For grandparents and grandchildren, laughing together is a way to bridge the generation gap. Laughing together creates special bonds, strengthens relationships and helps you share special moments. Its presence or absence makes a big difference in the quality of our lives.

Did you know that most adults laugh about 15 or 16 times daily while toddlers laugh about 400 times a day? There are hundreds of ways to make grandchildren laugh—and it doesn’t take much effort.

A child’s sense of humor and laughter changes with age. Babies don’t understand humor but they do respond to comedy-gestures, facial expressions, silly sounds or bouncing on your knee. When older, they like "itsy-bitsy" spider, peek-a-boo and patty-cake.

Toddlers and preschoolers have a sense of humor—even if you can’t figure it out! They love word games and the sillier the better. If your grandchild is being silly, play along and be silly too. It encourages the child’s sense of humor and makes the moment special.

Children ages 5-7 may not understand jokes and riddles, but they still love them. They often will add their own hilarious punch lines. Sometimes their attempt at humor makes no sense, other times it is better than yours. Example: "Why does a leopard have spots." Answer? "Because he doesn’t like stripes." Make sense? NO! But encouraging their humor is more important than the punch line.