Alliteration Examples for Kids

When you repeat the first consonant sound more than once in a sentence, it’s alliteration. It's different from consonance or assonance, which also repeat sounds but do it in other parts of the sentence. Most alliteration comes from repeated first letters (such as “calling cats”), but it also works with repeated sounds and different letters (such as “calling kittens”).

More examples of alliterative sentences include:

• Claire, close your cluttered closet.

• The big bad bear bored the baby bunnies by the bushes.

• Shut the shutters before the shouting makes you shudder.

• Go and gather the green leaves on the grass.

• Please put away your paints and practice the piano.

• Rachel ran right until she realized she was running round and round.

• I had to hurry home where grandma was waiting for her waffles.

• The boy buzzed around as busy as a bee.

• Garry grumpily gathered the garbage.

• Those lazy lizards are lying like lumps in the leaves.

• Paula planted the pretty pink poppies in the pot.

• Kim came to help us cut out a colorful kite for Chris.

• Bake a big cake with lots of butter and bring it to the birthday bash.

• Paula's prancing pony out-performed all the others.

• Little Larry likes licking the sticky lollipop.

Reading alliteration in nursery rhymes and stories is fun and entertaining for children. These phrases can help kids develop memory skills and phonics awareness.

You can find alliteration in the following lines from children's stories:

• "Three grey geese in a green field grazing. Grey were the geese and green was the grazing." - "Three Grey Geese," Mother Goose

• "Great Aunt Nellie and Brent Bernard who watch with wild wonder at the wide window as the beautiful birds begin to bite into the bountiful birdseed." - Thank-You for the Thistle, Dorie Thurston

• "Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said, this butter's bitter; if I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter, but a bit of better butter will make my batter better." - "Betty Botter," Carolyn Wells

• "My counters and cupboards were completely cleared of carrot cake, cornbread and crackers." - Betty's Burgled Bakery, Travis Nichols

• "Slowly the slug started up the steep surface, stringing behind it scribble sparkling like silk." - Some Smug Slug, Pamela Duncan Edwards

One of the fun features of alliteration is when it becomes a tongue twister. Try saying these alliterative tongue-twister examples quickly!

• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

• A good cook could cook as many cookies as a good cook who could cook cookies.

• Black bug bit a big black bear. But where is the big black bear that the big black bug bit?

• Sheep should sleep in a shed.

• A big bug bit the little beetle but the little beetle bit the big bug back.

• Show Shawn Sharon's shabby shoes.

• Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep. The seven silly sheep Silly Sally shooed shilly-shallied south. These sheep shouldn't sleep in a shack.

You probably see lots of examples of alliteration when you watch commercials or drive down the street. Some common examples of alliteration in brand names and character names include:

• Chuck E. Cheese's

• Coca-Cola

• Donald Duck

• Dunkin' Donuts

• Krispy Kreme

• Mickey Mouse

• Peppa Pig

• Peter Parker

• Seattle Seahawks

• Spongebob Squarepants

• Teen Titans

• Wonder Woman

Want to hang a poster about alliteration in your classroom? Download and print the image below for a handy reference guide to alliteration examples for kids.

Alliteration is an exciting way to illustrate major points and make names memorable. Teaching kids to incorporate this into their creative writing is a fabulous way to spark a lifelong love for the written word. When you're ready, continue the journey with more alliteration examples. And when it's time to challenge yourself, sprinkle in a few examples of alliteration poems.