Welcome back to my three-part series on writing simply, inspired by Oobi! If you haven’t read them already, here’s part one and part two. Enjoy!

Little kids are the kings of comedy. Everything is funny to them since they’re discovering things for the first time. They love weird sounds, silly walks, and unusual characters. Preschoolers are attracted to simple, visual humor: think exaggerated facial expressions and people walking into walls. They love it when they can prove a character wrong or teach them something – “Apples are red, not purple!”

It’s easy to assume that kids will understand a joke, but writers often forget that a child hasn’t had much life experience yet. We must listen closely to kids to gain insight into how they think, and what makes them laugh.

The Oobi writers excelled at this! Let’s look at some tips from Oobi to learn how to tickle your readers’ funny bone! You can find the episodes “Make Pizza”, “Make Art”, and “Uma Chicken” on Paramount+.

Use the rule of three. The rule of three is exactly what it sounds like. Three things happen. The first two are variations of the same action, and the last thing is something completely different – the punchline. Oobi loves the rule of three. In the episode “Make Pizza”, the kids are making a pizza for lunch with Grampu. Grampu tosses the dough in the air and catches it with a plop. Now, it’s the kids’ turn. Oobi, Uma, and Kako clumsily throw the pizza in the air. “Up…down!” They catch it, giggling. They throw it again, their balance a little off this time. “Up…down!” Cue laughter. The viewer is clued in – something funny is about to happen. The kids toss the pizza a final time.

KIDS

Up!

The pizza SPINS AROUND DRAMATICALLY and STICKS TO THE CEILING. Then it FALLS…on Grampu’s head.

KIDS

Down!

The rule of three is a super easy way to write good comedy. All you need is to set up the joke, repeat it, and end it in an unexpected and satisfying way. Maybe your child character is running the bases on the baseball diamond. He’s excited, so he waltzes past first…discos past second…then screeches to a halt at third. Why? The pitcher’s about to strike him out!

Gentle Slapstick. In her book Preschool Clues, Angela Santomero, creator of Blue’s Clues and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, writes about what makes preschoolers laugh. She recommends small moments of slapstick in your children’s story because it is easy for children to understand. But we’re not talking Looney Tunes-level violence. As writers, we must be cautious about writing “imitable acts”, actions a child might copy that could hurt themselves or others. We must also show that our character is okay as our readers care deeply for them! So, slapstick for preschoolers means everyday accidents – bumping into walls, falling down, or dropping things on the ground. Stuff that you wouldn’t imitate, but is still a little funny.

Grampu is often at the receiving end of these jokes, but the kids are just as likely to get involved in minor mishaps. In “Make Art”, Oobi, Uma, and Kako dash into the room and collide into each other. They brush themselves off – except for Uma, who is flattened like a pancake to Oobi’s back. This joke combines slapstick with the rule of three to great effect:

KAKO

Oobi okay?

OOBI

Oobi okay. Kako okay?

UMA

(muffled)

Oobi? Oobi…

KAKO

Kako okay. Uma?

UMA

Oobi…

The boys look around and realize Uma is STUCK. Kako PULLS HER FREE.

UMA

Uma o-kay!

Your character doesn’t have to be accident-prone to be funny. All children make mistakes, and these mistakes can lead to funny incidents – sometimes even plot points! Just make it clear that your character is okay and you are good to go.

Don’t explain the joke. Oobi understood and respected children’s intelligence. Preschoolers know their numbers, letters, and colors. They know what is true (cows go moo) and what is silly (cows don’t fly). They are very observant and will gladly let you know if you’re wrong.

This idea fuels the episode “Uma Chicken”. After a rousing rendition of Old McDonald, the kids decide to dress up as farm animals and make animal sounds. Uma dresses up as a chicken:

UMA

Uma pretend chicken! Woof woof!

Oobi WHISPERS IN HER EAR.

UMA

Oh.

(beat)

Uma pretend chicken. BAWK BAWK!

This writer trusts that the audience knows their animal sounds. Notice Oobi and Kako don’t say anything to indicate Uma is wrong. It’s a good “show, don’t tell” moment.

But it doesn’t end there. Uma decides she wants to keep playing chicken…all day long. She struts around the kitchen at lunchtime and refuses to eat her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Grampu slides a mysterious plate under her beak. “Sunflower seeds!” he says.

Uma stares at him. He sighs. “Chicken food.” But this grosses her out. Grampu nods and smiles, giving her the sandwich back. “Peanut butter, jelly, eat?”

“Nuh-uh…” says Uma. “Peanut butter, jelly, peck.”

Your comedy should be based on what a child knows rather than what they don’t know. Chickens don’t go woof. The sky isn’t red, it’s blue. Take your grown-up goggles off while you’re writing and think back to your days in preschool. What made you laugh? You may find it’s not as complicated as you think.

What do you think about writing simple humor? Know any good ways to make the kids in your life laugh? Will you buy me a hippopotamus for Christmas? (I did it! I used the rule of three!) Share your thoughts in the comments!

Happy writing! Emma, you, friends! 😊