[Use this list as a starting point to generate your own ideas for humor activities in your center.]
1) Cultivate a joking style of interaction with the children. If you've always had a serious style of interaction with them, they may be puzzled at first. But they quickly catch on that you are someone they can have fun with. One caregiver established a joking relationship with her toddlers by saying, "Now I'm going to eat up all the lunch!" After some initial puzzlement, they quickly learned to say, "You're making a joke." Provide a clear signal indicating when you're being playful or serious. Be firm when it's time to stop playing.
2) Build opportunities for humor and fun into your own day. Do whatever is necessary to sustain a playful attitude yourself. This will make it easier to join in the spirit of the children's humor and fun.
3) Improve your humor skills. This will assure that a lighter interaction style will evolve with the children. [My book, Health, Healing and the Amuse System: Humor as Survival Training, contains a Humor Skills Training Program that will help you build your humor skills. To order, call 800-228-0810.]
4) Create a humor corner a place where humor is encouraged. This can include funny tapes and CDs, riddle books (older kids) and other funny books, funny dress-up clothes (including animal noses, masks, etc.). You'll probably want to avoid silly noise makers. Funny books are especially important. Be sure to have all age levels represented. Establish small reading groups. As the adult reads, kids can act out the funny part of the story.
5) Make up a funny story. An adult starts the story, and children think of funny things that happen next.
6) For younger children, collect picture books which contain incongruous images. For group fun, make overheads of these and show them to the entire group. Ask "What's funny in this picture?"
7) Make up silly rhymes. Adults can provide the first line, and the child continues.
8) Animal pretend. Ask children to have a conversation and pretend they are two different animals. What would these two animals say to each other? How would they say it? Include walking across the floor like that animal would walk and making the sound that animal makes.
9) With older children, play "What if?". What if people had 2 mouths instead of one? How would that make life different? You can also ask specific questions, such as "What could you do so that both mouths didn't talk at once?" What if people only had one leg? How would that change the way you run, etc.?