You're Joking!

When you first realize that your toddler is actually telling you a joke, it’s almost as exciting as seeing a first tooth emerge. He may not be ready to perform a stand-up routine at the local comedy club, but a toddler’s decision to wear his underpants on his head is a telling milestone in the development of a sense of humor. And that’s a good thing. Studies have shown that having a sense of humor has lots of developmental benefits for children since it’s closely connected to their overall sense of well-being and their eventual ability to cope with tough situations.

Even an infant who is only a few months old will begin to smile back at you when you make a funny face or silly sound. You might even notice that she smiles in different ways in response to different kinds of sounds. You may not be Jerry Seinfeld, but your baby sure thinks you’re funny. A grin is an early sign of his or her eventual ability to appreciate humor.

Towards the middle of the first year, your baby will sometimes move beyond smiling and begin laughing. Traditional games like peekaboo or “This Little Piggy Went to Market” are sure to bring a chuckle no matter how many times you repeat them. In fact, the more you repeat them, the funnier they become. That’s because your baby is now old enough to anticipate what comes next in a simple game. He knows you’re going to pull the blanket off your face and cry, “Peek!”—and he can hardly wait. 

By the end of the first year, your baby begins to laugh at jokes. Well, maybe not jokes that begin with lines like “How many babies does it take to . . . ?” but ones that involve visual humor, such as balancing a teddy bear on your head. It’s the absurdity of the sight that breaks them up. The twentieth century Russian educator and writer, Kornei Chukovsky, referred to such incongruities as topsy-turvies, meaning that a concept becomes funny when it’s turned upside-down. 

But first, of course, one has to understand the concept pretty well, or, as Chukovsky put it in his book From Two to Five, “a child’s appreciation of nonsense is an indication that he grasps reality.”  That’s why putting a sock on your hand isn’t funny until you’re absolutely confident, like Kim in this issue of Babybug, that it belongs on your foot. 

Play Together

The bouncy rhythm of this month’s fingerplay is sure to attract your child’s interest. Keep in mind that when teaching your child a new fingerplay, she may either imitate your motions or repeat the words, but probably won’t attempt to do both right away. And for babies and young toddlers, simply listening and watching is fun and a perfectly fine way to participate.    

In addition to learning the motions of the fingerplay, your toddler might want to try jumping like a kangaroo. Most young toddlers jump by bouncing enthusiastically in place, with both feet planted firmly on the ground. “Liftoff” usually doesn’t occur until sometime around their second birthday.