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Dear Moms and Dads,

Today, I wish to talk about Humor, in child development, its importance and benefits and of course my 10 selected funny family board games to add great laugh at home!

• Here are main milestones from 0 to 6 regarding humor: (source:

  https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/ages-stages-dont-forget-laugh-importance-humor/)

WE LAUGH BEFORE WE SPEAK!!

• 0 to 2 years old: Giggles:

A baby’s first step toward humor is her playful response to actions like bouncing and tickling- body contact that produces laughs, wiggles, and smiles.

Toddlers enjoy imitating one another. If a toddler plops down on his bottom on purpose, for instance, other toddlers might giggle as they imitate him and form a falling down conga line. Along with their spirit of camaraderie, this group also finds falling down funny because it is something they have recently mastered. What fun and a big relief to now play with the act of falling down.

A Silly Sense of Humor: The symbolic play and emerging language of older toddlers allow them to make lots of silly jokes. A 2-year-old might put his foot into the sleeve of his jacket saying, “Look! My shoe!” This behavior is funny because the 2-year-old now knows what a shoe really is. Therefore, the level of the toddler’s cognitive and language development determines what he finds funny.

As a parent, you can Encourage toddler humor by being silly yourself.

• 3 to 4 years old: Sharing Humor:

Becoming increasingly more sociable, 3-year-olds enjoy sharing their sense of humor with friendly adults. 3 years old toddlers adore it when an adult playfully says something absurd to them, like “Why are you wearing that bird on your head?”

Young 3s also love to laugh at themselves when, accidentally, they do something ridiculous, such as putting their jackets on upside down or painting their fingers red along with the paper they’re working on.

Finding enjoyment in sharing laughter with other children, 3½-year-olds delight in talking to each other in high silly voices or with deep, comical sounds. They usually follow these funny noises with big belly laughs. With their buddies, they relish trying out goofy things they consider hilarious, such as throwing all their stuffed animals up in the air or wildly splashing in the water tub with plastic spoons. Or they may run around and try to crash into each other, then fall down in a big, giggling heap.

Inventing Silly Stories: Preschoolers enjoy making up unbelievable nonsense stories. Preschoolers are fascinated by intentionally misnaming things and playing with words.

Have fun! Enjoy humor with children. Laugh with them even if they mix up the jokes.

Read humorous stories. A silly book like Hi Pizza Man by Virginia Walter, will have children giggling in anticipation of the next funny character.

•  5 to 6 years old:

Kindergarten children love “Knock, Knock” jokes. Why? Because they follow a predictable pattern they can easily replicate with any words they like. In fact, the words don’t even have to make sense, as in the case of the joke above. Five- and 6-year-old children often think it is even funnier if they don’t! For example, they might look around the room, see an object, and use it in the joke. “Knock, knock, Who’s there? Table. Table who? Table on the floor!” (peals of laughter).

Humor Is Language: Interestingly, a 5- or 6-year-old’s use of humor tells you a great deal about his cognitive and linguistic abilities. The ability to play “knock, knock” jokes, for example, shows a child is learning the rules of conversation and is able to follow and use a sequential linguistic pattern. At this stage, children’s vocabularies have developed to the level where they can play with replacing words in a sentence or pattern to see (and hear!) the absurdity of it all. Calling something by the wrong name is a favorite “funny” at this stage and will get the entire class giggling.

At this stage, children pick up the pattern of riddles and will run with them in their own way. Making sense is not what is most important to 5- and 6-year-olds. They love the fun of the silly statements, the pattern, and most important, the opportunity to laugh at their own jokes as soon as they tell them!

Humor Is Movement: During this time of development, children are taking the art of slapstick to new highs. Sometimes slapstick humor serves to cover a physical mistake (as when they trip over or bump into something); but more often slapstick comes purely from the desire to make people laugh by doing something silly. The use of physical humor shows that children are acquiring the motor control and coordination required to appear purposely uncoordinated and to make a comical movement safely. It actually takes muscle control to do this.

Unfortunately, some children pick up on this style of humor a bit too much and become class clowns. As the teacher, you need to support children’s humor while providing appropriate boundaries and guidelines.

Humor Is Socialization: As the famous pianist and comedian Victor Borge once said, “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” There is something very bonding about children sharing a laugh together. Laughter breaks down boundaries and separations and builds connections. Five- and 6-year-olds use humor to make friends, to share “secret jokes,” and to be “seen” in a group. It is not unusual at this stage for children to connect with one or more special friends to share their favorite silly comments. This is both an excellent linguistic and social exercise.

Humor Is “Brain Food“: Not only does humor provide a learning experience, it is also an important part of “feeding” brain development. When a child (or anyone) laughs, the flow of blood increases to the brain. How do you feel after a good laugh? Usually we feel energized and alert. Humor can set the stage for learning by helping children release tension and focus on the task at hand. Humor increases the brain’s receptivity to learning. So tell jokes and riddles, be silly, dance a jig — you will be creating the perfect climate for learning.