad blood

• Unique New York.

• Greek Grapes

What About You?

Do you have any favourite tongue twisters you used to use as a kid? Leave a comment below.

Author Bio

This guest post was provided by Ryan who runs and owns http://www.teachingassistantjobs.org.uk/ which is a job site for teaching assistants.