Some animals smile (like gorillas and dogs) according to experts, whereas other animals may merely look like they’re smiling. As well animals don’t have to smile to show contentment; it’s been documented, for instance, that dolphins show enthusiasm by bopping their heads and squealing, not smiling.

As someone who’s had countless pets over the years and visited zoos across the US and Europe, I have approached this question with eagerness and attention. Below I’m happy to share my findings.

One way to build humor with your kids is to use it strategically through routines or regular activities. For instance, our Fun Jokes For Kids Coloring Book is a great tool for embedding humor through kid-friendly activity.

Are animals actually smiling?

Over the years as research has expanded, experts have come to agree that most animals not only feel emotion but also many animals smile. This isn’t to say that all experts agree about the same animals though. Let’s look at some prominent theories and ideals on animals smiling.

It’s been documented that some animals smile out of contentment and fulfillment. For example, research describes smiling dogs, gorillas, bear, and even horses as they interact playfully or accomplish a goal. Some also claim cats and birds smile, though research is lacking to corroborate it.

Let’s look at some specific research about animals smiling.

Bears Smile

Else Poulsen (zookeeper and bear expert) wrote Smiling Bears : A Zookeeper Explores the Behavior and Emotional Life of Bears (available at Amazon). In it, Poulsen details the complexities of bears as a group, but also as distinct animals.

She explains that although bears, or any animal, shouldn’t be treated as if ‘human’, they have individual personalities, experiences, desires, and emotions, and yes, smile like humans do.

“The 20th century dogma that we must not anthropomorphize, or attribute human characteristics like emotions to animals, has moved several generations of humans farther away from understanding the creatures we share the planet with.” pg 4

Else Poulsen, author of Smiling Bears: A Zookeeper Explores the Behavior and Emotional Life of Bears

She also credits the trend over the years to treat animals like animals (and not humanize them) in the guise to protect them and honor their true nature as doing an unintentional disservice to animals. Poulsen says that by not recognizing their likenesses to humans, such as having feelings, emotions, and for some to even smile when they experience a pleasure, some animals have been inaccurately portrayed.

Horses Smile

A 2015 extensive study involving horses found that they have 17 unique facial expressions, and yes, smiling is one of them. This means that horses have more facial expressions than dogs and even chimpanzees!

“It [smiling] seems to be part of the submissive gesture,” with younger horses displaying the pulled back sides of the mouth gesture more often than older horses.

Jennifer Wathan, researcher/author of EquiFACS: The Equine Facial Action Coding System

Horses smile by pulling back their lips, opening their mouth wide, and tilting their head up and down. This is often accompanied by sounds too.

Anne Burrows, an acting professor at Duquesne University in Pennsylvania, contributed to the horse facial study as well, and she said this kind of research influences other thinking about animals. For instance, there’s more evidence to suggest domesticated animals use their expressions to intentionally communicate with humans.

Smiling Dolphins Aren’t Smiling

However, to be clear, there are animals that look like they’re smiling but aren’t and experts urge people to understand the difference. For example, dolphins are one such animal.

Dolphins anatomically look like they have a perpetual grin on their faces. It’s a beautiful illusion, but an illusion all the same. And this depiction and inference has been so pervasive that most kids think of dolphins as ‘nice’ and ‘sweet’ animals.

The misconception has proven dangerous to both people and dolphins.

As background, it’s important to recognize that dolphins are extremely smart animals, and that this also makes them very trainable. Successful training has facilitated dolphin entertainment parks (and movies), where dolphins perform cute tricks and families not only enjoy the show but also can participate with direct, behind-the-scenes interaction.

Well, just a cursory investigation online will lead to some gruesome tales of dolphins attacking people resulting in broken bones, bruises, and bites; and also of dolphins harming each other and going crazy due to being kept in too-small enclosures (and truly, most experts agree that any enclosure other than the wide-open ocean is too small for dolphins who can cover 40 miles a day swimming).

But research also tells us that the highly-intelligent dolphin is able to show contentment and ‘happiness’ too, only not with a facial smile. Rather evidence has shown that dolphins squeal, whistle, and bop their heads up and down rapidly when enthusiastic and excited.

Other articles about laughter that you may enjoy:

• Do People Laugh Out of Fear? (Revealed)
• Are There Books On Being Funny? (More Than You’d Think)
• (Why) Kids Like Animation-From Toddlers to Teens
• How to Explain a Joke to a Child

Do animals smile when happy?

So this leads to the related question, then, do animals smile when happy? I’d also venture to ask, do animals feel happiness?

Research agrees for the most part that most animals can feel happiness in terms of contentment and fulfillment. Only some animals express this with smiles; other animals may emote sounds or other bodily functions or gestures to demonstrate ‘happiness.’

Let’s recap some animals where research has verified facial smiling when happy, and some animals that have been said to express happiness in other ways.

Animals verified to smile when happy:

• Gorillas and other primates
• Dogs
• Bears
• Horses

Animals verified to show happiness via non-smiling means:

• Dolphins
• Elephants
• Pigs
• Sheep

Can animals laugh?

Now that we’ve address animals smiling, let’s look at another common question: can animals laugh?

Like with animals smiling, it’s well-documented that some animals can laugh. Some animals laugh (like humans do) out of emotions of happiness or an outward response to physical affection. Others laugh as a vocalization for excitement, stress, or even aggression, like with hyenas.

One of the first ideas about laughing came from renowned French philosopher Henri Bergson. Bergson wrote Laughter about, well, laughter, published in 1924 (translated copy available at Amazon). In his very comprehensive analysis, Bergson attributed it as ‘distinctly and uniquely a human quality’.

But then Pulitzer-prize winning, Austrian zoologist Konrad Lorenz wrote convincingly that dogs laugh while playing in his book, Man Meets Dog (published in 1949 and also available on Amazon). Lorenz details it vividly, describing a dog’s opened jaws, tilted mouth, and lolling dog tongue, followed by excited panting and yelps.

But even more recent research expands the list of animals laughing to 65 different species!

“This work lays out nicely how a phenomenon once thought to be particularly human turns out to be closely tied to behavior shared with [other] species,”

Dr. Gregory Bryant, UCLA professor/researcher

According to Bryant’s 2021 article in Bioacoustics, researchers have been able to identify animals that laugh out of play, from apes to birds to even rodents.

Gorillas Laugh

One of the cutest examples of laughing animals has to be the baby gorilla in a video that went viral, to no one’s surprise. It shows a baby gorilla giggling and laughing from being tickled by its handler in a gorilla sanctuary.

Another example of apes laughing is of western lowland gorillas. They make a quiet, panting chuckle when playing with other gorillas.

Research involving chimps’ laughter have led scientists to conclude chimps laugh spontaneously as well as responsively…much like humans.

Horses Laugh

Some people say horses laugh, too. From personal videos to commercials, we can find many examples of horses seemingly laughing. Visually it’s easy to see why it’s said, for horses are able to manipulate their facial muscles (as explained above) to mimic smiling and laughing from their eyes to their nostrils and lips.

They’re commonly seen sticking their noses out, opening their mouths wide and showing their teeth all while bobbing their heads up and down- a true visual of laughter if there ever is one!

Other animals identified as laughing when playing or content:

• Rats
• Squirrel monkeys
• Australian magpies
• Kea parrots

Laughing Hyenas Aren’t Laughing

On the flipside, however, there are some animals that emit laughing sounds but it’s agreed that these sounds aren’t exactly our definition of laughter. Hyenas are an example of this kind of animal.

Hyenas are known for making a laughing sound, and every hyena has a unique laughing sound. But hyenas make this noise out of stress, and even aggression. Their whoop, as it’s called by hyena experts, is not playful at all.

Do animals understand smiles from kids and adults?

So it seems pretty clear that at least some animals smile; does this mean that animals can recognize smiles in humans? Can animals actually respond accordingly to a kid’s toothy grin?

Well, yes and no.

Experts agree that some animals can understand human smiling. For example, there is a lot of research detailing how dogs have learned to not only understand human smiles, but respond accordingly. Research also shows this ability in certain pigs, elephants, and dolphins.

One thing my husband and animal control officers alike routinely teach to kids about smiling and dogs is that not all situations are alike. Many dogs see shorter children as equivalent to other dogs. Smiling children around a dog’s food or in stressful environments could be seen as a sign of baring teeth and aggression.

Kids should be careful with open mouthed smiles around strange or stressed dogs.

Master Booe

A 2015 study which looked into the ability of domestic cats to read emotions was not so convincing, however. They tested cats’ response to owners as well as strangers demonstrating emotions without the use of vocal cues. Based on their findings, they concluded “Domestic cats were only modestly sensitive to emotion…”

Cat owners everywhere are not the least bit surprised! Although I must say it’s a bit comforting to know that maybe my fat cat wasn’t just ignoring me on purpose.

Smiling Animals Punchline

To summarize whether or not animals smile: yes, some do. Some animals smile out of contentment, fulfillment, or even submissive gesture.

Other animals smile for entirely different reasons such as aggression or just a natural state of being.

Besides smiling, there is documented evidence proving that some animals laugh, too- out of playfulness and ‘happiness.’ However, a few species, like the hyenas, are known for laughing sounds that are more due to stress.

For further reading about laughter, I suggest:

• Do People Laugh Out of Fear? (Revealed)
• Are There Books On Being Funny? (More Than You’d Think)
• (Why) Kids Like Animation-From Toddlers to Teens
• How to Explain a Joke to a Child

Additional resources:

APPA; AZA; WDC; LiveScience

People, adults and kids alike, laugh out of fear for a variety of reasons like self-preservation or anxiety. Whether fear stems from embarrassment, the unknown, physical pain, or something else, it is not uncommon to laugh in response even if it is more reasonable to cry, scream, or lash out.

In this article, I’ll share with you my personal and professional experience dealing with this somewhat paradoxical response, what I’ve learned about it, and what I think can help you in similar situations particularly as it relates to kids.

Why Do Kids Laugh When Scared?

First, let’s look at why kids laugh when scared or afraid when normally it seems a complete opposite response makes more sense.

Kids laugh when scared even if that doesn’t make sense to other kids or adults around at the time. Sometimes kids laugh as a pretense to hide fear; whereas other times children laugh, despite fear, out of relief or uncertainty of the present situation or incident.

Dr. Rothbart in Psychological Bulletin was one of the first to explain children’s laughter as a response signaling an acceptable or tolerance of a situation. Upon further clarification, Rothbart said laughter is an emotional reaction to a heightened situation, even one of fear or tension, once the situation is deemed inconsequential.

One way to build humor with your kids is to use it strategically through routines or regular activities. For instance, our Fun Jokes For Kids Coloring Book is a great tool for embedding humor through kid-friendly activity.

This seems contradictory, to say the least. Most parents, grandparents, teachers, etcetera, are happy to see and hear children laugh because it is assumed it’s a response to a pleasant occurrence. To find out, according to Dr. Rothbart and other specialists, that this might not be the case, is concerning.

I mean, how can you know the difference and what is an acceptable way to handle this? Let’s look at some specific instances where kids might laugh from fear and how to respond. Then, it should become more understandable.

Little Kids Laugh and Cry At Peek-A-Boo

One of the first games parents often play with their kids is peek-a-boo. In fact, it’s tightly connected to a milestone accomplishment called object permanence, which occurs in infants around 6 months old.

Object permanence: when children are able to understand that objects don’t disappear even if they can’t see them or the objects are covered or hidden.

Source: Renowned Psychologist, Jean Piaget

Infants enjoy the game peek-a-boo because it involves up close and personal attention, which at this stage in their lives they crave for security and comfort. As well, infants like the sudden burst of ‘boo’ from their adult playing with them, giving them an easy thrill.

Peek-a-boo is a natural first game to play, too, for parents and babies since it doesn’t cost anything; require special equipment or materials; can be played anywhere; and doesn’t take a lot of effort or time from players. It’s also beneficial in that it facilitates parent-child bonding; helps cognitive learning with patterns and as stated before, object permanence for infants; and teaches children social skills like smiling, waiting, taking turns, and routines.

However, just as peek-a-boo is fun for kids; it’s also a thrilling experience that can cause fear just as commonly. So how does it do this?

First, there’s the ‘hiding’ part, whether it’s a stuffed animal behind a pillow or a parent covering his face. This in itself can cause a bit of fear from an infant, especially if he or she hasn’t attained object permanence yet. But even if they have, the ‘taking away’ of something can instigate fear, too.

The next part of peek-a-boo that can cause fear is the ‘boo’ part. Saying ‘boo’ loudly, suddenly, or excitedly can cause fear in infants and toddlers. And despite the fear, you’ll usually find that they’ll respond with laughter (and maybe some tears alongside too!).

Nevertheless, don’t let this stop you from playing peek-a-boo with your child or grandchild! As already explained, the benefits make it a worthwhile game and therefore, shouldn’t be avoided.

Yet when you do play peek-a-boo, here are a few tips you might want to keep in mind:

• Only play with infants or toddlers you know well (for instance, your children and grandchildren) and have established a trusting relationship.
• Don’t overdo it. Keep peek-a-boo short in duration.
• It’s also helpful to make it part of a routine like playing together once a day in the evening or when your child first wakes from a nap.
• Watch for signs of overstimulation such as twitching, crying, whining, or getting too loud. If this happens, respond with assurances to build trust and pauses (or stop the game) to alleviate fear.

Kids Laugh When Afraid Of Jack In The Box

Another seemingly fun thing that can cause fear is the Jack in the Box toy. Jack in the Box was first developed in the 1500s by a German clock maker and has been popularized by toy makers ever since.

The toy consists of a box, usually metal or more likely plastic today, with a lever which plays music when turned. Pop Goes the Weasel is the most common tune for a Jack in the Box, but there’s variety with the music selection, depending upon the Jack in the Box theme.

Upon a certain point in the song, a character from inside the box pops out. This uncertainty of when the character will ‘pop’ is what causes both the fear and laughter in children.

The most common Jack in the Box character has been a clown but over the years, this has changed according to popular toys and books. Curious George Jack in the Box is the best selling variety on Amazon currently, but I’ve seen Peter Rabbit, Paddington Bear, Mickey Mouse, and even Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer versions, too.

Parents et al should understand that part of the thrill of the Jack in the Box is the uncertainty factor, the anticipation of the ‘pop.’ And that of course, is the reason for the fear associated. And so, even though children are laughing when playing with a Jack in the Box, there’s going to be some connection to fear.

How can parents utilize a Jack in the Box appropriately with their kids?

1. First, introduce it to your child. Explain the object of the toy and take them through the process slowly and together.
2. Next, talk about what’s happening.
3. Model the interaction with the Jack in the Box that you expect from your child, demonstrating to them what’s appropriate and that even though it’s ‘thrilling’, there’s really nothing to be afraid of.
4. Offer the toy to your child to ‘work’ while you are with him or her, so they feel comfortable.
5. Enjoy the play time together, making it a fun and routine experience.
6. Watch your child; if he or she is too excitable or fearful, perhaps wait to use the Jack in the Box in a few months.

Big Kids Laugh When Playing Surprise Games (Boo!)

Another game that often brings about fear and laughter is surprise or ‘boo!’ games, often played by bigger kids, aged 8-12 years old.

Boo-type games are really more of a collection of games like tag, hide-and-seek, kick-the-can, and simply, jump scares that involve chasing, catching, and screaming. Foundational to these games is someone jumping out at you and screaming, ‘boo’, ‘gotcha’, or just ‘ahhh!’

For example, kids will laugh when someone jumps out at them as they come around a corner. Though they are actually afraid, or just experienced a fright from the ‘jump scare’, he or she will laugh, both from the sudden fear, but also as a relief, knowing that the fear was not anything really to be afraid of in the first place since they didn’t get hurt.

Relief theory explains why people (kids and adults alike) laugh when uncomfortable even to the point of fear. In essence we expect something to be unpleasant, and our fear response is elevated. Thus, when it turns out it’s not so unpleasant or ‘scary’, we laugh.

Source: Psychologist, Herbert Spencer

It’s not really hard, then, to understand that boo games can evoke laughter out of fear. To be clear, this is laughing more out of relief and a release of tension as much as it is out of being afraid.

To read more about kids and laughter, check out these articles:

• Is it Bad For Babies To Laugh Too Much? (We Find Out)
• Why Does My Child Laugh When Someone Gets Hurt?
• Funny Things That Kids Will Laugh At (Easy to Do)

Teachers Know Kids Laugh When Uncomfortable or Scared

As someone who’s worked in public and private schools for almost two decades, I also have specific experience with kids laughing out of fear of their teacher or some other adult in authority. This is especially true for students with disabilities or English language learners.

Teaching Example 1 I remember a time when a co-teacher was upset with an EL student (student who spoke little to no English) because he kept giggling while she confronted him over not doing homework, and then later, his ‘disrespect.’ She thought he must be able to understand her since he was responding, in her words, ‘so flippantly.’

I had to quickly intervene, making her aware that his response in no way was flippant or meant he’d suddenly grasped English. Rather, he was feeling anxious under her direct scrutiny and angry tone, especially since he had no idea why his teacher was upset with him. His fear manifested itself, illogically, with laughter (giggles).

Teaching Example 2 Another example of students laughing from fear is during presentations or speaking to a group. I frequently used projects as a learning tool and sometimes this meant students would present or share their work in front of the class. There have been several occasions where students giggled and laughed when it was their turn to talk, barely able to say a word, let alone give a speech clearly. This wasn’t because they were not serious students or ill prepared; instead, it was out of fear of speaking to a large group (i.e. nervousness and anxiety) that caused them to laugh uncontrollably.

Unfortunately, not all teachers understand this laughing response out of fear and instead they think it’s out of disrespect, insubordination, or class clown behavior. It’s important for teachers, and all adults especially, to recognize laughing as a natural and true response to fear.

Talk to your child if something like this has happened to them and make sure they aren’t unfairly punished for it.

Why Do I Laugh When I Get Hurt Or Scared?

Kids don’t just grow out of this response to fear either; sometimes it continues to manifest in adulthood, making some adults wonder, why do I laugh when I get hurt or scared?

Adults, like kids, sometimes laugh when hurt or scared out of fear. From the relief theory of humor which explains laughing after a fearful experience to laughing as a response to anxiety or to deflect attention, there are situations where adults laugh though the situation isn’t necessarily funny.

Let’s look very briefly at a few instances where seemingly fearful moments may cause adults to laugh, or where adults actually seek out fearful moments as a thrilling, fun experience.

Haunted Houses Are Popular For Inducing Fear As Well As Laughter

Every fall in anticipation of Halloween, haunted houses and corn mazes pop up. This is in direct response to adults’ love/hate relationship with fear.

It’s common for many adults of all ages to enjoy being scared. From ‘scary movies’ to haunted houses, it’s evident that this is true by the multimillion dollar market to make adults afraid as entertainment. In fact, often participants can be heard going from screams to laughter and back again, within minutes.

Some Laugh During Court Out of Fear

There are also many court cases involving laughter. And I don’t know about you, but there’s nothing funny to me about being in court!

Now it could very well be that in these cases the defendants laughed because they are devious and evil; or they had a disability affecting their understanding of the seriousness of charges. However, several lawyers have argued it’s because of fear of what was happening that people such as Aaron Hernandez to the Mendez brothers were caught smiling or giggling in court.

Adults May Laugh When Saying Vows Out of Scared Nervousness

Also, like with kids, some adults laugh out of fear when nervous or anxious. There are examples of brides or grooms laughing during their wedding, or even people laughing at funerals.

Obviously, weddings and funerals aren’t laughing moments (not until the reception, at the least) but some adults have fear of speaking in front of others or fear of having attention on themselves during extremely serious moments, and they laugh in response.

Laughing Instead of Crying When In Pain

And then, there are some who laugh when in pain. For instance, our son when he gets hurt like stubbing a toe, hitting a finger with a hammer, or jamming an elbow, instead of crying or screaming, he’ll laugh out loud.

Now this doesn’t mean pain is funny. On the contrary, we all know that physical pain is far from funny.

However, he’s somehow learned that during heightened, intensity-filled moments, he’d rather laugh. It could be that it stemmed from trying to relieve tension or lower concern of others during his pain that it started out, but suffice it to say, he’s not the only one.

Some people have just conditioned themselves to laugh when in pain, and that works for them.

The Final Punchline for People Laughing Out of Fear

So to recap about laughing out of fear or from being afraid:

• People of all ages are prone to laugh out of fear from time to time, whether adults or kids.

• Kids often laugh out of fear in response to certain games. As they learn the games’ objective and build trust with how it works as well as with their caregivers, they are less fearful and laughing can be more of a genuine response to fun.

• Sometimes kids laugh out of fear of unknown and uncertainty like when presenting in front of the class or with dealing with an authority figure who makes them nervous.

• Adults, like kids, have similar reasons for laughing out of fear like during times of anxiety, nervousness, or simply out of relief after an intense moment.

• While kids often play games that have a fear factor such as peek-a-boo, Jack in the Box toys, or games with jump scares that cause them to laugh, adults often seek out fearful activities for thrills and laughs such as scary/horror movies or haunted houses.

For further reading about kids and laughter, I highly recommend these:

• Is it Bad For Babies To Laugh Too Much? (We Find Out)
• Why Does My Child Laugh When Someone Gets Hurt?
• Funny Things That Kids Will Laugh At (Easy to Do)

Holding in laughter is not generally a problem or dangerous to you or others, though it can be physically or emotionally uncomfortable. However, not holding in laughter certainly can have problematic consequences, depending upon the situation, or even be a sign of mental or physical illness.

Though probably unintentional in most cases, holding in laughter can lead to comical outbursts. But serious issues can accompany either extreme of holding in laughter or not holding in laughter. I’ve found this issue quite interesting over the years as I researched it, and think you will too. Read on to learn more.

What Happens If You Hold In Laughter?

Holding in laughter is something we’ve all done from time to time, especially at inappropriate moments. So what happens if you hold in laughter?

When you hold in laughter, you’re likely to be dealing with moments when laughing isn’t socially or professionally appropriate. It won’t physically harm you, even if you experience slight discomfort. It’s a suitable trade off for not causing ramifications due to laughing when you shouldn’t.

Studies have long shown that laughing is physically good for you, specifically helping to improve vascular health, which is very important as we age. As well, as a teacher, I’ve found how crucial laughing is in education.

Having a good sense of humor is not only healthy mentally and physically for our students (and teachers), but it actually improves learning.

However, that’s not all laughter is good for!

In fact, other research even shows the non-health or education benefits of laughter, too. For example, Scott Weems, a Ph. D in cognitive neuroscience, wrote about this in Ha! The Science of When We Laugh and Why (available free with an Audible Membership). Weems addresses in detailed narrative how laughter is often successfully used as both a coping mechanism and a conflict resolution tactic.

So by suggesting purposes for holding in laughter, I am in no way trying to negate the plethora of laughter benefits (which are research proven!). No, instead, I’m acknowledging, like King Solomon once wrote, ‘there’s a time for everything.’

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:…a time to weep and a time to laugh…”

Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 4a

When you find you have giggles that you have to hold, then, what happens?

Well, for one, you’ll be a bit uncomfortable physically holding back the laughs. Your first reaction is to clamp your lips together which in turn causes your throat to tighten a bit. You may even feel your stomach to cramp up.

Sometimes you’ll find it’s difficult to contain your physical reactions to holding in laughter and you expel some spittle even or short groans, moans, or burps. Of course none of this sounds fun or pleasant to experience, but the alternative is probably much worse: laughing at inappropriate moments.

Pseudobulbar Affect: Laughing, or Crying, Too Much

Many of us might be surprised to learn that there is actually a disorder where people either cry or laugh uncontrollably. This is not exactly the same as holding in laughter, though it’s somewhat the opposite of it, and so, related. What is pseudobulbar affect, or laughing or crying without control?

Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA) is a disorder with uncontrollable laughter or crying. It’s often mislabeled as an emotional disorder and sometimes mistreated with medication for this. However, it is a neurological disease and usually is attached to other neurological illnesses or physical trauma.

Because laughter and crying are most commonly emotional reactions for people, it’s important to stress that PBA is not emotional.

PBA certainly can cause mental and emotional related stress, however. Those suffering from PBA have explained the emotional and mental toil they feel from not being able to control their laughing or crying and many have resorted to isolation due to being misunderstood.

For more related reading, I suggest you try these:

• What To Know About A Lost Sense Of Humor
• Why Does My Child Laugh When Someone Gets Hurt?
• Comedy And Humor Are Subjective (And That Matters)

How Do You Hold In Laughter?

Other than instances of PBA, most people can be expected to contain or hold in laughter when necessary. How do you hold in laughter, then?

You can hold in laughter in order to avoid social awkwardness or professional consequences. From mental redirection like thinking of unpleasantness to physical distraction like biting your tongue or pinching your arm, there are sound steps you can take when you need to hold in laughter.

So, first of all, what are some times when you should hold in laughter?

• In class- Teachers are notoriously annoyed if students laugh at inappropriate times like during independent work time, during a test, or when the teacher is providing instruction. Laughing can cause those taking a test to be distracted and do poorly, and likewise, so can laughing during instruction.
• In church- During somber times like Mass or church service (i.e. ‘preaching), it’s not suitable for laughter. Of course, this is not taking into account the times when the priest or pastor is telling a cheesy joke!
• At a funeral- This is probably the least appropriate time to laugh, even if it might be a good time for some levity.
• At a hospital- Just like with a funeral, most people in a hospital are worried and in pain. This is not usually a time for giggles.
• During an interview- When you want to put your best ‘professional’ foot forward, you probably should hold back any laughs. You want to see amiable and personable, but you also want to be taken seriously and so, holding back giggles and guffaws is recommended.

So now let’s consider best suggestions for holding in laughter.

• Mental Redirections: Here are some of my top ideas for mentally redirecting yourself.
  • Think about something unpleasant like a sad moment in your life or something distasteful happening. Recalling on something sad can help you focus on the non-funny moment you are currently in.
  • Think about something serious. Doing this can help you focus on the seriousness of the situation, especially if you are at a hospital, religious service, or even a funeral.
  • Think about goals in your life. When you ponder big moments for your life, you’re more likely to become composed.
  • Focus on what’s actually happening in the moment. Often times, our giggles and laughter are because we are getting sidetracked and not paying attention to what’s actually going on around us. Focus on others, so you’re less likely to get distracted by laughing.
  • Think of questions to ask whoever is in the moment with you. This is especially helpful if you are in a professional setting such as an interview. Redirecting your thoughts for your current situation-that is, thinking of questions to ask someone else-will help you to be less prone to silliness and laughter.
• Physical Distractions: Here are some of my top ideas for physically distracting yourself.
  • Bite the inside of your cheek or your tongue (yes, literally bite your tongue!). This is a physical distraction to calm yourself in the moment. And by focusing directly on your mouth area, you’re being more intentional to using that area for something other than laughing!
  • Pinch your arm or thigh-whatever is more discreet. The sharp pain will help you reorient to the serious moment you are in. As for whether or not this is more helpful than biting your cheek or tongue is personal. Try them both and see which works better for you!
  • Moving away from the comical source. If you are able, get up and move from whatever is causing you to laugh-when you’re not in an appropriate venue or moment for laughter. Walking away might be the best distraction!
  • Yawn or cough. Sometimes just doing something other than laughing with your mouth is enough to help you contain or hold in laughter.
  • Talk. Rather than giggle or laugh out loud, instead ask questions, make oral observations, or start a discussion, if applicable. If you find you’re in a meeting and you suddenly are overcome by the giggles, rather than burst by trying to hold back laughter, talk. Talking is a way to physically and mentally (because you have to first come up with what to say in your mind before saying it aloud) redirect and distract yourself from laughter.

Of course, what works best for one person to hold in laughter might not work at all for someone else. It’s important to be open minded about these suggestions and flexible in your practice. If something doesn’t work for you the next time you need to hold in laughter, then be flexible and willing to try something else.

Why Is It So Hard to Hold in Laughter?

We’ve all experienced the giggles and recognize that there are times when giggling is not just inappropriate, but really, just down-right wrong. So then why do we do it? Well, it’s hard to hold in laughter! But why is it so hard to hold in laughter?

It’s hard to hold in laughter because laughing is a natural, physical response and is something we rarely think about before doing it. But keep in mind just because it’s difficult to do, doesn’t mean it’s impossible or unnecessary.

For some people, their career choices make it necessary to hold in laughter most of the time. For instance, news anchors are tasked with providing factual information. This means their delivery should be unbiased and formal. Getting the giggles when giving the news about world events or local crimes is hardly appropriate.

Another career where holding in laughter is probably expected is with the health field. Most doctors, nurses, or even emergency medical technicians deal with serious issues and laughter is not usually connected. Just imagine being admitted to the ER because of heart palpitations and the attendant laughing out loud. Not expected, to say the least!

However, people are indeed human and our human emotions include laughter.

And how many of us think ‘that’s funny, I believe I’ll laugh now’ prior to laughing? Not likely, is it?!

So one main reason we have trouble holding in laughter is because we aren’t thinking about it before we start laughing. Then, once we laugh and realize we shouldn’t be laughing, it’s sometimes difficult to get it under control because we’ve already started the ball rolling, so to speak.

Once we start laughing during an inappropriate time, nervous laughter also takes hold. So then, all of a sudden we feel really silly and embarrassed for laughing when we shouldn’t and that leads to, you guessed it, more laughing!

It just becomes one big cycle of laughter!

We can witness this ‘laughter cycle’ when watching others laugh uncontrollably… when they shouldn’t, and have difficulty stopping it. If you are one of the few who hasn’t witnessed this before, just watch some videos of news casters with the giggles. You’ll quickly feel embarrassed for them, but also, feel like laughing yourself!

Last, from my experience as a teacher and mom, one of the major reasons for why it’s so hard to hold in laughter is that it’s always difficult to stop doing what we’re not supposed to. From biting our fingernails to eating too much to smoking cigarettes, it’s hard to stop doing stuff we know we shouldn’t.

Most of us know we shouldn’t be laughing at certain things or in certain circumstances, but from time to time, we do it anyway. It’s sometimes just simply hard to hold in laughter, not impossible, though. So just because something might be hard, don’t let that stop you from trying.

As I used to tell my students, ‘You can do hard things!’

Why Should You Hold in Laughter (and Not LOL)?

As mentioned already, there are many times you should hold in laughter, mostly due to appropriateness of the immediate situation. But are there other reasons why you should hold in laughter?

You should hold in laughter when professional or social situations call for it. For example, during an interview you need to present yourself competent and laughing may detract from that. Other times, it may be necessary to hold in laughter to spare someone embarrassment or soften an awkward moment.

If you are in the midst of a serious event or momentous occasion and laughter isn’t part of it, it’s prudent to hold in laughter. Even if your laughter is a result of nervousness or anxiety, try to compensate for that feeling and avoid laughing. As already provided, there are some concrete steps you can take to hold in laughter when you should.

Sometimes, someone does something unintentionally silly or out-of-the-ordinary and you find yourself laughing in response to that. However, it’s likely your laughter is going to cause additional embarrassment to that person. In those situations, you need to what you can to hold in laughter.

A bit of physical discomfort for you is probably not a big deal in comparison to sparing the other person’s feelings.

The Takeaway of Holding in Laughter

Holding in laughter is not generally a serious problem for people, but if you aren’t able to hold in laughter such as someone with a health issue or refuse to hold in laughter when it’s inappropriate, problems are likely to occur for you.

To recap what was learned:

• Holding in laughter is something common for everyone at one time or another in life.
• There are real steps you can take to help hold in laughter when necessary.
• Some specific circumstances, events, or even careers are less agreeable to laughter so it’s prudent to be aware of this.
• Pseudobulbar affect is a specific neurological disorder that is characterized by uncontrollable laughter or crying and is socially uncomfortable for those afflicted.

I hope I was able to provide you with some background on holding in laughter. For further reading on laughter, I recommend these articles:

• What To Know About A Lost Sense Of Humor
• Why Does My Child Laugh When Someone Gets Hurt?
• Comedy And Humor Are Subjective (And That Matters)

It’s common for children to laugh when someone gets hurt despite social mores. Research tells us the benefits of humor are learned early on, causing children to use laughter for deflecting personal insecurities to elevating social status. This often leads to inappropriate laughter past infancy.

As a mom of four and former public school teacher, I’ve certainly witnessed many situations where kids laugh when others (and even themselves) get hurt. In this article, I’ll share what I’ve learned about this and suggestions for handling it effectively when it happens.

What Does It Mean If You Laugh When Someone Gets Hurt?

Most of the time laughing at someone when they get hurt is a characteristic behavior of immaturity, which is why it’s most often found at playgrounds and schools. What does this mean?

In most instances, laughing when someone gets hurt does not mean the person laughing actually thinks pain is funny. Sometimes laughter is a result of genuine surprise, but often, laughing at someone’s painful moment is an opportunity for self-protection or promotion in some way.

As as teacher, each year I’ve had to deal with students laughing at others’ misfortunes. Kids are clumsy; and kids can be meanspirited. These two often went hand in hand. But I had to learn how to deal with that and one part of that was understanding why it happened in the first place…why kids laugh at someone getting hurt.

Let’s look closer at what I learned about how this relates to babies and teens, as well as those in between.

Why do babies laugh when someone gets hurt?

Much to parents’ delight, babies start to laugh at 4 or 5 months, though there are some involuntary exceptions that come sooner. But why do babies laugh when someone gets hurt?

Babies laugh when someone gets hurt, even though babies don’t have an understanding of pain in others. Instead, babies laugh because of the surprise effect that happens when someone gets hurt or due to the commotion that may be associated when someone falls, trips, or hits their head, for example.

Babies have no malicious intent for laughing when someone gets hurt, so there’s no need to be concerned. Instead babies are simply reacting to the situation, almost involuntarily.

When they hear a loud noise, they may startle and then laugh to thwart fear, even if the noise was actually someone tumbling down the stairs. They may also laugh at what looks like a slapstick prank, for instance, if someone bumps their head and goes ‘oomph!’ really loudly. These are things that a baby will laugh at even if someone was hurt, benignly or not.

Why do teens laugh when someone gets hurt?

Teens laughing when someone gets hurt is very different than when babies do it. There are short bursts of laughter in cases of shock or surprise, but other than that, why do teens, then, laugh when someone gets hurt?

More times than not, teens laugh at the expense of others for personal gain. Whether teens laugh because of shyness, insecurity, peer pressure, or social hierarchy, teens laughing at someone getting hurt usually has more to do with themselves than the injured party.

For example, students often laugh at a peer experiencing an embarrassing moment because it (in their mind) directly affects social standing. They feel there’s a primary correlation between their social status and their peer’s, and if their peer goes down a notch (seemingly from the embarrassing event), then they are elevated automatically. Laughing inappropriately is a way to make this all happen.

Research also has shown that people laugh in the case of humiliating others as a form of social connectedness, especially for males. Therefore, laughter is sometimes used as bonding tool whether it’s collectively disrespecting someone else or laughing at their misfortune.

Special Note for Middle Adolescents:

For those who fall in between infancy and teens, there’s a slow rise, depending on personal character development, for laughing when someone gets hurt. Suffice it to say, the closer they move toward teen years, the more the reasoning for laughing at others who get hurt is less innocent and ‘child-like.’

In the classroom, one thing I learned about children who laugh when someone gets hurt are often looking for attention. It’s the class clown idea, really. They laugh at someone, make a joke of the situation, to get others to laugh. Once they have an audience, the pattern continues. Likewise, they show others how to do this too.

For more on children and laughter, I highly recommend these other articles:

• Funny Things That Kids Will Laugh At (Easy to Do)
• Sense Of Humor In Gifted Students: What You Need To Know
• Is it Bad For Babies To Laugh Too Much? (We Find Out)

Why Some People Laugh When They Get Hurt

It’s not uncommon for even adults to laugh at themselves when they get hurt. Children and teens show this behavior too. So why do some people laugh when they get hurt?

Some people laugh when they get hurt for many of the same reasons they laugh at others when hurt. Laughter at one’s self when hurt is often a tool for self-preservation or protection, and even promotion, as unlikely as that might sound.

Let’s look at how toddlers and older children/teens handle this issue, and what similarities and differences they may have in responding to their own pain through laughter.

Why do toddlers laugh when they get hurt?

Toddlers are generally what we call children from their first birthday to preschool age, around 3 years old. By this age, toddlers laugh daily, often at things we don’t quite see as humorous. For instance, why do toddlers laugh when they get hurt?

The most likely reason toddlers laugh when they get hurt is to ease anxiety. The fear, shock, and surprise of feeling unexpected pain leads them to laugh as an attempt to alleviate the unwanted feelings. Toddlers do not laugh at pain because it’s fun or pleasurable.

Toddlers’ laughter may outlast the painful episode if it’s quick and relatively benign, and they may even simply continue playing or carrying on as before. However, if the pain is persistent or has repercussions such as bleeding, most all toddlers will stop laughing and display clear expressions of hurt like crying or yelling out.

Why do older children laugh when they get hurt?

Just like with toddlers, older children are likely to laugh every day. But unlike toddlers, laughing at themselves is a different experience for older children and teens. Why do older children, and teens, laugh when they get hurt?

Older children and teens laugh when they get hurt similar to why they laugh when hurt: it’s self-protection or gain. Laughing at their own expense provides a release for tension either from awkward or painful situations and an opportunity to turn a negative moment into a potentially elevating one.

Dr. Louis R. Franzini states in his book, Kids Who Laugh: How to Develop Your Child’s Sense of Humor , (available on Amazon) that humor is often used as a coping device for children to help them deal with shyness or being teased. Children may laugh at themselves even when hurt from tripping or bumping an elbow because of timidity. They don’t risk letting others know their pain.

As well, sometimes older children and teens laugh at themselves as a form of self-deprecation. Research tells us that self-deprecating humor is used for social standing according, although it’s tricky because this highlights one’s perceived deficiencies.

Disney Dark Humor (and Other Children’s Entertainment)

It’s really no wonder that children get confused about laughter and appropriate humor. Spend some time watching kids cartoons, or think back to the Disney shows you watched growing up, and what’s clear are the mixed messages given in song and color!

Children’s entertainment is fraught with mixed messages about humor. From emphasis on death and aggression to teasing and bullying behavior to accidents for comic relief, children’s entertainment often uses adult themes for a surprisingly dark humoristic approach.

Let’s look at a few ways Disney and other producers of children’s entertainment incorporate dark humor in their creations. While I’m focusing here on film, but that’s not to insinuate it’s the only source for this kind of entertainment. There are also many examples of dark humor in children’s literature, video games, and toys.

Emphasis on Death and Aggressive Behavior for Humor

The amount of deaths or aggressive acts in children’s cartoons is much more than one would ever think, considering the targeted audience. What should you know about the emphasis on death and aggression in relation to effects on children’s idea of humor?

Children’s programming, which is often humorous in tone, that includes death or aggression haphazardly promotes a distorted view. This can create a ripple effect, causing children to think it’s appropriate to laugh at others when in pain or danger, if not corrected explicitly.

From bunnies with sticks of dynamites to gun-toting Martians to devious lions orchestrating the death of a brother king, kids are exposed to death or deathly situations frequently in animation. And not only frequently, but the situations are treated either as fodder for laughs or far too simply, with not much regard to the gravity it deserves.

Overuse of Sarcasm and Bullying

Besides overt death and aggression, other surprising behaviors in children’s entertainment, particularly cartoons and film, are the use of sarcasm and bullying. What does this mean, then, in regards to humor?

Children’s programming often incorporates sarcasm, teasing, and bullying in the guise of humor, which can send mixed messages for children. Without clarification, children are apt to mimic inappropriate behaviors of sarcasm, teasing, and bullying, and laugh at others who get hurt.

Examples of this include just about every episode of Fairly Odd Parents and anything with tweens/teens on Nickelodeon or Disney Channel programming (Suite Life of Zack and Cody and That’s So Raven come to mind).

One very disturbing image of bullying is from a scene of Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame where Quasimodo (the ‘hunchback’, an example of overt teasing right in the title) is crowned ‘Fool’ by the villagers who proceed to throw fruit at him, tie him down, and call him foul names. It’s truly awful and hard to believe a part of kids entertainment!

Unintended Falls Used As Slapstick Humor

Perhaps at first glance laughing at others who fall or experience accidents as a form of slapstick humor is the most innocent of dark humor. Yet, let’s think about this deeper. How does laughing at others who get hurt as slapstick humor affect children?

Children’s entertainment that uses people’s accidents for slapstick comedy is most influential as dark humor. Children learn, if not corrected, to laugh at others who get hurt. This is more impactful because children are more likely to experience these situations as part of daily life.

One of the most popular, well-known examples of accidents being used for slapstick humor is with America’s Funniest Videos (AFV). This show began in 1989 when home cameras where the ‘newest technology’ and fast becoming commonplace in every household.

The premise was to showcase funny clips people took with their VCR camcorders and ‘America’ voted on the funniest, providing a monetary award to the winner. However, it quickly became apparent that most people considered accidents the funniest!

Falls off motorcycles, slips down icy walkways, trips from porches, bumps on heads, and baseballs hitting all kinds of body parts were suddenly viewed as slapstick comedy for all of America. This has made it more socially acceptable, in some instances anyway, to laugh at others for getting hurt.

What To Do About Laughing At Inappropriate Times

Now the question is, what should be done regarding those, especially children, who laugh at inappropriate times, such as when others get hurt (or when they themselves are hurt)?

When children laugh at inappropriate times like when someone gets hurt, it’s important to take a targeted response rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s important to remember that what causes babies to laugh at inappropriate times is different from reasons behind older children and teens.

Remember, since babies have no ill-natured intent for laughing when someone gets hurt, there’s no need to be overly troubled when it happens.

Instead know that as a baby grows in language and cognitive understanding, they’ll generally pick up on proper responses for someone getting hurt (mimicking what they’ve seen from others) and learn from explicit teaching about empathy.

As for older children, it’s vital to use this as teachable moments in order to explicitly explain what’s inappropriate and why about their reaction to laugh at others.

As a teacher, I never let this behavior slide, even if it meant taking time away from instruction. For our classroom to maintain as a safe learning community, it was necessary to address any kind of teasing or bullying including laughing when someone got hurt.

If adults put in the time when children are young, then for the most part, teens laughing at others who get hurt can be avoided. However, social pressure and insecurities that surface in teen years can often manifest into laughing at others. In these cases, it’s vital to address the reasons and not just the behavior (though that shouldn’t be ignored or condoned).

As already pointed out, entertainment includes laughing at others as a feature of dark humor. When this is noticed, talk about it with your older children and teens, making sure the seriousness of the issue is confronted and not glossed over.

Punchline for Why Does My Child Laugh When Someone Gets Hurt

Now that we’re at the conclusion of the topic, let’s do a quick recap.

• It’s not unusual for kids to laugh when someone gets hurt, so don’t panic when it happens.
• Research has shown kids use humor as a device for self-protection and gain as it pertains to social status.
• Teens should not be given a pass when laughing at others who are hurt. Their intent is different than younger children.
• Babies and toddlers may laugh even at themselves when hurt initially from the shock or surprise of the unexpected event.
• Keep in mind that children’s entertainment perpetuates a dark humor, often at the expense of others.
• A one-size-fits-all approach should not be taken when confronting the issue of laughing at someone getting hurt because reasons behind it vary from infants to teens.

I hope I’ve helped you learn from my experience dealing with children laughing at someone getting hurt. It’s certainly not a laughing matter!

Once again, here are some other popular articles about children and humor:

• Funny Things That Kids Will Laugh At (Easy to Do)
• Sense Of Humor In Gifted Students: What You Need To Know
• Is it Bad For Babies To Laugh Too Much? (We Find Out)

Supporting Resources:

• HealthyChildren.org

Making a child laugh may seem like a walk in the park, and some times it can be as simple as that. However, keeping a child entertained all through the day or better yet, just figuring out what exactly kids laugh it is another task altogether. It takes a special kind of personality and sense of humor to keep children focused and mentally stimulated while in the classroom or even in the home.

There are certain funny things that kids laugh at that parents and teachers should know: tickling; funny stories; fake laughing; staring contests; silly pranks; amusing words; gross stuff; and finally, each other. Contrary to what some people may think, kids don’t laugh at just anything, so it’s important to be focused.

Looking to learn more about keeping a child entertained and getting them laughing? This article aims to inform anyone, whether you’re a teacher or a parent, of the key factors to induce fits of giggles.

Why It’s Important to Understand What Kids Laugh At

Knowing what is funny for kids helps teachers and parents in numerous ways. Using a sense of humor is one of the best approaches for classroom management or diffusing tension in the home. It’s also good for ice breakers in uncomfortable or unfamiliar situations. No matter the circumstance, it is just helpful to know!

For teachers

Research has shown us that making learning fun is an effective way to teach. It builds rapport between the teacher and students, making them care more about what he or she is trying to teach them. Fun learning engages kids so they pay more attention to instruction. And making learning fun creates an environment where kids feel comfortable to participate and take risks. All of this means ‘it’s important for teachers to understand what kids laugh at.’

I’ve written more about bringing a sense of humor into the classroom, so feel free to search the blog; but for now, read on to learn more about the funny things that kids laugh at.

For parents

As for parents, when they know what makes kids laugh, they create a home that helps kids grow. A home with laughter is fun, which kids equate to safe and happy. As parents get to know their kids through sheer parenting, they learn more about their kids’ personality. This can be helpful for understanding what makes them laugh in particular. But nevertheless, there are things that almost all kids find funny.

As a mom of four and retired public school teacher, not to mention new grandma, I have lots of experience with thousands of kids over the years. And my husband is not only a master of martial arts, but after decades of wrangling preschoolers and young children for karate lessons, what he’s learned about making kids laugh could fill a book (and well, it has!). Be sure to check out his Author Page, after finishing this article. From this, we’ve been able to figure out several common things that kids laugh at. I’m happy to share those below.

Kids Will Laugh At Tickling

The age-old method of getting anyone of any age to laugh is…Tickling, and kids are no exceptions when it comes to this funny thing to laugh at. Tickling will have just about anyone rolling around in laughter, whether they’re 6, or 60. But of course, there’s a fine line to know about using tickling. We’ll address that later on.

Why do we laugh when we’re tickled? It’s one of those strange scenarios that we often ponder, and scientists think they may have figured out why it happens. When someone touches you, your nerve endings send signals down the spinal cord and straight to the brain. Biologists and neuroscientists studying evolution believe that the reason for laughing when being tickled could be a defense mechanism.

According to studies on tickling, the part of your brain called the hypothalamus tells you to laugh when you experience faint touch. This is also the same part of the brain that makes you wince when you’re expecting to feel pain. Scientists believe that the hypothalamus expects pain when we’re tickled, and uses laughing as a form of warning. Laughing helps to dispel an uneasy situation and prevents us from getting injured.

Of course, when using this technique it’s highly important to make sure that it’s appropriate for the person and the situation. Although a quick tickle under the armpits is an innocent action, there are some situations where this should be avoided. Stick to tickling your family members and people you know vert well, and avoid tickling children in the classroom. And of course, when asked to stop, do so.

Why Can’t We Tickle Ourselves? Tickling someone else ends in fits of laughter, but when we tickle ourselves it’s not the same. This is down to the cerebellum, located at the back of the brain. According to Dr. Konstantina Kilteni, who conducted the Tickle Me Project, when you tickle yourself, the cerebellum sends a signal to pre-warn the body that you’re about to tickle yourself.

Since the body is already prepared for the tickling to happen and identifies the suspect as you, the brain interprets the touch as harmless and is also prepared for it. It’s the same as brushing your own hair; when brushing your own hair your brain already expects the sensation and it feels less intense than if someone else were to do it for you.

What about animals? One strange fact is that primates such as gorillas actually laugh just like us when tickled! Remember that super cute video on YouTube with the baby gorilla from the Grace Center being tickled? It’s as cute as it is funny! Rats are also known to laugh when tickled, but the frequency is so high that humans cannot hear the sound. (Source: Science, Vol 354)

Kids (and grandmas) Laugh At Funny Stories

Stories are a great way of getting a child engaged, and even better when a bit of humor is added to the mix. Children love a story, especially one that involves them and the people around them. Thus, funny books make kids laugh.

One great way to make a child laugh is to tell a funny, short story involving the child as the main character, and some people from their day-to-day life as side characters. Remember, it’s better to go simple and clear when trying to engage with children, so ensure the story you tell is easy to follow. Include simple, animated, and goofy jokes and stay away from anything complex that may go over their head.

Some great ideas for kids stories are: 

• Sci-Fi: Include astronauts, aliens, and details about space.
• Adventure: Your main character finds a mysterious treasure chest – what’s inside?
• Fantasy: Fill it up with dragons, mermaids, talking frogs, and other mystical creatures.
• Animals: Your child wakes up and cats rule the world. What happens next?
• Superhero: Your child is the hero, of course. Choose a family member as the villain. Dad always makes a good target!

But remember the key for this to work is including humor! After all, we’re focusing on what kids laugh at, right?

Looking for more ideas for kids’ stories? I have plenty of ideas for prompts to get you started. You can tell stories at breakfast, during the day, or even at bedtime, but I can’t be held responsible if your kids are laughing so much they won’t fall asleep!

Funny Story Prompts:

• There once was a horse who loved ballet!
• (Your child’s name) woke up one morning speaking only (a foreign language)!
• The abominable snowman wants to be my best friend. I didn’t know he liked lollipops, too.
• The cat started barking and the dog is meowing. It’s like the whole world is upside-down!
• I had to babysit a platypus. Oh my!

You can make these ‘two-minute stories’ or be more elaborate and add more shenanigans throughout the day. The main thing is that the story should be funny. To make a story funny, it sho

Some tips to making stories funny: Include surprises and/or unusual twists. Patterns and repeating themes can also add touches of humor. Silly words and goofy names work too (we’ll look at this in detail in another section, as well). That certainly worked for a certain doctor (ahem, Dr. Seuss).

Besides The Wonky Donkey and Dr. Seuss books, there are many other funny books that I recommend. I’ve written more about that in an article titled: Top 187 Books That Make Children Laugh (Teacher Reveals). Is 187 enough?

Fake Laughing Works

Ha, ha, ha! He, he, he! Ho, ho, ho! It’s as simple as that. If you’re struggling to get a laugh out of a child, fake laugh until they do! It’s one of the funny things that kids laugh at!

This technique works all over the world for all ages and actually helps in a lot of awkward situations, such as family photography. Photographers often instruct their subjects to begin to fake laugh, in an attempt to bring out some real expression. It’s really no different than being told, ‘say cheese’ to elicit smiles.

Due to the awkwardness of the act of fake laughing, the most common reaction for most people is to laugh actually. Have a competition between you and your child to see who can do the ugliest laugh, and you’ll be in hysterics in no time!

You could even mix it up by actively trying to make the other person laugh. Sit opposite each other and stare directly into each other’s eyes while taking turns making a silly face or telling a funny (or even not-so-funny) joke. The aim of the game is whoever laughs first is out, and when you’re told not to laugh it’s guaranteed to happen.

Don’t believe it? There was a recent viral trend creeping across the internet where TikTok users fake laughed until they really laughed. It’s so silly but true! And it works! Go on…I dare ya to try it!

Kids Laugh At Staring Competitions

Another thing that kids laugh at is staring contests! This is similar to the previous point, fake laughing. Putting yourself in an awkward situation just has a way to induce laughter. When we’re in a situation where we’re told not to laugh and we begin to overthink it, we are more likely to let it slip.

Think about those situations we’ve all been in. A silent room, a serious tone, and something triggers your sense of humor. For instance, it never fails that our cats will start doing something inane when we’re praying the Rosary as a family; it becomes almost impossible not to laugh! How much harder is it to not laugh when you have to keep a straight face?

This phenomenon is well known throughout psychology, most commonly known as ‘The White Bear Problem’. This refers to a process in our brains where deliberate attempts to suppress thoughts can actually make us think about them more. Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote:

“Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute.” — Winter Notes on Summer Impressions (Amazon linked)

Here’s what to do:

• Sit in front of each other.
• Stare directly into each other’s eyes and try to be serious.
• Don’t blink.
• Tell your child to try their very best to keep a straight face.
• The awkwardness of the situation most often brings on a smirk, which then turns into uncontrollable laughter.

And if there are other kids in the vicinity of this staring contest, well, they’re going to laugh, too!

Silly, Funny Pranks Make Kids Laugh

It may sound simple enough, but kids love anything silly. April Fools doesn’t have to just happen one day a year,; dust off the whoopie cushion all year round, and have some fun!

Here are some great prank ideas for kids:

• Hide a whoopie cushion on a chair they sit in often.
• Stick googly eyes all around the house or classroom
• Add a bit of food coloring to the milk, or their eggs.
• Stick a coin to the floor and watch them struggle to retrieve it
• Put their favorite toy in the freezer
• Or switch desks with a student but act like it’s totally normal
• Create a fort in the living room out of the many Amazon boxes you get at home (or in the middle of your classroom)
• Stack canned foods in their bed…for a teacher, put all your ‘teacher junk’ onto student desks
• Wear their jacket but act like you’re not

Get creative and come up with your own ideas for silly pranks. The more inventive you get the more fun it will be for everyone involved. Have a look around your home or classroom for things that you could change or mess with. 

You could even nip to a local bookstore and take a browse in the jokes and pranks section. They’re usually full to the brim with fake gum, realistic plastic bugs, whoopie cushions, water squirting rings, disappearing ink, magic tricks, and more. Keep in mind, though, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make kids laugh!

Still looking for ideas? You can find many examples of funny family pranks on YouTube.

Kids Laugh At Amusing/Silly Words

There’s nothing like switching your usual, dull sentences around and throwing a few funny words in the mix. It may seem simple, but it’s guaranteed to get a laugh or two.

Think of a few fun words you could slip into a sentence to catch them off-guard and make conversations a little more entertaining. As I alluded to above, Dr. Seuss is one of the most well-known authors for kids and just about every one of his books has a slew of silly, amusing, goofy words; words that don’t always mean anything but sure are fun to say, and laugh at!

Examples of Seussical words:

• zizzer-zazzer-zuzz (from ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book! )
• schloppity shlop (from The Lorax)
•  jertain (from There’s A Wocket in My Pocket)
• zong (from Oh the Thinks You Can Think!)
• grinchishly (from How The Grinch Stole Christmas)

Some other funny, random words guaranteed to get a chuckle are listed below and linked to Merriam-Webster:

• Muckety-muck
• Thingamabob, and it’s cousin, thingamajig
• Scatterbrain
• Squooshy, and of course, squishy
• Nincompoop
• Namby-pamby

And I think every parent knows just how funny bathroom words are for kids. All kids laugh at the mere mention of pee pee or poo poo!

Kids Laugh At Gross Stuff

Much to the chagrin of parents and teachers alike, kids laugh at gross stuff! Whether it’s snot, boogers, vomit, or slime, kids love to mess with it and laugh at it.

And sometimes, I find myself even laughing because it’s either that, or throw up!

I remember one of the most popular books in my classroom were the nonfiction books by National Geographic, made for elementary-aged kids. Now to the untrained, this might seem impressive and even scholarly. But no…I quickly learned these books were most popular, to the boys especially, because they usually contained gross pictures of dead insects or some predator eating its prey. They loved the gross-out factor and for them, the grosser the better….and the louder they laughed!

Kids Laugh At Each Other

And finally, the last funny thing that kids laugh at is…each other. This is no surprise when you really think about it. Get together any group of kids, whether a set of 4-year-olds or 14-year-olds, and if they’re not crying from hurting each other…then that means they’re laughing at each other.

Kids tell jokes; make funny faces; emit goofy sounds…get up to no good playing pranks. There are a myriad of ways kids will make each other laugh.

Kids don’t need a lot of toys or much direction when having a play-date at home or recess at school. If they have their pals, they’ll find ways to laugh! It’s simply natural!

What’s the Punchline for Funny things that Kids Laugh At?

To recap, the funny things kids laugh at are:

• tickling
• funny stories
• fake laughing
• staring contests
• silly, funny pranks
• amusing words
• gross stuff
• and finally, each other

But this list isn’t exhaustive, either. Truly, there are so many ways to entertain children and keep them laughing. From good old-fashioned tickling, to an inventive prank or silly story, kids laugh at many funny, silly things. Kids’ minds work visually and creatively, so the key is to keep the activity simple to maximize effectiveness, or should I say, ‘funniness’?

Reminder: if you’re planning on telling a funny story, stay away from any plots that are too complex, as you will lose your listeners before you get to the punchline. And if you’re a teacher planning on making someone else’s child laugh, make sure the method used is appropriate, as different techniques are more suitable for your own kids than for others.

Last, don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and act silly too; as the more fun you have yourself, the more fun kids will have along with you. You may have heard the saying, misery loves company? Well, the same can be said for laughter!

There’s probably not much more in this world cuter than a laughing baby. One of the first things parents, or any adult for that matter, try to do with a baby is make him or her coo, giggle, or laugh. But is there a time when it becomes too much for a baby? Is it bad for a baby to laugh too much?

Yes, it is bad for babies to laugh too much. Babies’ laughter is a social response, whether reflexive or learned. Yet, just like with most things, laughing can be taken to a detrimental extreme. Knowing where the line is drawn between a positive and overwhelming reaction is key.

As a teacher, mom, and grandma, I’m keenly interested in children, and babies in particular. My undergraduate major was in human learning and development, and my graduate work continued a focus on child studies. With that experience, as well as more recent practical research, I’ve been able to learn more about what makes babies and children laugh, and am happy to share that with you, specifically when it can be ‘too much’.

Why do babies laugh?

Although laughter has been documented in infant milestone development, it may surprise you that it hasn’t been the subject of much research, where infants are concerned. Therefore, there are limitations to what we know, though developmental psychologist, Caspar Addyman, is doing what he can to change that. His recent research and studies have focused primarily on baby laughter and all that entails.

One thing that has been documented prior to Addyman is from a 1972 study; this study by L. Alan Sroufe and Jane Piccard Wunsch confirmed that tactile and auditory stimuli is what elicits laughter from very young infants, whereas it’s the more visual and social stimuli that evokes laughter as babies grow closer to the one year mark.

This is particularly interesting to me because you can see how toymakers use this knowledge. Toys for early infants focus on lights, sounds, and feel while toys for older infants are more interactive. For example, the Baby Einstein products like the Take Along Tunes Musical Toy is designed to engage a three-month-old with its songs, flashes of color, and buttons.

There are different reasons why babies laugh, so let’s look at this a bit closer. Before we do, however, I think it’s also important to clearly define ‘baby’ age. For this article, we’ll consider one year and under as ‘baby’ and above that is what we’d call a ‘toddler’. (I’ve written about how to make a toddler laugh in another article, if you’d like to take a moment and check that out.)

Newborn Coos to Hysterical Laughing

Almost as soon as parents bring a baby home from the hospital, they’ll try to make him or her smile and laugh. However, seasoned parents know that’s not a reasonable expectation. Nevertheless, it’s a common practice.

Doctors and specialists have developed guidelines for parents of what to expect as their baby grows; after all, one of the greatest concerns for any parent is their child’s health and well-being. These guidelines focus on milestones or benchmarks.

Milestone: “Developmental milestones are behaviors or physical skills seen in infants and children as they grow and develop. Rolling over, crawling, walking, and talking are all considered milestones. The milestones are different for each age range.” Source: MedlinePlus

The first hint of laughter comes when a baby begins to smile. This happens sometime in the third month of a baby’s life. Along with little smiles, babies may coo, gurgle, or make light laughing sounds. Contrary to the zeal of parents, this isn’t true laughter. Instead this is an expression to something physical such as gas, itchiness, or some other reflexive cause.

Laughing does show up developmentally around 4-5 months of age for most infants. Babies will babble and make other sounds as they become aware of that ability, as well as giggle and laugh, at this time, according to WebMD. Like the 1972 aforementioned study, babies first laugh due to concrete or physical stimuli like bouncing or tickling and then later, context comes into play like doing something unusual such as putting a bowl on your head or falling down.

Hysterical laughter is when a baby laughs uncontrollably. This may seem cute and even funny for the adults when it first occurs, but soon enough, it can get way out of hand.

Babies who laugh hysterically aren’t usually doing this because of their great sense of humor, or because dad is such a funny comedian. Instead, the baby has reached a point of over stimulation and it can quickly turn harmful, or at the least, yucky, by resulting in crying, snot, coughing, and vomiting. Yeah, I did say ‘yucky’ for a reason! We’ll look more at the ramifications of hysterical laughter in a later section.

There is a strong social connection to laughter, too. Let’s consider that in the next section.

Social Effect of Laughter

Even though it’s been documented that children will laugh from tickles and silly behavior, studies have determined a social factor for infants laughter (and laughter in general). A 2018 study in Social and Personality Psychology Compass by psychologists, Adrienne Wood and Paula Niedenthal, identifies three social aspects to laughter. Those are to:

• Reward the behavior of others: this reinforces the ongoing interaction
• Ease social tension: this is to alleviate fear and threat, and to signal cooperation or alliance
• Enforce social norms: this form of laughter establishes status or superiority and/or corrects undesirable behavior 

Now it’s certainly not to say these things are pre-meditated by a four-month-old, or even a one-year-old, for that matter. However, babies do respond with laughter according to the social reaction they’re given.

If you are playing peek a boo with a baby and respond with smiling and laughter, that will elicit smiling and laughter- a social reward. If you respond with growls and frowns instead, after a possible initial laugh from a baby, he or she will quickly turn to crying or frowning because of the social connection.

Misconceptions about Babies Laughing

One of the hardest things to tell a parent is that they’ve misunderstood their child’s reason for laughter. Parents commonly feel that they know their child better than anyone else, and in a way, that is true. However, when it comes to human growth and development, which involves laughter, parents often get it wrong.

Sometimes, it’s simply about facts rather than feelings.

Side Note By the way, Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire and a popular, albeit controversial conservative writer and speaker, is well-known for a book called Facts Don’t Care About Your Feelings, easily found on Amazon. It’s not specific to our article’s topic here, but I recommend this book for conservatives and non-conservatives alike for it’s approach to life’s questions. Sometimes, it’s simply about facts rather than feelings, and that is connected to our article’s topic.

Let’s continue on to common misconceptions parents (and other adults) have about baby’s laughter and what that means.

Babies Understand the Humor (Misconception #1)

Probably one of the most popular misconceptions about babies’ laughter is that they get the joke. That is to say, parents/adults think that because the baby laughs, he or she understands what’s happening and why it’s so darn funny.

Babies don’t laugh because they have a sense of humor.

A four-month-old will likely laugh when you surprise him or her playing peek a boo. He or she doesn’t understand that surprises are funny. Likewise when a 9-month-old laughs because daddy puts a banana on top of his head it’s not because the 9-month-old ‘gets it.’

The out of the ordinary, breaking of normal patterns, and things that don’t fit can cause a baby to question. This questioning can come in the form of laughter to our ears, but it actually signifies and uneasiness and a search for confirmation that ‘everything is okay’.

Only as children grow older will they have the cognitive ability to understand the funny behind the joke or silly pratfall. So in the meantime, enjoy the laughs but don’t assign too much meaning behind it.

Babies Laugh Because They Are Happy (Misconception #2)

Another common misunderstanding about babies laughing is that it means they are happy. I mean, this one makes sense, right? If you see a photo of a baby smiling and laughing, or even a video clip where we can see AND hear it, we think we should equate those expressions with happiness. However, that’s not quite accurate.

Babies may be just as happy while spitting, waving their arms, or exploring the taste of the nearest thing they can commandeer.

Babies (remember we’re looking at infants to age one) laugh mostly as a reaction to stimuli. Sometimes, it is a pleasurable stimuli like tickling or a belly raspberry that gets a baby giggling. Other times, they are laughing because of the surprise factor. Mary Rothbart, child psychologist, noted this as a ‘arousal-safety phenomenon’ where babies initially react with laughter as they are figuring out if the action is safe or not.

Other reasons babies may seem happy, resulting in laughter, is because they realize they are getting positive attention from those people around them through that behavior-their laughter. Babies naturally want attention; it gets them food and comfort, so when they get warmth, praise, and so on by laughing, they’ll do it even more. And that’s not necessarily bad; just realize it for what it is.

Babies are infinitely more valuable than the family pet, but cognitively speaking, they can be on similar levels. House cats for instance come from wild felines that are expert hunters. These same cats in a barn become any nearby field mouse or rat’s worst nightmare. Yet my cat has learned that rolling on the floor, meowing, and rubbing against certain people’s legs gets her food.

Babies and pets will both have these similar learned responses.

Laughing Babies Are Spoiled (Misconception #3)

Another misconception some have, maybe more popular with an authoritative parenting proponent, is that laughing babies are spoiled. In this mindset, babies laugh because they get whatever they want. Of course, as mentioned above, this is partly true. Babies often laugh because they experience it gets them attention, comfort, a favorite toy, etcetera.

However, this does not mean babies are spoiled, so they laugh.

What is a spoiled baby, anyway? A spoiled baby is thought to be one whose parent jumps up at every whim to soothe him; a baby who is always carried or picked up. A spoiled baby evokes images of lavish toys, baby ‘things’, and doted on. However, David Mrazek, M.D. chairman of psychiatry and psychology at the Mayo Clinic, says “during the first six months, it’s really impossible to spoil a child.”

So rest assured, if your baby laughs, it is not a sign of indulgence and being spoiled!

Babies Laughter Means Healthy Babies (Misconception #4)

Now, another misunderstanding or misaligned correlation is that laughing babies are healthy babies. In some ways, we can see how this came about. After all, a baby who is feverish and in pain is not likely to laugh. But this example doesn’t make the flip side true, either.

I’ve already listed many reasons babies laugh. Babies laugh from surprises. Babies laugh as a social connection. Babies laugh to get attention. However, just because a baby laughs while playing peek a boo or at Daddy modeling a spaghetti necklace, it doesn’t mean that the baby is healthy…unfortunately.

To be perfectly clear about it, parents should not rely on laughter as a sign of health.

Instead, parents should use the guidelines provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics for meeting developmental milestones, as well as for attending well-baby check ups, in order to monitor their baby’s growth and health status. Even though as parents we can often ‘see’ if our child is healthy by his or her behavior and what we observe, it is not full proof. It’s critical for parents to seek professional support for their baby’s well-being no matter if their baby laughs a lot.

Pediatricians and specialists have the expertise and knowledge to recognize what’s healthy, normal, and appropriate, for babies, seen and unseen.

What’s the Harm of Babies Laughing Too Much?

Anything ‘too much’ is generally harmful, but there are of course degrees of that harm. Too much reading can cause someone to get headaches from eye strain. Too much eating can cause someone to feel bloated and gain weight. Too much working results in a lot of money (more money than ‘too less’ of working) but may cost someone a relationship.

And what constitutes ‘too much’ is also up for debate, regardless of the topic.

For this article, we’ll consider what’s too much laughing for babies and why that’s harmful.

Babies May Develop An Unusual Fear

It can be bad for babies to laugh too much if it causes babies to develop unusual fears. For example, a baby may laugh over and over at someone playing peek a boo (we’ve mentioned peek a boo a lot in this article because peek a boo is a universally popular game to play with infants that spans countries and cultures).

However, eventually even peek a boo can become too much. The baby can start to associate- incorrectly-that surprise factor with other things, and this anticipation can be fearful.

Think about the old toy, Jack-in-the-Box. The toy’s thrill was connected with the ‘surprise’ factor of a clown (Jack) popping up at any moment.

It was often coordinated with a tune, so if you were aware, you might be able to determine just when ‘Jack’ would show. However, also imagine, playing this toy over and over. That could be nightmarish! It’s not a coincidence that this toy is frequently featured in horror movies, either.

Negative Physical Responses From Laughing Too Much

Another example to show how laughing too much is bad for babies is physical. Often you won’t realize that a baby has been laughing too much until you observe a physical demonstration. Some examples of this are:

• Some babies will vomit when they laugh too much.
• Other babies will begin to cry uncontrollably.
• Babies may start coughing and even making choking sounds.

Babies can’t verbalize ‘this isn’t funny’ and can’t tell you, ‘I’m going to vomit if you don’t stop’. In fact, babies don’t really know this to even verbalize it if they could talk. All they know is that their bodies are out-of-control.

And unfortunately, adults aren’t always aware too, that the line of fun has been crossed to overwhelming.

When this happens, you’ll obviously want to halt whatever ‘funny’ tactic had been happening. From tickling to peek a boo to raspberries to pratfalls, any of these can move from healthy play to harmful behavior when taken to extremes.

Punchline-Wrapping Up Babies Laughing Too Much

So let’s recap what was learned: as much as we all love to hear babies laugh, it can be taken to the extremes and be too much for babies.

Babies laugh for many reasons and although research has been able to pinpoint some ideas on the topic, it’s limited. More research in the area of infant laughter would be beneficial because humor is an important part of human development.

For now, enjoy playing with your baby and making him or her laugh, but keep in mind that it is probably more for you than for your baby. They will be just as happy spitting and burping as laughing.

Remember to be cognizant of the fine line of funny!

If you have spent any time around a young child or toddler, then you are probably aware of how different their humor tends to be. What adults may find funny is often lost or confusing to those who are just entering the developmental stages and it can be difficult to make your two-year-old laugh. 

You can successfully make a two-year-old laugh, as long as you modify your approach to their developmental level. Some tips guaranteed to work are focusing on physical humor, toddler interests, and not being afraid to look silly. Two-year-olds laugh at things that are simple and surprising.

Humor is one of the most important skills a child can learn, and adults have many different ways to help them understand the importance of humor, as well as use it to continue to further their skills. Let’s talk about a few ways you can help a two-year-old laugh and how it can help them grow. 

6 tips to Make a Two-Year-Old Laugh 

Now that we have explained why humor is essential to the development of children let’s get into a few ways that you can incorporate more humor into interactions with your two-year-old on a regular basis. These things should be put into their regular routines. These little munchkins love routines.

There is also the fact that breaking these routines with surprise and buildup also delights them, as long as it is the exception and not the rule. When trying to implement these ideas, keep it regular and break the routine infrequently.

Remember that Younger Children Have Different Humor

The most important tip to remember is that smaller children have very different humor than adults or even children that fall into the age range of five to eight. If you do not have any experience with younger children, then experimenting may be a great way to not only understand their personalities but also to understand their humor. 

Another idea is to find those that have perfected the art of toddler humor and begin to mimic their tones, facial expressions, and timing. There is much more to humor for these little ones than just the words we say. How, when, and where we say them can sometimes be more important.

If you are still not sure what kind of humor the two-year-old in your life enjoys, take the time to observe them with others, or even just while they are playing by themselves. Not only can it tell you a lot about them, but it can also tell you what they need. 

Try Different Types of Physical Humor

Among two-year old’s, the most common type of humor tends to be physical. Many refer to this type of humor as slapstick humor. Since children are gaining some sort of mobility at this age, they are incredibly interested in physical situations. 

This also speaks to the fact that the language around them usually is above their level or leaves them out due to subject matter. They get used to watching rather than listening. We aren’t talking to them much of the time anyway. Can you blame them?

Here are a few ways to make your two-year-old laugh using physical humor. 

• Try playing peek-a-boo with your child.
• Drawing silly pictures or just doodling. 
• Try playing charades or acting like their favorite animal. 

These are just a few ideas on how you can incorporate physical humor into everyday interactions with a two-year-old. Making sure that you are actually participating with them is a great way to help them learn. Sometimes it is more that you are paying attention to them and making an effort to connect with them that will peak their interest.

Engage in What They Think is Funny

Many children are looking up to you as a sort of guide for how to be at this young age. This means that if you think something is funny, they will often think something is funny but are not able to understand it. They are mimicking in order to understand.

This is where a lot of people mess up when it comes to children’s humor. 

It would be best if you focused on what is funny to them. Incorporate things they are learning from walking to speaking, even to bathroom humor! Not only will it be relatable to them, but it will also help them gain a better perspective of the world that surrounds them. 

As well, try to act out at least with facial expressions and hand movements what you are saying. This will help them quickly understand what is going on and know that the conversation is meant for them. You have to act differently with toddlers than you do with adults before they know to pay attention.

Younger Children Often Look to Adults for Approval of Humor

If you have spent any time with a two-year-old, then you have probably noticed them looking at you after they do certain things. They are hoping that what they think is funny is also funny to you since many children seek approval or validation without even realizing it. 

We have all heard the exclamation, “I did it!” This is a call for others to join in and congratulate them. In the same way, when they do something that they think is funny, they will announce it in many different ways. Sometimes it will be verbally, but sometimes it will be with an overly dramatic pause and stare.

Our son Ronin got us to laugh as a toddler one time when he said his ABCs. At about the F point in the recitation he added “Cookie Monster!” all on his own. We all laughed. Boy did he remember that.

For the next year, at completely random times whether he was talking or someone else was, we would hear, “Cookie Monster!” This would be followed by a long pause and looking at each of us in the room until we reacted. He learned that we laughed once when he said it and held on tight to it like a gold nugget.

To help them build up their sense of humor, make sure that you are acknowledging things that are funny to them. This is an easy way to help them learn what is funny and what is not funny in terms of thoughts, behaviors, and even actions. 

Word Play Can Be a Great Humor Idea for Two-Year Old’s

Children often tend to start absorbing and understanding language at this age, which means anything with language can be a great way to make a two-year-old laugh. 

• Try combining different words into nonsense sentences.
• Start reading funny books with pictures during playtime.
• Rhyming stories or songs.
  

Using wordplay can be a great way to help your child learn new words as well as humor. Combining silly words together helps them think outside of the box, which can help further their mental capacity. 

Don’t Be Afraid to Look and Be Silly

Talking about all of the tips above is great, but when it comes time to put it into action many parents can feel sheepish—especially out in a public setting. Of course, this is normal. As reasonable, well adjusted adults we have an aversion to making fools out of ourselves in public. 

But when it comes to making toddlers laugh, you have to be able to push through that feeling for two reasons:

• First, realize that everyone gets a pass when it comes to playing with kids! You may still turn a couple heads, but odds are likely that those people are just thinking what a good parent or guardian you are for being willing to engage with them on their level.
• Second, recognize how important it is for your toddler to associate humor with adults they respect. Your two year old looks up to you as an adult that they trust. Through your actions, you can show them that a good sense of humor is just another piece of being a responsible adult, and not something to be ashamed or embarrassed of.

It’s that second part that is really important. If you want your kids to grow up with a healthy sense of humor, it’s important to show them that adults (such as yourself) can be respectable and dependable—but still able to let loose and be a bit silly to make people laugh.

What Do Two Year Old’s Find Funny?

When trying to make a two-year-old laugh, the number one thing to consider is the world around them. By making humor relatable to what they are experiencing, it acts as a learning exercise in addition to encouraging play and creativity. 

Ask yourself these questions to help understand what may be funny to a two-year-old:

• What are they learning?
• What kind of activities do they do on a regular basis? 
• Do they like to look at books or sing songs? The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith (Amazon linked) is especially funny to little kids because of the silly rhymes. It is also pretty much guaranteed to make the reader laugh too, which is contagious for your two-year-old!

Two-year-olds love silly sounds and noises, and especially love hearing others laugh. Sometimes I will laugh out loud around toddlers and slap my knee a few times. I have learned to sell it as if I really thought something imaginary in the corner is hilarious.

Inevitably the entire group will begin to laugh and some will even fall in the floor. All will be directed at the non-existent thing in the corner that I am pointing at. They want to know what is funny, but will take your word for it at this stage.

While these seem like basic questions, you would be surprised how often they are forgotten and just how important they can really be in young children’s development. 

Why is Humor So Important During Developmental Years?

When raising children, humor may not seem like a top priority, but it plays a significant role in your child’s development (Source: MSU). Not only is laughter good for the soul, but research tells us it helps children’s mental health, supports social skills, and is important for other developmental milestones. Humor also helps everyone, including 2-year-olds, learn to not take themselves too seriously. 

Here are some extra things you should know about humor and laughter in developmental years. 

• Laughter can act as a survival skill for many children. 
• 90% of development happens in the first five years of life.
• Smiling and laughter encourage engagement and relationships.
• Humor can be a defense mechanism later in life. 
• Humor can enhance a child’s social skills as they age. 
• Humor allows children to have different views of the world around them.

Laughter and humor have a significant impact on both mental and emotional growth for children, plus it can be a great bonding experience between the two of you. It provides a direct connection to help the child realize that you are active in their life and that they are on the right track. 

Introducing humor and laughter at an early age also helps deter depression, illnesses, and even some physical issues. It can also help with stress, blood pressure, immunity, and bodily functions, even in children. 

Final Punchline on Tips for Making A Two (2) Year Old Laugh

While there are a ton of different ways to raise a child, laughter and humor are common in most of them. Not only can humor help your child’s developmental, physical, and emotional skills, but it can also act as a strong bonding experience for both of you. Although many people struggle with making a two-year-old laugh, it is easy. 

Make sure that you take the time to know what your two-year-old thinks are funny. Make sure that you are paying attention and actively participating when they try and show you something or make a joke. You can also turn laughter and humor into a learning experience based on what they are learning in their own life.  

Additional Sources: 

Rad’s Children’s Hospital of San Diego

Kids Health

Understood

Their World

PsychCentral

Parents (and other connected adults) love to bring fun and laughter to their littles, but what about children with ASD who don’t have typical reactions to humor? How can you make kids with autism the laugh?

You can make children with autism laugh by: using humor focusing on their interests; jokes that are simplified; and repeating approaches to make humor familiar. Though these three ways will likely make all children laugh, they are particularly successful with children on the autism spectrum.

As a former public school teacher, I’ve taught several children somewhere on the autism spectrum. As well, as a mom of four, I have experience on a personal level. One of our children was diagnosed autistic early on. Not only have I learned best practices for communicating and teaching children with ASD, but also how to help them with humor (and other practical living).

I am happy to share my experiences on what makes autistic children laugh!

Shared Characteristics of ASD

For a little background, let’s address what it means for a child to be autistic or diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

The American Psychiatric Association is credited with the creation of a guide for diagnosing ASD called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). In it, people with ASD are said to have challenges with communication and social interaction; restrictive, targeted interests; behavior often repetitive and extreme; and limitations on their ability to function in school, work, and other areas of life typical for most people.

As a mom of a child with ASD, I can easily relate to the information provided by Dr. Horowitz and the manual from the American Psychiatric Association.

For example, I’ve seen in my son the problems with making eye contact, as well as how he often talks at great length about a favorite subject without noticing (or caring) if anyone else interested or even around to hear. His facial expressions and tone don’t often fit the situation or context he’s in, either. He’s extremely sensitivity to small sounds, lights, and is hyper-focused on changes in routine, too.

All of these things greatly affect our son’s life, and ours by extension. He’s not able to successfully go to a regular school, even with accommodations and modifications by an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

And under the very best of circumstances, Ethan still requires supports to limit agitation and frustration from all those around him. And in a show of agreement, recent research expounds the toll ASD takes on the whole family.

With all this said, it’s even more important for families living with ASD to have outlets for humor, laughter, and fun!

Make An Autistic Child Laugh By Connecting with their Interests

You can make an autistic child laugh by using humor that connects with their interests. Kids on the spectrum commonly have extreme interests or heightened focus on certain things.

For example, children with ASD might only want to eat green foods, use the blue crayon, or play with toys that roll.

Find Jokes on Their Interests

Our son was particularly drawn to red things. If he and his twin were given new clothes or toys, he’d immediately grab ‘the red one’ because that already belonged to him, in his myopic mind’s judgment. Over time, we were able to expand his interests beyond ‘red’ and to more than one thing, but he’s still prone to ‘targeted likes.’ At the moment, we are all well aware that he likes dragons, wolves, Pokémon, and SpongeBob.

Now many of you might say, we’ll that’s typical of most kids…they all go through phases, right. I remember my Bon Jovi days after all! Well, yes, but again, for a kid on the spectrum, it’s extreme with tunnel-vision. But you can use this to your advantage when trying to make them laugh!

This means you can collect jokes on what they like.

For Ethan, he really likes jokes that have to do with dragons because he really likes dragons. It’s hard to get him to read any other kind of book without making it a ‘have to’, because he likes to read books with dragons so much! So if we come across a joke with dragons, we know that’s for Ethan.

Many autistic kids will watch a tv show or film over and over. You can make jokes that connect with that. If your child loves the Disney cartoon, Cars, you can look up jokes on cars. (You can purchase Cars from Amazon.)

Now for it to be successful, be sure to point out the connection for them. What may seem obvious to us is often overlooked, or not easily recognizable, for kids with autism. And be explicit when you do.

For example, say, “I know you like Cars, the movie. Here’s a joke about cars. Because you like the movie, you will probably like this joke.”

*Tell the joke clearly, and slowly. Pausing when the punchline comes up.*

You should also explain why the joke is funny in order to help your child with ASD understand the humor better.

Say, “this joke is funny because…“

Then, I recommend telling the joke again. Maybe even ask your child to tell the joke to you or another family member after that, and later on as well. As you’ll learn in another section, repetition is important for children with autism to grasp humor.

Change the Joke to What Interests Them

Just because you can’t find jokes on their interest or humorous toys, movies, etc…you can make adjustments.

This means we can adapt jokes for his particular interest. If we hear a joke that features a panda bear, we can alter it to dragons instead…that is, if the punchline isn’t connected to being a panda bear.

It might not come naturally, but you can even make it a project with your child. Often laughter comes just from being silly, so give it a try. Your child might surprise you!

Autistic Children Will Laugh At Simple Humor

Often times it’s the simplest, cheesiest joke that will make your kid with ASD laugh out loud. Your child may have an advanced vocabulary and skills in math or science that are above others his or her age, but in humor, kids with ASD are usually behind their peers.

Kids with ASD have difficulty with hidden meanings behind words; subtle inferences; and inflections in conversation, all of which make understanding the humor in jokes difficult for them. As well, the very act of laughing is different in kids with ASD according to this study from the National Library of Medicine. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible; on the contrary, for most, it’s not. But instead, it means they need help in this area.

Thus, making jokes and any attempts at humor should be clear, obvious, and simple.

Dad Jokes Make Autistic Children Laugh

Dad jokes are a good attempt for making children with autism laugh. But let’s make sure we know just what a ‘dad joke’ is.

dad joke: a wholesome joke of the type said to be told by fathers with a punchline that is often an obvious or predictable pun or play on words and usually judged to be endearingly corny or unfunny (Merriam-Webster)

Just reading the definition should make it clear why dad jokes are a good choice for children on the spectrum. Dad jokes are pretty obvious in their humor and this is often the best kind of joke for those who struggle with double meanings or punchlines that rely more on irony or tone.

Here are a few easy dad jokes you can try (Source: Parents.com):

• Why did the math problem look so sad? Because of all its problems.
• What did the slow tomato say to the others? Don’t worry; I’ll ketchup.
• Why did the coach go to the bank? To get his quarter back.
• Why don’t eggs tell jokes? They’d crack each other up.

Slapstick Humor: Pros and Cons

Slapstick humor is a good way to make an autistic child laugh. It’s another obvious, up-front attempt at humor, which works best for ASD.

slapstick: comedy stressing farce and horseplay (Merriam-Webster)

Children with ASD will often laugh out loud inappropriately when someone falls or breaks something. Normally, we’d first make sure the person is not hurt or that the item isn’t valuable, and then, maybe we’d laugh. However, social norms and reading a person’s body language and facial expressions properly are not typical for someone with ASD. However, this same impulsive reaction can be harnessed for slapstick humor.

Using slapstick is also a good tool for teaching appropriate reactions, i.e. when it’s acceptable to laugh and when it’s not.

The problem with slapstick humor is that kids with ASD might try to reenact the performances and that could be a potential hazard. Kids with ASD sometimes don’t see the line between reality and fantasy and may inadvertently cause harm to themselves and others.

For example, Mr. Bean falling down the stairs is funny, but your child falling (or pushing a sibling or pet) down the stairs is not. When watching slapstick humor or using it at home, you’ll want to discuss the potentials for problems, too.

Autistic Children Laugh At Familiar Jokes

Using jokes or humorous tactics over and over is a way to make an autistic child laugh. Even if they didn’t get the joke the first time, eventually they can learn to find it funny (unlike others who would be increasingly annoyed by you trying the same failed joke again and again!).

By repeating the humor, kids with ASD become familiar with it and thus, learn to mimic the correct response or actually understand what makes it funny, or some combination of the two.

Good ways to pair repetition with humor is with patterned jokes like Knock Knock jokes and with using the same joke or humorous manner in the same context regularly. Read on to learn more about applying these methods.

Pattern Jokes Work Well for Autistic Kids

It’s probably no surprise to anyone familiar with ASD that kids on the spectrum like patterns. Patterns can be anything from lining up their cars in a row to following the same routines daily.

Knock Knock Jokes

Knock Knock jokes are a great tool to teaching humor to your children with ASD and to make them laugh in the process. Knock Knock jokes work well because they incorporate the same lines and kids know what to expect.

They’re also really good to modify or tweak specifically for your child (Remember the other way I mentioned for making kids with ASD laugh is to focus on their interests. You can do that with Knock Knock jokes.)

We have several articles on the site loaded with Knock Knock jokes to help you out. These jokes are a great start to your Knock Knock joke ‘toolbox’ (that’s teacher lingo for your figurative materials to use, by the way.)

Some examples are:

• Peanut Butter and Jelly Knock Knock jokes
• Knock jokes on Candy Canes
• Knock Knock jokes about cats and dogs

Category Jokes

Category jokes are jokes about a singular topic or thing. For example, our jokes are delineated in this way.

Our joke categories are:

• animals
• food
• characters
• etc.

Maybe you pick one area like animals and every day at breakfast you tell an animal joke. Your child will come to expect this and will likely learn to respond favorably by laughing. Perhaps eventually, your child will even want to add to the jokes. This will be easier for him or her to do because you focused on one particular category-by sharing a joke about an animal.

Tell Jokes the Same Way, Same Time (and Repeat)

I alluded to this above; it will be easier to make your kid with ASD laugh when you use humor regularly and consistently at the same time, and if possible, within the same context. Now this might seem very structured, and yes, I agree it is. But it’s helpful for your child and it’s not complicated.

What does this mean or look like? In my example in the previous section, it meant telling an animal joke at breakfast. It could also look like telling a food joke at bedtime.

For us, it’s my husband saying ‘Ethan, we done done it’ in a red-neck voice every evening after saying the rosary as a family. Ethan has come to expect this and though he’s not necessarily laughing out loud, he’s smiling and even mimicking in his own red-neck voice from time to time. (My husband considers himself a red-neck transplant, so that’s part of the humorous connection.)

Telling the joke or using a humorous phrase in the same way or in the same context repeatedly helps your child become familiar with it and find it funny. Kids with ASD don’t respond well to changes in their routine or things they aren’t used to, so it is understandable that jokes can be a problem. Though most of us would get bored with the same joke, a child with ASD will not.

What Doesn’t Make An Autistic Child Laugh

There are some common tactics used for the sake of humor and provoking laughter that work for most kids that won’t work for kids with autism or on the spectrum. I’ll elaborate on a few.

1. Tickling Tickling does not work as a way to make kids with ASD laugh. Kids with ASD typically don’t like to be touched. They have heightened sense of touch and even the smallest physical gesture can produce strong negative reactions. I know three of our kids loved to be tickled when little and judging by the popularity of Tickle Me Elmo (Amazon linked) back in the 90s, it seems they weren’t alone. However, our son with ASD did not. Laughter was never a result of tickling for him!
2. Playful Bugging For lack of knowing a better way to explain, I call it playful bugging when you are slightly annoying a child to get them to laugh. Let me explain so that I don’t seem like an ogre! Example: Your child wants you to hand them something so you pretend to, only to move it out of reach just slightly and repeat for a few times. This ends up with both you and your child smiling and laughing. Now of course, you’re only doing this a few times and then you give them the item! But children with ASD rarely see the humor in playful bugging, and just feel bugged instead!
3. Copycatting Copycatting your child is when you repeat what your child says or does. You might think of this as ‘parroting’, also. Normally, children will find this tactic funny and start ‘copycatting’ you back! Like with playful bugging, this assumes you don’t take it too far. Nothing is funny if you do that! Keep in mind the extent of copying/parroting (for it to be funny) is tied to age. What’s appropriate for an 8 year old is not typical for a 3 year old, so modify accordingly. However, this tactic for humor is difficult for kids with ASD to understand and once again, they find it more annoying than funny.
4. Sarcasm This humorous tactic is mostly reserved for older kids (or younger kids with a keen sense of humor) because it requires the cognitive ability for understanding double meanings, irony, and larger vocabulary. It’s not that children with ASD aren’t smart enough to get it; rather it’s the lack of being able to accurately perceive social norms and mores is what causes sarcasm to elude them.

Disclaimer: Now even though the above tactics are challenging for children with ASD, it’s not to say that they won’t work for a few or that they can’t be taught. Exceptions are always possible.

I know our son, Ethan, has been taught several sarcastic expressions and he even throws them back at us from time to time. This has been achievable for a couple of reasons: We have explained the reasoning behind a few of the retorts and another is that we’ve included repetition in using them, that is, repeating the same sarcastic phrases or expressions many times within the same context.

And in full disclosure, Ethan still doesn’t necessarily get the humor; he just understands that it’s meant to be humorous. And more importantly, he appreciates being included this way.

The Punchline for How To Make An Autistic Child Laugh

Even though it should already be understood, I’ll say it to be perfectly clear: all kids are different and you know your children better than anyone else, so this article should be taken as suggestions based on my teacher and mom experiences with children with ASD. Try them out; tweak what needs tweaking and make it work for you.

To recap, it’s definitely possible to make your autistic child laugh. However, it won’t be the same as with other children. You will have more success in making your child with autism laugh if you:

• use humor that focuses on their interests
• make sure the jokes are simple and clear
• repeat your approaches so the humor is familiar

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning from my experiences!

For further study, I recommend:

• Spectrum News
• Autism Speaks
• SITN (Harvard Graduate School)

There are very few sounds that are as precious as that of a baby’s laughter, especially when it’s your baby! That laugh can melt away all the stress of your workday and bring you back down to Earth immediately. But what are the things that make babies laugh so infectiously?

Babies laugh for a variety of reasons. If you want be the cause of that infectious laughter, here are 7 things that make three month old babies laugh: belly raspberries, Eskimo kisses, funny faces, funny noises, peekaboo, pets, and other people’s laughter.

These, along with tons of other gestures, can bring your quiet home to life with the sounds of your baby’s laughter. In this article, we’ll talk about why babies laugh and discover what some of the research has to say that goes along with those reasons. If you want to learn the “how, what, and why” to making your baby laugh, you’ve come to the right place!

When Do Babies Start to Laugh?

Most babies begin laughing around three or four months old. This laughter is a great sign that they are developing in a typical fashion. However, not all babies are the same, and some will begin to laugh before or after this generalized timeframe.

Many parents and caregivers become concerned if a baby doesn’t hit this developmental milestone within the average timeframe. However, there is no need for concern unless there are multiple milestones the child hasn’t hit by the fourth month. It could be something as reasonable as it’s likely that your baby is a little more serious or less likely to giggle than others.

There is also the wish that a one month old’s smile or goo is a form of laughter. This may not actually be what we think it is. Many babies have involuntary smiles and even sounds that to adults signal good moods or even laughing.

Though your baby could be showing early signs of laughter, that smile could be because of itching, a hair tickling their cheek, or other stimuli that causes a reaction. Some babies react with squinching their eyes, while others may bring out a full blown toothless smile.

Whether it is early signs of a jovial infant or simply reactions to smells or a touch, it can still brighten the day of any parent or grandparent.

Why Do Babies Laugh for No Reason?

Babies sometimes seem to burst into laughter for no apparent reason. Have you ever noticed that a smile, some eye contact, or a funny noise can send an infant over the edge in laughter? This laughter is not really “for no reason.”

Many studies suggest that babies laugh as a means of communication. They want to feel as though they belong, and laughing is a simple way for them to let you know that they find something to be amusing. If you spend time and attention on them, they will likely find pleasure in it and therefore repay you with a smile and some giggles.

There are also a variety of stimuli that are likely to cause laughter in babies. These stimuli are typically the result of adult interaction and can sometimes be produced by interacting with other children. Either way, it is human connection that causes such laughter.

Children in general learn much of what they know through most of their stages by mimicking others around them. They have limited capacities for reasoning all the way up to the teen years. So trying to teach them through simple explanation is far inferior to an example.

This goes especially for babies whose communication skills are so limited and their brains are forming around the most basic of concepts and actions. Three month olds typically are reacting to the world around them. Sometimes though, you may find them trying some of what they have seen out on you.

This is a lot of fun. Make sure you don’t miss a minute of it. It is gone so fast.

Fun Ways to Make Your Baby Laugh

Now that we know a little bit more about why babies laugh let’s talk about how to get them to laugh. There are tons of things that traditionally make babies laugh. Most of them are far simpler than you might imagine. Here are just a few.

Belly Raspberries

This is a truly hilarious sensation for a child. It is the combination of the gentle touch and the funny sound that typically evokes laughter from a baby. Try doing raspberries with your baby and see how they respond.

Three year olds may even be shocked the first time or two. If they are do it a bit softer the next time. Once they are sure that it is fun and not scary, the louder the better. You would be surprised at how volume can play a big part in how funny something is to a baby.

Pets

Many babies have been known to react favorably to the feel of fur, wagging tails, and licking tongues. Be sure to watch the pulling and yanking on the fur that comes along with it, but pets can be a good source of laughter for three year olds.

Another way to have the family pet entertain your three year old is get them to making sounds. Some babies find a barking dog, meowing cat, or a talking parrot hilarious. They will switch between laughing and failing at mimicking the sounds.

While some parents find it terrifying to have an animal so close to their baby, others find it charming. Only you will know whether this is a good choice for your family.

Funny Faces

As babies begin to develop, they become more familiar with the faces of their parents, caregivers, and others who are in their lives regularly—as such, making funny faces at your baby is likely to invoke some giggles. They are used to seeing your normal smile, so a funny face is a change of pace for them.

This also can come in the form of overly exaggerated faces while doing normal things. It will focus their scattered attentions, causing them to notice the out of the ordinary expressions. Do it enough and they will recognize it as play and the giggles should begin.

Eskimo And Butterly Kisses

This is another sensation that has been known to cause laughter in babies. Whether it’s the closeness of your face to theirs or the feeling of your eyelashes, this will certainly create some giggles. The best part of giving Eskimo kisses to a baby is when they start to do the same in return!

For those that don’t know, there are two versions of this type of ‘kissing’ and are quite different. Neither one involves the lips in any way.

1. Eskimo Kisses: These are done by rubbing the end of your nose on your baby’s nose in a light back and forth manner. It can be coupled with a silly face, but usually is a hit with just the familiar smile of mom or dad.
2. Butterfly Kisses: To do butterfly kisses it takes a normal to long set of eyelashes. You bring your eyes as close to your baby’s cheeks as you can and begin to blink. Your eyelashes will tickle their cheeks and cause them to react.

Both types are a great way to play with your three month old and will not only cause them to let out some early signs of laughter, but it will also strengthen the bond between you and your son or daughter.

Peekaboo

Developmental psychologist Dr. Caspar Addyman has done tons of research on laughter in babies and found that peekaboo is by far the most popular game to play with your baby. It evokes tons of laughter and helps the child develop a deeper connection to the adults around them.

There are many versions of this game for babies. Sometimes it can be done with the hands and other times with much more effort using the entire body and a corner. They like the surprise and seeing your familiar face gives them the sense that they are understanding at least one thing in this strange new world.

Laughter in three year olds can turn into them participating when they become more able to use their hands. I have seen with our kids that they begin to put things over their faces or in front of ours to participate only a few months later.

Funny Noises

Children become accustomed to the world around them and begin to interpret sounds at a very early age. Unusual sounds such as popping your lips or kissing sounds are likely to evoke some laughter because they are not the normal sounds that the baby is used to hearing.

My husband used to get a chorus of laughter from our boys and even our daughter when they were little by making noises under his arm, with his hands, or from his mouth. Let’s just say these were ‘bathroom sounds’, but you know dads.

Laughter

As you might’ve guessed, we are talking about the laughter of other people. Like adults, babies often find that when other people are laughing, they can’t help to join in the fun. It’s almost inevitable when one person laughs, another will laugh, regardless of age or stages in life.

To really cause this to be effective, over do it a bit to let them know that it is really funny. They will want to mimic, communicate, and feel a part of the action. Sometimes all it takes is laughing yourself to get a baby to laugh. Now, go find your funny.

How Do These Stimuli Help Brain Growth?

It’s no secret that the first few years of a baby’s life are filled with tons of developmental stages. The environment in which a baby is raised can have a huge impact on that development. Studies have shown that providing a variety of stimuli on a regular basis helps build the brain at a much faster rate than fewer, less frequent stimuli.

In a nutshell, a baby’s brain is creating synapses during the early stages of life. It is developing its neural network, which will allow it to control the body and respond to various external and internal stimuli. Logically, the more stimuli provided during this critical time, the stronger the synapses will be.

Additionally, the stimuli need to be frequent and repetitive. This will help not only strengthen but also solidify the synapses in the brain. In other words, it will make the reaction to the stimuli and the impacted synapses permanent. Conversely, synapses that are not used will likely deteriorate and disconnect.

Laughter is a Social Connection

Laughter is definitely helpful in brain development for babies, but it’s so much more than that. As human beings, we have always searched for a human connection. It is part of our instincts and how we are wired internally.

In babies, laughter is a sign of social connection, trust, and various other things. They often giggle at eye contact, noise, gentle touches, and the like. They also laugh more frequently when they are with another person or in a room full of people, rather than when they are alone.

The social piece of laughter is the critical thing to understand as a parent, teacher, or caregiver to a child. Many children become upset at the touches or tickling of a stranger but burst into laughter when the same actions are experienced with a familiar adult. This is not a coincidence but rather a confirmation of the need for human connection at all stages of life.

Punchline for Things That Make Three Month Old Babies Laugh

Your baby’s laughter is not only music to your ears but also a telling sign that your baby is developing as expected. It signifies that your baby is happy, stimulated, and forming a bond with the person who is causing the laughter. 

The early years of a baby’s life are critical to brain growth, and laughter is a huge part of building a strong, healthy brain, so laugh often with your baby!

Additional Resources: If you’d like more information, here are some great resources to learn more.

Infant Lab https://sites.gold.ac.uk/infantlab/

The Science of Baby Laughter https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Caspar-Addyman

Ted Talk https://www.ted.com/talks/caspar_addyman_why_babies_laugh/transcript?language=en

Making your child laugh often feels like gambling; oftentimes no matter how hard we try, our child is left confused and unimpressed, and other times all it seems to take is a simple sneeze to make them cry tears of laughter. 

The best ways to make your child laugh use encouragement, exaggeration, music, silly stories and jokes, authenticity, and acting like a child again. With these six tips, you are guaranteed to bring laughter to your child as well as teach them the importance of a good sense of humor.

There are a variety of reasons one may want to make a child laugh: from connecting with them and creating a stronger bond to developing a healthy brain and sense of humor, or simply taking advantage of the countless health benefits related to laughter. Continue reading below where we share some helpful resources to help you understand the science behind making your child laugh.

Start with Encouraging Laughter

Research proves over and over the necessity and wonders that come with developing a strong sense of humor during childhood, potentially leading to better stress management and a stronger immune system.

It is important to remember the younger the child, the less frequent they are to laugh, as laughter is something that increases with age and time according to a group of Purdue University researchers. 

This very same group of researchers noticed a high correlation between the duration and frequency of child’s laughter and that of his or her mother, concluding that the more a particular mother laughed, the more her infant also laughed (Source: Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor). This proves how children are likely to mimic our emotions and adapt to our perception of whether something is to be taken as a joke or in a serious manner. 

Overall, a crucial step in making your child laugh is encouraging laughter yourself during your child’s first years of life. This will help you develop and increase your child’s laughing frequency, which is not as strong during their early years, and is likely to become more stable as he grows older and mimics more of your behavior. 

Become a Child Again

In order to get a child to laugh, you first need to understand what goes on in their mind, how they perceive the world, and how they react to specific situations. 

After studying a variety of MRI results performed on various comedians, Neuroscientist Ori Amir noticed that a key approach that differentiated successful comedians from the rest was the ability to understand their audience’s thinking, which resulted in their success when it came to surprising them and feeling amused at their jokes. 

Putting yourself in your child’s shoes and coming down to their level will allow you to better understand their walk and overall obstacles, making you more relatable and less distant in their eyes. 

Also, there is nothing funnier to a kid than an adult acting in a completely different way than that which they are used to. Knowing when to make that switch from an authority figure to class clown, will have your child or students laughing in no time. 

Be Authentic and Honest Showing Them Adults Can Joke Around Too

As adults, we most definitely have it harder than their young peers when it comes to achieving a laugh from our children or students. As part of a study conducted by the Department of Thematic Research, at Linköping University in Sweden, one of the findings tells us children’s laughing frequency is immediately affected when adults are around.

The study states “the presence of adults clearly decreases children’s tendency to laugh.” Our presence alone is already enough to make our job 10 times harder, emphasizing the importance of being honest and authentic. 

This is why the sooner you show them you can be trusted and of your approval to joke around in your presence, the sooner you’ll begin to hear those giggles coming out. To children, oftentimes, as their authority figure or teacher, you alone can be the funniest joke you could ever tell them. You’ll notice they’ll want to joke about your hair, the particular food you eat, or simply the way you write on a classroom-board.

Accepting this and simply being you will quickly help you bond with your students or child. There is nothing funnier to children than their parents or teacher joining in their so innocent jokes about their authority’s figure foreign world. 

Use Music and Sound as Your Allies

There is no wonder most kids’ movies involve some kind of musical or contagious song. Most children enjoy learning through songs, is a great way to encourage laughter and create interest in a certain topic. 

Singing to your students, purposely messing up song lyrics or singing out of tune a song known to them, will quickly get your students to fall off their chairs. 

Besides music, another way to connect with your students is funny voices. Embracing silliness and playfully adapting your tone of voice to theirs is a great way to break the ice. Just imagine telling a joke to a child with the tone of a college professor. This rises nothing but confusion to their still-developing brains. 

Exaggerate Everything

Although young, most kids have a slight understating of how the real world works. There is something amusing to kids when things are taken to the extreme. 

Making purposeful exaggeration of everyday items is a fantastic idea to get your child to laugh, as according to The Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital, children have a very “sophisticated grasp of what objects “should” look like or how things “should” work. Change a characteristic appearance or behavior and you’ve got something that’s funny to your child.” 

Here are a few ways you can incorporate this to get your child to burst into tears:

• Exaggerate your speech, speak loudly or really soft to the point of whispering.

• Exaggerate gestures like chewing, jumping, laughing or simply writing extremely big or small on the board. 

• Make use of visual exaggerations as well, kids love the unusual. For example, they are used to seeing an apple no bigger than the size of a hand, what about bringing to class a large fake apple. 

Children love to see that which is common in an uncommon way. Make use of taking jokes and actions to the extreme to get a good laugh out of your child or students. 

Tell Silly Stories and Jokes

In the same way that kids love extremes and exaggerations, they love the unexpected and the feeling of anticipating what is going to happen next that comes with it. 

Combing Funny Voices with Storytelling

There is no better way to get a child’s attention than to provide them with a funny story told in a very unique and entertaining way. Making use of funny voices when telling a story will keep your child interested and excited.

Provide Them with a Story Twist

An easy way to get a kid to laugh is simply by taking a story they already know, like the princess and the frog for example, and providing them with an unexpected and funny ending.

Fun Jokes for Kids Make them Laugh

Here’s where I plug our coloring book (smile!). As a teacher for decades and a mom of 4, I know how much kids love jokes! The silliest, cheesiest joke will still bring huge smiles and big laughs from your littles.

But don’t worry! You don’t have to be a comedian to tell jokes. I’m certainly not! Using jokes from our site like our popular Peanut Butter & Jelly Jokes to jokes about Disney characters, you’ll have plenty of material.

As well, don’t forget the coloring book I alluded to earlier. Fun Jokes For Kids (available at Amazon) is chock full of silly, easy to read, jokes for kids. They can color and laugh at the same time!

Everyday Can Include Some time to Laugh

Overall, try to simply find the best activities you and your child already enjoy and turn them into something fun and extraordinary. For example, singing together while in the car, taking silly photos together, drawing funny pictures of day to day things, reading a book together while adding a funny voice to keep your child entertained. 

Laughing together will not only help your bond grow stronger, but will help your child assimilate things differently as a strong sense of humor is known to help shape children’s perspective on life, as well as cope better when presented with difficult circumstances. 

Do not force a laugh out of your child, as laughing is not a forced behavior but an instinct that comes after their brains process a situation or statement as “funny.’ 

If you wish to increase the frequency at which your child laughs or associates something as funny, the best thing is to slowly cultivate this behavior yourself by constantly providing them with exposure to continuous laughing and humor.  

Bonus: If All Else Fails To Make Your Child Laugh, Surprise Them

This is not just a simple suggestion thrown onto the end. This could very well be the secret ingredient included in all of the others. Surprise is one of the best ways to evoke laughter in children.

There are many forms that this can take…

• Excitement
• Wonder
• Shock
• ‘Fun’ Fear

This is a way to break the mundane and give them the unexpected. This has to be done in a time when the are sure that only the ordinary is coming. The thrill gives that desire to laugh, and then the fun begins.

So, what are some of the ways you can do it? Kids love a lot of the same things in different packages. Here are some of the core things you can try to get your creative juices flowing.

• Chase them
• Jump out and scare them
• Hide something they are looking for (then deny any knowledge of its whereabouts)
• Pretend they are invisible and you are worried where they could be
• Only speak by screaming
• Fall in the floor every time they say mom or dad (make them figure it out)

These are the sorts of things my husband does in a Karate class to keep them doing the same things over and over. Repetition builds skill, but it is a mountain to overcome when trying to bring the laughs.

Just do the unexpected at the most unexpected time and you may even surpass the laughs and head right into the squeals. This could even be followed by running or dancing in place. When that happens, you know you have some skills.

Punchline for Ways to Make Your Child Laugh

So to recap, there are six really good ways to help you bring your child to laughter:

1. Encouragement: first, just simply encourage laughter. You can do this by laughing a lot yourself. Children learn by mimicking their parents, especially their moms.
2. Act Like Child: Do fun things with your child, that are child-focused. From playing kid games with your child to going to amusement parks, acting like a kid will make it natural to laugh.
3. Authenticity: Unfortunately, research tells us our very presence as an adult halts laughter in kids. This means you need to help your child feel comfortable and at ease with you. Be relatable and authentic and that will help lower the affective filter-making laughter possible.
4. Music: Music can bring the party! Play upbeat tunes or make up your own for cleaning up, setting the dinner table, or brushing teeth before bed. Laughter is a by-product.
5. Exaggeration: Goofy, over-the-top actions will help your child laugh. What kid doesn’t find it hilarious to see mom, dad, or teacher acting like a clown?
6. Tell Silly Stories & Jokes: This doesn’t need to be complicated. Use a joke site like ours or funny books like Fun Jokes For Kids Coloring Book and you’ll have your child (or student) laughing out loud!

Bonus: Surprise them in each of these are simply by itself!

I hope you find the above list simple and easy for bringing laughter to kids! I sure have~ Enjoy!

Sources

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/jun2015/playing-laughing-and-learning-preschool

https://www.hopkinsallchildrens.org/Patients-Families/Health-Library/HealthDocNew/What-s-Funny-to-a-Preschooler

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00852/full

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/how-to-make-any-child-laugh_uk_5d8a2957e4b0d2694655022e

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/child-humor.html

https://kidsentertainerhub.com/what-makes-little-kids-laugh/