Tongue-Twister Challenge

Materials

• Cards with short tongue twisters

How to play

1. Prepare short, familiar tongue twisters, such as the Japanese “namamugi, namagome, namatamago.”
2. Begin slowly. Echo the facilitator in short sections, check difficult sounds together, then join the whole phrase once.
3. Volunteers try it three times consecutively at their own pace. Restarting or correcting yourself is allowed; listeners must not mock mistakes.
4. Say the phrase together once before moving to another. Finish after 2–3 tongue twisters, enjoying the sounds rather than competing over improvement.

Ways to adapt

Preschool children: just two short sounds. Younger primary school children: a short phrase. Older primary school children: try composing a short, difficult-to-say sentence.

Sources and references

• 神奈川県 子どもたちに伝えたい111選 ↗