Humour 

Reception: Laughing together is good for us.

Core Story

Completely Revolting Recipes by Roald Dahl: This is a deliciously disgusting compendium of splendiferous menu suggestions, including ‘Stickjaw for talkative parents’, ‘A plate of soil with engine oil’ and ‘Fresh mudburgers’. Giggle-inducing recipes include ‘candy-coated pencils for sucking in class’ and ‘hot ice-cream for cold days’.  If pupils laugh, let them! 

Drawing out the virtue

What makes these recipes so funny? Talk about the fact that it is nice to laugh together. It is fun to laugh if somebody says or does something funny but we must make sure we are always kind and do not hurt their feelings. Sometimes if people laugh at us it can make us feel sad or embarrassed. Sometimes if you say something funny other people will laugh, they’re laughing at the joke – not at you!

Activity 1:  Laugher is the best medicine.

Watch ‘The Laughing Policeman’ (by Charles Jolly, pseudonym of Charles Penrose). 

Ask pupils to think about why laughing is good for them.

 Laughing puts a smile on our faces; it helps us to have a good time with friends; it makes us feel better if we are sad or worried.

Teach pupils the famous saying that  ‘laughter is the best medicine’.

Trying to feel happy is sometimes the best way to stop feeling sad – it is the best medicine for that!  Being in a happy mood is healthy for you.

Activity 2:  When is a good time to laugh?

Go through the visual timetable for the day.  Discuss with the children whether or not that time in the school day is good for laughing, not good for laughing, or can be good for laughing sometimes. Eg. Breaktime is a good time for laughing, Soundstime is not a good time for laughing and choosing timecan be a good time for laughing sometimes.  The purpose of this activity is to help children to identify what kind of behaviour is acceptable at different times in the school day.

Songs

Michael Finnegan

Rumbly in My Tummy

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

There Was and Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly