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Want to add some jokes to your back pocket for the next time you chat with your grandkids? There’s almost nothing better than grandkid giggles – and I will do just about anything to keep them rolling! Whether your grandkids are 2 or 12, this post is all about the best joke books for kids at any age.
Humor Benefits Everyone
With all of the stress involved in day-to-day living, for adults and kids, we agree with the experts that everyone can benefit from humor.
In fact, an article about stress management from the Mayo Clinic contains an impressive list of the positive things laughter can do. This includes stimulating your heart, decreasing your stress, improving your immune system, and relieving pain. Well, sign me up!
This benefit isn’t just for adults. Humor also helps kids’ development and increases their ability to cope with challenges.
Humor is for everyone!
A publication by Kids Health, Encouraging Your Child’s Sense of Humor, states that “We tend to think of humor as part of our genetic makeup, like blue eyes or big feet. But a sense of humor is a learned quality that can be developed in kids, not something they’re born with”.
Helping our grandkids develop their sense of humor can be a really fun part of our awesome role as grandparents!
Best Joke Books for Kids at Every Age
So, let’s take a look at humor through the stages of childhood and discover some ways we can add humor into our relationship with our grandkids throughout the year.
Ages 0-2
Not everyone is quite at the age where a traditional joke will do. If you’re the grandparent of a baby, making funny faces or noises may be the best punchline ever.
Try some hand motion activities like “This Little Piggy” or “Open Shut Them” as these are fun ways for babies to experience both the building up of anticipation and the release of laughter at the end of the rhyme.
Our family is a huge fan of Indestructables books and they have a ton of options including This Little Piggy. My youngest granddaughter (and I’m sure many of your grandchildren as well) is one of those put-everything-in-your-mouth kids and even she couldn’t destroy these books!
Ages 3-4
Three to four-year-olds delight in the unexpected, such as looking at pictures with something ‘wrong’, animals driving cars, or a cow wearing jewelry.
Search your family photos for pictures you can laugh at with your grandkids. Also, consider reading a silly story such as Whose Feet or Cows That Type.
Much of the humor in this stage is related to physical activities. Picture those blocks stacked oh so carefully crashing to the ground followed by lots of laughter.
Kids in this stage may also begin a slapstick routine such as falling.
I witnessed this new development in our oldest granddaughter when she was this age as she repeatedly announced “Oh no! I’m falling!”, and then would wave her arms and ‘fall’ dramatically off of a bench.
And we laughed (a forced laugh), repeatedly, because she is learning new things about humor.
Elementary & Beyond
Early Elementary
School-age kids have hit the stage where many types of humor are coming into play.
For kids on the younger end of this stage, there is a predictable ‘bad joke phase’ that must be survived.
Did you know there is even a Twitter feed called ‘Kids Write Jokes’? They are so bad that sometimes you can’t help but laugh.
You know the ones…
“Knock knock. Who’s there? Blanket! Blanket who? Blanket on the bed!”
As bad as they are, consider these terrible jokes something to celebrate. They show that kids are recognizing the predictable pattern of jokes even though their word choice doesn’t make sense yet.
Older Elementary
Older school-age kids are ready for more traditional jokes and enjoy reading humorous literature.
Some family favorite joke books for kids at this age include:
Knock Knock!: The BIGGEST, Best Joke Book EVER (Highlights™ Laugh Attack! Joke Books)
Jokes for Kids: The Best Jokes, Riddles, Tongue Twisters, Knock-Knock jokes, and One liners for kids: Kids Joke books ages 7-9 8-12
Absolutely any book from the Hank the Cowdog series.
I have passed on many of our Hank the Cowdog books to parents and grandparents of kids at this age. To this day I still have such great memories of reading these books to my own kids and could not erase their laughter from my mind if I wanted to!
Treasured Moments
As kids continue to mature, their understanding of humor continues to develop and conversations shared about funny things that happen in everyday life become treasured moments between generations.
Whatever the humor stage your grandchild is in, whether humor looks like a silly face, sounds like a traditional joke, or is the recounting of a funny life experience, laughter is essential in our relationships.
As pianist and comedian Victor Borge said, “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” And as a long-distance grandparent, that sounds like a win!