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What’s funny to a preschooler may cause an elementary school kid to roll their eyes and leave the room. But a sense of humor and (laughter for that matter) can lend itself as a protective factor for troubled or uncertain situations one may have through life’s journey (Lurie & Monahan, 2015). Below are some ways to think about humor development as applied to current children’s television programming from birth to elementary school years. Several of these notions have come to my mind over the years in both making recommendations for programs as well as within my university courses. The bracket of birth to two is a foundation for preschool and elementary school children. It recommended that children not have screen time before the age of two (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2013). Much of this material is inspired by a college in the field who has worked tirelessly at implementing humor in several programs (see note).
Birth to Age Two
What is a sense of humor in infants? A baby does not have the language skills to get simple jokes. However, they will start reacting with a Duchene smile (a smile that engages the muscles around the eye and mouth) or a laugh between two and six months (Gunnery & Ruben, 2015; Messinger et al., 2008). Perhaps to a caregiver it was is making a funny noise or a silly face. At this stage, most infants and toddlers do not have the ability to synthesize or pretend that one thing stands for another. In other words, they are unable to process symbolically (i.e. laughter = happy, funny). The young child responds to the caregiver or others around her. Having identified parent’s emotional state, the infant decides to share in as if “laughter were infectious.” Mimicking is a quintessential function because children learn by example or modeling.
By the end of this stage, a child's capacity to symbolize has developed to the point where they can now discern that when a caregiver mimics an animal noise, they are pretending to be something other than themselves. The child now realizes the joke and may find it amusing, as long as the play does go on beyond their capacity to deal with the circumstances. Stopping before a young child shows signs of getting overwhelmed (and possibly frightened) is important. With verbal ability increasing, they learn to experience other forms of incongruity or departure from what is expected. If a caregiver puts potholders on their head to represent rabbit ears walks around the room, saying, "I'm looking for a carrot," the child will find the crazy use of potholders amusing. Perhaps they will giggle in pure enjoyment. Near the end of this stage, a child has may have the ability to begin producing their attempts at joking.
Preschool (Age Two to Five)
When adults laugh, it is because they believe something is funny. However, for a preschool child, it may not be the same reason. Often, preschoolers are merely imitating the laugh of grown-ups, other children or characters they observed within a television program. Two- and three-year-olds are particularly apt to this kind of copycat laughter, which is part of the typical larger pattern of young children modeling themselves after others (Simons, 2013).
The items that preschoolers find funny are usually things that are implausible or incongruous. Essentially anything that goes against what is considered ordinary and predictable can delight their sense of humor. Four- and five-year-olds find amusement in cartoons stringing together rhyming or nonsense syllables. Since language is supposed to be logical and orderly, and sentences that usually do not end in rhyming couplets are funny when they do. Because the idea of disrupting the norm is so comical to preschoolers, "bathroom humor" is somewhat common in this age group. Four- and five-year-olds know that certain words are off-limits around adults (even if they do not know what the words imply). Talking about “boogers” or making a “fart” noise will almost always get a chuckle out of children within this age group.
When some things are hugely out of the ordinary, however, it can hinder pleasure and become terrifying instead. That is why many preschoolers do not enjoy the circus. A child may experience more fear than amusement by simply misunderstanding that the departure from reality is playful. Children also have no way of knowing that a person in disguise and not a monster. Clowns are often frightening to young children because they resemble people, but not quite. The ambiguity results in uneasiness.
Children often find things funny that adults emphatically do not. Cartoon violence often gives them the chance to laugh off the genuine fears they may have of injury or death. Perhaps their reaction operates as a cathartic release of their anxieties. Children may also discharge their fears about physical injury by making fun of people who are handicapped or who look different. Again, the lack of understanding causes a behavior contrary to the genuine feeling. Parental guidance here is suggested.
Elementary School (Before the “Tweens”)
As children enter elementary school, they begin to focus more on academics and friends than on imaginary worlds. They may also start to enjoy something novel in humor namely, the opportunity to play with words and logic (Simons, 2013).
Preschoolers can appreciate jokes and puns. The capacity to successfully tell a joke (punch line and all) does not come until a child is older. For example, when a child in this stage asks, "How do you make a tissue dance?" and responds, "Put a little 'boogie' in it" they are showing a mastery of reasoning, timing, and wordplay. This ability was probably not available to them years before. Adults will see this type of logical humor within television shows progress as their children age.
Humor also offers a kid a chance to deal with serious concerns that might otherwise go unexpressed. Another function of humor at this age is to release children's anxiety about entering the adult world. Children who are more adept at using words will also tend to express humor verbally while those who are less verbal will tend toward physical humor (Simons, 2013). Since girls develop verbally faster than boys, they are more likely to express humor through these means, or, in troubling cases through teasing. Boys are may be more likely to show humor in physical ways and may considered slapstick routines or exchanging punches to be hilarious. A child's sense of humor also functions as a sign of increasing self-self-assurance. A child towards the end of this period must feel sure to tell a joke because he is braving the possibility that his friends or family will not laugh.
Above are some ways to think about humor as both a child development research, media professional or caregiver. You may notice some of this behavioral aspects the next time you are in the company of a laughing child.
Author: Knock Knock?
Reader: Who’s There?
Author: Orange?
Reader: Orange who?
Author: Orange you glad you read this article? Can you guess who would find it funny?
I don’t blame you for rolling your eyes as you read this… I could not resist.
Note: Adapted from Rodney Stringfellow who has written for Nick Jr. ("The Backyardigans," "The Wonder Pets," "Bubble Guppies"), Playhouse Disney ("Little Einsteins"), PBS Kids ("WordWorld"), Sesame Workshop ("The Adventures of Bert and Ernie"), BBC-TV ("3rd and Bird”) and Peach Blossom Media-Singapore (“Shapes” & “Olive and the Rhyme Rescue Crew”). He currently teaches screenwriting, video production, and film history at UNC Charlotte.
Sources:
American Academy of Pediatrics (2013). Children, adolescents, and the media. Pediatrics, 132(5), 958–961. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/132/5/958
Christakis, D. A., & Swanson, W. S. (2012). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bond: focus on children in poverty. Pediatrics, 129(1), e204-e213.
Gunnery, S. D., & Ruben, M. A. (2015). Perceptions of Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles: A meta-analysis. Cognition and Emotion, (ahead-of-print), 1-15.
Lurie, A., & Monahan, K. (2015). Humor, Aging, and Life Review: Survival Through the Use of Humor. Social Work in Mental Health, 13(1), 82-91.
Messinger, D. S., Cassel, T. D., Acosta, S. I., Ambadar, Z., & Cohn, J. F. (2008). Infant smiling dynamics and perceived positive emotion. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 32(3), 133-155.
Simons, C. (2013). Perspectives on the Development of Humor during Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence. Humor and Aging, 53.
