Of every kind of joke, the animal one is what a small child understands first. The reason is simple: they already know what a dog does, what sound a cow makes and that monkeys love bananas. Half the joke is in their head before you start, which is why they laugh before the punchline lands.
Dog jokes
- What do you call a dog magician? A labracadabrador.
- Why did the puppy sit in the shade? He didn't want to be a hot dog.
- What kind of dog never bites? A hot dog.
- What do you get when you cross a dog and a telephone? A golden receiver.
- Why do dogs run in circles? Because it's hard to run in squares.
Cat jokes
- What is a cat's favorite color? Purr-ple.
- Why don't cats play poker in the jungle? Too many cheetahs.
- What do you call a pile of kittens? A meow-ntain.
- Where does a cat go when it loses its tail? The re-tail store.
Farm jokes
- Why did the cow go to space? To see the moooon.
- What do you call a sleeping bull? A bulldozer.
- Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide.
- What do you call a pig that does karate? A pork chop.
- Why was the horse so sad? Someone kept saying neigh.
Zoo jokes
- What do you call an elephant that doesn't matter? An irrelephant.
- Why do giraffes have long necks? Because their feet smell.
- What is black, white and red all over? A sunburnt zebra.
- What do you call a snake that works for the government? A civil serpent.
- How do you make an octopus laugh? With ten-tickles.
How to tell them so they land
Three rules a child audience never forgives: deliver the question slowly, pause two full seconds before the answer, and laugh along at the end. The pause is the technical part, without it the child has no time to guess, and guessing is half the fun.
After the jokes, the story
A kid who laughs at talking animals is the same kid who falls for an animal hero. It's the perfect moment to slide into a read-aloud: Pigúiça the husky in the Dogavios book gets into one clumsy scrape after another in the Magic Garden. And if energy is left over, she also runs and jumps in the free game. 🐾
