Humor Us: Fun and laughter are essential to children's lives

The desire to be with people who laugh or make us laugh must be universal. In our office, we’re fortunate to have our own resident giggle bug. At 16 months old, our colleague Martha’s little guy laughs at the drop of a hat. It’s such fun to hear Kieran laugh that when he comes into the office, we all compete to see who can make him laugh first.

Parents have always found joy when their babies begin laughing. The Navajo Indians place such value on humor that when a child laughs out loud for the first time, the milestone is celebrated and honored with the First Laugh rite. But where does this laugh come from?

In Paul McGhee’s Understanding and Promoting the Development of Children’s Humor (Kendall Hunt, 2002), we’re told that “children’s sense of humor reflects their new intellectual achievements. Humor is basically a form of intellectual play—play with ideas. Further, humor is generally the funniest during the months (maybe even a year or two) after the time it can first be understood. Riddles, for example, are most funny in first and second grade, but become progressively less funny after that, because they are just too easy to understand.”

So how can we contribute to the development of children’s cheerfulness? By choosing books and rhymes for storytime that match children’s ages and current intellectual abilities, we can help develop their sense of humor while reinforcing the importance of laughter and fun.

Babies in the first year most often laugh when their parents are making silly faces or sounds. They recognize mom’s normal behaviors and find her uncharacteristic sounds and facial expressions quite funny. Hearing rhyming words, like piggly wiggly, or the fun animal sounds of the onomatopoeic words in Denise Fleming’s Barnyard Banter (Holt, 1994) can make a baby laugh. Most babies enjoy the sensation of their bodies moving through space—in a safe way, like the ups and downs in the nursery rhyme “The Noble Duke of York.” Although some bouncing rhymes can be rather startling at first, most babies grow to love the surprise of “falling off” of dad’s knee when chanting “Mother and Father and Uncle John.” Before long, babies trust that dad won’t let them fall. Babies who are feeling uneasy in a situation may change a furrowed brow to a giggle of relief when they learn there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Toddlers laugh at books that include people or animals getting simple things wrong, like the puppy who doesn’t know how to bark in Jules Feiffer’s Bark, George (HarperCollins, 1999) and the alien who takes bites out of the “wrong” objects—a flower, rock, and tree—in Phyllis Root’s The Hungry Monster (Candlewick, 1997). Children also go for slapstick, such as any story that involves hiccups or sneezing, or kids behaving badly, as the characters do in Vivian French’s Oh No, Anna! (Peachtree, 1997) or Patricia Hubbell’s Pots and Pans (HarperFestival, 1998). Our favorites include Virginia Walter’s zany “Hi, Pizza Man” (Orchard, 1995) and David Slonim’s He Came with the Couch (Chronicle, 2005).

Preschoolers who have a pretty good grip on language enjoy books with wordplay, such as Judy Cox’s Don’t Be Silly, Mrs. Millie! (Marshall Cavendish, 2005). They are only too eager to shout out the correct word to Mrs. Millie. Kira Porton, a bookseller in Portland, OR, challenges anyone to read Andy Rash’s Are You a Horse? (Scholastic, 2009) and not laugh aloud.

As Dr. McGhee says, “When it comes to young children’s humor, there is no period more delightful than the preschool years.” Consider adding laughter-inducing books and activities to each storytime or program, and, from time to time, enjoy a laughter break of your own. In fact, right now, we encourage you to visit YouTube and watch the video of a baby laughing hysterically at the sound of his dad ripping a piece of paper. You’ll laugh out loud, too.