It was break time. The children laid out their napkins on the table and opened their boxes.
As each one of them was trying to impress me with the healthy snack they had got, one boy stood up and announced that he’s got “flute salad”.
There was an explosion of laughter. The little slip of tongue had changed the mood in the class.
That brief moment of hilarity, that little happy accident showed me the power of laughter, of camaraderie over shared giggles, the untapped tool in the classroom.
It also opened up a beautiful teaching opportunity. A chance to discuss about making mistakes, laughing at them, pronunciations, and the quick side trip into wordplay.
Got me thinking about how I could get more laughter into the lessons.
In our quest to meet deadlines, finish portions, we’ve forgotten to enjoy the experience of interacting with, and learning and enjoying with students.
Learning has transformed into a serious ‘business’. Parents and educators began equating seriousness with learning.
You’re expected to straighten your back, hush the chuckles, and direct the bubbling enthusiasm of the kids towards grades, telling them constantly to ‘focus’.
Can’t fun and focus coexist in the classroom?
Why is humour seen as a distraction and not a creative expression in education?
The Science Behind Humour and Creativity
Who knew there was a whole lot of scientific data supporting this theory that laughing is beneficial for the brain.
Did you know that parts of the brain light up when you laugh? Like the prefrontal cortex (that helps with the complex thinking), the limbic system (our emotional centre), and even areas tied to motor function.
In short, it’s a full brain workout, with no weights or worksheets.
Humour also cultivates the cognitive flexibility, that’s the ability to switch perspectives, hold multiple ideas at once, and adapt to new situations.
Have you noticed how when the children find something silly or funny to laugh about, they start building on it? It can be a silly word or thought.
That’s cognitive flexibility. They’re having fun as they’re working on their imagination and learning.
Dr. Mary Kay Morrison, an educational psychologist specialising in the intersection of humour and learning, strongly believes that humour reduces stress, boosts retention and encourages students to take intellectual risks.
In other words, when the child doesn’t fear being ‘wrong’, they’re more likely to explore new ways of thinking, and share their ideas.
It’s time to see laughter differently. As a gateway to learning with more freedom.
How Humour Fuels Imagination in Children
Children love to laugh. They’re born comedians.
Every day without fail, there would be one incident in the class which would’ve led to a laughter riot.
And for the silliest of reasons.
As I write, I’m trying to recollect at least one story but all I can remember were my futile attempts to tone down the boisterous outburst unsuccessfully.
It could be a slip of tongue or a new word. Cue giggles. And then repeat 10 times.
It’s their way of experimenting with the language, testing ideas, bending reality.
They’re ready to risk mixing logic with absurd, change the ordinary into something magical.
For a class assignment, I had asked them to rewrite the ending of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” (you know the story, right?). It was an engaging way to get them to practice writing.
It was a masterclass in creative writing. Their imagination left me speechless.
This little exercise became a platform to nurture their flexible thinking, narrative skills, and creativity, while of course building their vocabulary.
Laughter for children is not just entertaining but liberating. They’re able to go beyond the right and wrong, fact or fiction boundaries.
It allows them to explore other possibilities. They sharpen skills you hope to inculcate in them – imagination, empathy and innovation.
They learn to be fearless, uninhibited and non-judgemental.
Humour as a Tool to Shift from Rigid Learning to Playful Exploration
You’ve to admit it. Traditional education often equates structure with seriousness. Parents and educators expect learning to be linear, predictable and quiet (because noises can be distracting!)
But isn’t it this very same rigidity that’s suppressing the joy of learning, smothering their natural curiosity and spontaneity, their need for exploration?
Humour allows them that breather where they can rebel against this traditional rigidity.
It’s like them colouring outside the lines. (One of my kids had actually converted these into spikes – imagine an apple with spikes!!)
Their innocent questions may appear nonsense at first. But it’s for you to use that opportunity to encourage them to explore storytelling, look at things differently, create awareness, or even introduce them to social customs.
The choice is yours.
When children are allowed to learn in a humour-friendly, stress-free environment, they’re more likely to –
- Be more willing to give answers without fear of being laughed at.
- Team up with peers through playful problem-solving.
- Develop resilience when things don’t go as per plans.
The Power of Playful Learning
Do you now agree with me that humour can be a creative superpower in education?
I think you’ll agree. And I’m so happy to know that. Who will ever say no to a good laugh?
Introducing humour in education doesn’t mean every lesson becomes a comedy show.
It means instead that the children are allowed to stretch their minds, set their imagination in motion, test boundaries, and maybe even experiment with logic.
It means that they’ve the freedom to make mistakes and the courage to bounce back.
That experience itself will open doors to new ideas, developing new skills.
Some changes like including a wordplay or a playful debate or letting a funny thought linger a little longer can be educating, but without the millstone of seriousness.
Try to recollect when was the last time your child or your students laughed while learning something new?
Vote for the small changes if you want the children to enjoy learning. let the next “flute salad” moment light up an entire lesson.
Because when you give children permission to laugh, you also give them permission to imagine. And from that space of imagination, the most powerful learning often begins.
