We all love to laugh. It brightens the darkest of days and makes the rain clouds go away, if only for a few moments. Laughter is the very thing that can help us to make life a little bit easier. It makes us feel and see the bright side of life when it is hidden in shadow. Life is simply too hard and too serious for us to take it seriously. We have to take things much more easily. We have to know that life is serious but also that we can’t deal with it in a serious way unless we can laugh at it now and then. This might seem like a paradox, and some people might say that it is simply a way to excuse our laziness, but the rest of us know that this is not the case. A good sense of humor is actually a fairly serious thing. Because of this we know that our children need a good sense of humor as well. If children do not have a good sense of humor they will find it hard to cope with all the difficulties of life. The ups and downs of trying to get by can simply be too much for a person if they do not laugh. So how will you encourage your child’s sense of humor? How will you help them to laugh at adversity? These are not simple or easy questions to answer. For one thing, every child is a unique individual with certain interests and dislikes. One child might have a particular sense of humor while another child might laugh at entirely different things. One of the first things you need to do to encourage your child’s sense of humor is to find out what type of sense of humor they have. When you have done this, consider some methods for encouraging that particular type of sense of humor. One method is through creative exploration.
Creativity can help to develop a sense of humor because it takes a quick, creative mind to see the funny things in life. Creativity is the source of jokes and most pranks. You have to be able to think of fun new things to develop a sense of humor. Only the most boring of people are uncreative. Part of the reason why they don’t have a good sense of humor is that they can’t come up with anything funny to say.
So what kind of creative activities will help your children to develop a good sense of humor? Actually just about any creative activity will help them to do this as long as it is oriented toward something comic. Ask your children to paint a funny painting or draw a funny drawing. Ask them to write a funny story. The more their brains are working in a creative way to come up with something funny the more talented they will become. Creativity and humor are like any other activity we can think of. They require practice and patience. Do you think Jerry Seinfeld became a comedian over a single night?
Continue to encourage your child’s sense of humor through creative activities. This is not simply confined to painting or to drawing. Think about dress ups or music. There are all sorts of possibilities here and hardly any limits. Be creative yourself in thinking of ways to help your child be creative. Perhaps you can be creative together, helping both of you to develop better senses of humor. Good luck encouraging your child to have a better sense of humor!
