Laughter is the best medicine; it is also a universal language that all humans recognize!
According to research, humor produces physiological and psychological benefits to students that facilitate better learning. Besides improving health, laughter enhances learning and teaching by integrating knowledge with humor. Specifically, laughter improves students’ attention, reduces anxiety, increases participation, and motivates them to learn more. Learners also experience less stress in a class where the teacher uses humor.
How Laughter Can Help Your Child Learn – Let’s explore deeper why humor and laughter can improve your child’s learning:
Laughter is a Good Ice Breaker:
“What did one wall say to the other wall? I’ll meet you at the corner!”
When people meet for the first time, they use humor as an ice breaker because laughter is a significant social experience. In a study done by Gina C. Mireault, babies were found to laugh at things that they found funny and things that other people found to be funny. When babies heard or saw hilarious sounds of laughter and actions repeated, it became a cycle of laughter, and eventually, a good connection. Therefore, we cannot undermine the implication of using laughter as an ice breaker in class or at home. This is because it builds rapport, creates a relaxed environment that facilitates good learning, fosters productivity, and encourages your child to speak out their mind or ask questions when learning.
Laughter Minimizes Stress:
Learning is not a walk in the park! Children have so much to do and worry about while in school. For instance, they have homework deadlines to meet, worry about exams, and worry about their future, to mention a few stressful events. All these stressors can cause the classroom environment to be demoralizing. Laughing has a remarkable ability to defuse your child’s stress, something that improves learners’ experience in the classroom, reduces their stress, and proves that learning does not have to be boring. Integrating humor, lightheartedness, and creativity in learning supports your child’s learning experience and general wellbeing.
Laughing builds your child’s self-esteem:
When you laugh, your body releases endorphins, which are hormones that make you feel good. These hormones boost your self-esteem and help you maintain a positive mindset. Unfortunately, it is easy for someone or something to ruin our day. Endorphins tend to be the most helpful solution to solving this problem.
Using humor helps your child develop social skills, problem-solving skills, and self-esteem. Students also tend to align and befriend people with a high sense of humor. They feel good about themselves and experience the healing power of laughter when parents and teachers talk to them in a friendly manner and on a light note. They further learn to use humor to cheer up their loved ones and friends hence displaying social skills of sympathy and empathy. The application of humor on learners also helps them cope with stressful events in life and develop resilience. Humor also reduces the occurrence of mental health issues such as depression.
Laughter Improves Societal Benefits:
Laughing, smiling, and applying a good sense of humor improve the way people perceive the world. It is also a good distraction from anger, stress, and guilt that may prevent students from learning. A sense of humor helps your child see things from a different perspective and gives them the ability to respect other people’s perspectives and become better problem-solvers. Laughter also boosts people’s mood, and since it is contagious, it makes all people happy. Teaching your child laughter also improves their relationships with others.
Laughter Improves Memory Skills:
It is good for your child to understand that what they learn in school is applicable in real life. Like adults, children’s memory skills improve when they associate emotions with what they learned. For example, when you integrate laughter with learning, you help your child remember more. Improved memory skills also allow children to remember more material causing them to be confident and perform better in exams.
What do you think are the benefits of laughter?
Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs, and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain. Activate and relieve your stress response.
Does laughter increase intelligence?
Studies show laughter helps us learn faster, be more creative, and even perform better at work. And according to a fascinating recent post on The Conversation by Janet Gibson, a psychologist who specializes in the study of humor, laughter is also a powerful (and delightfully pleasant) tool to boost your EQ
11 Signs of Intelligence Proving There’s More Than One Way to Be a Genius
* Empathy
* Solitude
* Sense of self
* Curiosity
* Memory
* Body memory
* Adaptability
* Interpersonal skills
* Worrying
* Emotional regulation
* Pets
Evidence suggests that having a good sense of humor is linked to high emotional intelligence and is a highly desirable quality in a partner.
Laughter and Learning Final Thought: Humor Boosts Retention
Humor in learning helps to create a comfortable and relaxed learning environment. It also has a great way of making learning fun and improves learners’ attention and interest. You can add humor to your child’s learning by applying jokes, riddles, cartoons, or memes. Humor can also lighten the mood of learning, especially when teaching your child a complex topic.
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