| Dear Sibylla Kiddle School Families, Do you know why elevator jokes are so good? It’s because they work on so many levels. When was the last time you laughed aloud? What makes you laugh? Can you make others laugh? We are all well aware of the benefits of laughing and appreciating humour. Comedy is its own genre of entertainment. Laughter comes with health benefits including reducing stress, relieving tension, boosting your immune system and improving your mood. However, humour is a funny thing (pun intended). We can be great consumers of humour but what about creators? We have all heard jokes that fall flat. Unfortunately, we have likely all heard comments intended to be jokes that are in retrospect, condescending or hurtful to someone else. Kids love humour and they love to create humour. This process has significant learning benefits. It helps to develop strong linguistic skills, as word precision and placement is vital to the joke being told well. It helps to develop our non-verbal communication skills by knowing how to use our body and face to help carry the joke. Humour creation also takes strong social skills in knowing when and where to communicate the joke. One of the boundaries I often tell students is that humour is only funny when no one is hurt, whether that is physically or emotionally. So go ahead: laugh this weekend and embrace the complex task of learning how to create some humour together. Read some jokes. Play a super silly game. Eat spaghetti with a whisk. Watch some funny pet videos on YouTube. Make up a whole bunch of puns. Have your kids write and develop a stand up comedy routine. Make up silly noises with your mouth. Laugh together and in the process, learn together. You will enjoy the benefits on so many levels. Sincerely,
Brad Emery
Principal |
