Humour in preschoolers: mastering (and distorting) concepts and sounds
The development of humour in children occurs in stages and largely mirrors (and supports) their cognitive, linguistic, and social development. As children from three to five years of age develop their capacity for conceptual thinking and acquire more complex linguistic abilities, they begin to show a decided preference for certain types of humour, as a way of reinforcing their learning:

       1)  Playing with word sounds (not meanings): Although simply calling things by the wrong name continues to elicit laughter, preschoolers become very attuned to the way words sounds and begin playing with the sounds themselves (e.g., often taking the form of repeating variations of a familiar word over and over, such as “mummy, fummy, dummy, bummy” or “silly, dilly, willy nilly”).

       2) Nonsense real-word combinations: Preschoolers start putting real words together in nonsensical (and intentionally wrong) combinations, which reflects their growing syntactic abilities and budding imaginations (e.g., “I want a paper pizza” or “I have a marshmallow pillow”).

      3) Distorting features of objects, people or animals: As a way of reinforcing their growing vocabulary (ability to associate names to categories or classes of objects), children take great delight in distorting some aspect of their new conceptual understanding (e.g., adding for removing features of a thing that do or don’t belong; altering the shape, size, location, colour etc. of familiar things).

Learning objectives

• Cognitive development: Understanding and using verbal humour puts complex cognitive processes into play, such as understanding wordplay, recognizing incongruities, and making connections between disparate concepts. By introducing incongruous (mis-)naming activities, preschoolers will learn to view meanings and situations differently, thereby fostering more flexible thinking and mental agility. Other sound-based activities such as introducing nonsense poetry and repetitious rhyming games will help reinforce phonemic awareness, identification and discrimination skills.  

• Social interactions: A well-developed sense of humour enhances social connections and strengthens relationships. Focusing on playful, humour-based activities will allow preschoolers to engage with others creatively and establish relationship (A child with a good sense of humour is often seen as more approachable, friendly, and likable, making it easier for them to build positive social connections).

• Higher self-esteem: Being able to use humour effectively (and appropriately) can help boost a child’s self-esteem and confidence. When young children are able to make others laugh or find humour in situations, it provides them with a sense of accomplishment and validation. Allowing preschoolers to exercise their growing funny bones will help develop a positive self-image and belief in their abilities to navigate communication and everyday social interactions and challenges.

• Emotional well-being: Humour is a powerful coping mechanism for children (as it is for adults), helping them navigate and manage emotions. The humour activities introduced provide a healthy outlet for emotional expression and helps young children develop a resilient attitude.

Typical exercises and activities

• Reading of nonsense poetry (e.g., Edward Lear) and games altering or repeating phonetic patterns. 

• Word order games where an (incongruous) key term can be substituted for its conventional alternative.

• Games centred on the identification and creation of incongruous images (e.g., images where features can be re-arranged in any order).

Did you know?

• As children age and have more opportunities to interact with and identify with peers, the frequency and sophistication of their attempts at being humorous increase, as does their preference for sharing jokes with friends. One observational study of 86 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children found that the frequency of children’s laughter increased as they grew older (Bainum, Lounsbury, and Pollio, “The Development of Laughing and Smiling in Nursery School Children,” Child Development, Vol 55, No. 5, Oct., 1984).​