The Importance of Laughter in Child Development

Written by: Dr. Irma Rosa, Senior Director of Therapy Practices

Laughter is pivotal for a child’s development of social, emotional, and communication skills. Smiling and laughing are building blocks of human behavior.

These are some of the benefits related to laughter identified by research studies:

• Cognitive Flexibility – Children think creatively, embracing innovative ideas and different concepts.

  
  

• Emotional Toughness- Children navigate challenging situations or adversities in a more objective way, accepting constructive criticism, and sorting out what is important and what is not. Not everything is a tragedy!

  
  

• Strong Social Connections – Children relate to others in an easier fashion, recognizing social cues, navigating social situations, and breaking down social barriers.

  
  

• Improved Health - Children have a lower risk of high blood pressure, digestive problems, and depression. Laughter decreases stress hormones such as cortisol and triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural mood elevators. By reducing stress, children experience a relaxed mental state. Laughter boosts the immune system by increasing the number of immune cells and antibodies.

  
  

• Empathy- Children learn to laugh with others vs. “laughing at them”.

As parents and caregivers, we need to increase the opportunities for our children to experience laughter and humor by playing games, telling stories, sharing jokes, dealing lightly with small challenges, drawing funny faces/figures, and reading funny books.

Parents should be good role models, establishing boundaries by avoiding anything hurtful, inappropriate, mean-spirited, and off-color jokes. Children also need to know when and where it is appropriate to laugh.

Our society is going increasingly digital. Human interaction should be a priority!