Sense of Humor

I've been observing storytelling in preschool centers lately, and it's gotten me fascinated by early childhood development. The last couple of days I've been contemplating how much sense of humor changes with kids in those early years. I have no conclusions, and precious little data, but I wanted to share a couple of fun observations.

1. The first comes from my weekend with Andrew. Andrew is a laugher. He likes to laugh and he likes other people to laugh. But when we played Mr. Potato Head, it was not time to laugh. Mr. Potato Head was serious work. The eyes had to go in the eye hole and the nose in the nose hole, and we had to name the body parts. And in an effort that took tremendous concentration, the mustache had to be carefully skewered by the nose in order to attach to the face.

If I were to take the nose and put it where the eyes should go, this was not funny. It was met with crossed eyebrows and a firm, "no." If I put the tongue where the hat should go, trust me, a very funny effect, it got the same frustrated response. It made me wonder when kids go from trying to get Mr. Potato Head correct to trying to make Mr. Potato Head a mixed up joke. It must be after the body parts have been mastered and no longer present a challenge.

2. I watched the same story being told to five year-olds and then to four year-olds. In the story, there's an Old Man Turtle character who walks very slowly. The storyteller did a great job of acting this out with her hands and her face. She said, "Old Man Turtle walked like this: One..." here she would raise one hand and open her mouth and freeze in an exaggerated and silly way, and then when you were just beginning to think, 'will she ever go again?' she would finish, "step." And then start again. "One..."

The five year-olds thought this was hilarious. They giggled in that deep-bellied way. They would look at her and then each other and just lose it.

When the story was told to the four year-olds, they didn't laugh at first. Some would start to look away instead of watching her face. There was a funny silence rather than anticipation. After a couple of times, some of them got the joke. A few giggles broke out in the circle. But ultimately, she cut it short and made a statement about how long it took the turtle to get down the road.

I am fascinated by what changes between ages four and five. Why did those five's laugh with that uncontrollable laughter and the four's not really get it? Did it take too long? Did the four's not have the same level of attention, so that the pause could feel awkward? What is it about that action that makes me giggle? It's something that also makes adults laugh--awkward pauses that seem out of step with societal norms. Do five year-olds begin to tune into society's timing? Does it reflect their ability to interact on a deeper level? To be aware of discomfort in an interpersonal interaction on some level? Or were they just laughing at the funny face the storyteller made?

So interesting these little ones.