![]() When they are 6 or 7, kids make a developmental leap and are intellectually able to keep two ideas or word meanings in mind simultaneously. “But they end up being silly nonsensical stuff like, ‘Knock knock.’ ‘Who’s there?’ And she’d say ‘giraffe.’ I’d say ‘Giraffe who?’ Then she makes up these silly things like ‘giraffe has spots’ and giggles and walks off.”Ībout a year after they start experimenting with riddles, children are able to understand, memorize and repeat them correctly. Sherry Wallace of Los Angeles says her first-grader likes to make up jokes. “They don’t understand enough about the nature of the joke or structure of humor to get it right,” Klein says. Children can be asked not to tell bathroom jokes in certain situations or around specific people.Īt about 5 or 6, kids make their first attempts at telling real jokes even though sometimes they fall a little flat. My son said, ‘throw up on your head.’ And then gales of laughter and they started the whole thing over.”Įxperts advise an annoyed parent to just ignore vulgar jokes. “It went around until it finally wore itself out. Then ‘poo-poo on your arm’ and everybody laughed,” Bommer says. “It started with ‘poo-poo on your hand’ and everybody laughed. Lynn Bommer, who teaches early childhood development courses through UCLA Extension, describes a round of jokes she heard while driving her two sons’ school carpool. ![]() “Sometimes it is used to get attention and provoke adults-a testing of the rules,” she adds. “My theory is that children are dealing with the anxieties and frustrations and unpleasant experiences they had going through toilet training,” Klein says. She is editing a book on children’s humor. “Once a child has mastered some idea or concept, the child can then appreciate a distortion of that concept,” says Amelia Klein, associate professor of professional studies at Wheelock College in Boston. “If you are having a bad day or have burnt the dinner and you find some way of making light of it, then the kid is exposed to the idea that even when things go wrong if you find something to laugh at, well, it’s not so bad after all,” McGhee says.Ĭhildren’s humor, which follows rather universal stages, parallels their intellectual and social growth. And show them you can see humor in adversity. Make time to read and tell funny stories. What can parents do? Lighten up and allow interesting and novel things to happen. Down the road, this will allow her to be more productive in school and more focused on the job, says developmental psychologist Paul McGhee, who has published 11 books on humor. ![]() These small, silly moments have a big payoff.Ī healthy sense of humor will help a child make friends, cope with stress and put her in a positive frame of mind. “And she tries to do the same face back,” says McKnight, 29, of Los Angeles. Her 4-year-old daughter, Jade, falls down laughing. Denise McKnight puts her thumbs in her ears and sticks out her tongue.
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