Knock-knock
Who’s there? …
Lettuce …
Lettuce who?
Lettuce in, it’s cold out here!
Ok, so knock-knock jokes might be funny the first time you hear them. But if you ask my eight-year-old nephew he will convince you that every day is a new opportunity to find the lettuce at your door, hilarious.
Debatable, ha-ha. Nonetheless, humour is the spice of life, and it should be nurtured in our children.
Babies start to laugh when they are 3 months old and aren’t it the most rewarding thing when you blow raspberries on their belly, and they chuckle right back. By the time they are 8 months old, they already know they can make people around them laugh.
Toddlers find physical stimuli, like gentle tickling and peek-a-boo funny. They can’t get enough of silly rhymes and words.
Pre-schoolers are little comedians making fun of or laughing at anything inappropriate. The mere word, ‘poop’, can entertain them for days.
Once they’re in school they enjoy puns, riddles, wordplay, and slapstick comedy. Being the funny one is the best and if given half a chance they will ‘lettuce’ tell you about the same joke repeatedly. 😊
A good sense of humour can be a wonderful virtue. From making friends as a child to solving problems later in life. There is truth in the old saying: Laughter is the best medicine.
Tips to nurture a sense of humour in your child:
- Monkey see monkey do. It starts with you.
- There is always time to laugh at your little one’s jokes. (Even after you’ve let the lettuce in a hundred times.)
- Make a fool of yourself when reading or singing aloud with them. Don’t just read about the duck, become the duck!
- Tell funny stories about yourself as a child.
- Praise them and cherish the funny moments together.
“Happiness is laughing with a toddler about something that makes absolutely no sense.”