Vocabulary Words
- Introduce the words piper, peck, pickled, and peppers. Explain that this song is a tongue-twister, which is a sentence or phrase which can be difficult to say correctly. Young children who are learning to speak and read love tongue-twisters because it gives them a chance to have fun with words.
Discussion Questions
- Peter Piper is a well-known nursery rhyme and tongue-twister. What are some other nursery rhymes and tongue twisters?
Physical
- Add hand and body movements to the song. Children can clap their hands, stamp their feet, slap their thighs, and pound their fists together as you sing each line or verse of the song.
Cognitive
- Invite the children to make up new tongue-twisters using their own names, like Silly Sally saw the salty soup or Mary made a marshmallow malt. Children may enjoy learning other tongue-twisters, like She sells sea shells and How much wood would a wood chuck chuck.
Musical Listening
- Provide opportunities for children to learn the lyrics to the song and to practice reciting them, first slowly and then faster and faster. You could also try raising the key one-half step each time you sing the song, again going a little faster each time.
