Investigation of the humor that children between 4-6 years olds produced during indoor and outdoor play

This research aims to examine the humor produced by children between the ages of 4-6, indoors and outdoors, and to obtain a broad perspective to understand the humor status of children in Turkey. For this purpose, analysis was made according to Paul E McGhee's theory of humor development and Martin et al.'s theory of humor styles. The study group of the research consists of 8 children between the ages of 4-6. The research data were collected through the general information form, the video recording method, and the semi-structured humor observation forms prepared by the researcher. A qualitative method was used in the research. The research data consists of the humorous reactions produced by the children during free play time. While collecting the research findings, humor observation forms were filled with the video recording method. The video recordings were watched on the day the researcher took them, so it was aimed to prevent any mistakes that may occur in the research. The data of the research were analyzed by content analysis method. According to Paul E McGhee's humor development theory, the study showed that while higher humor production was observed in the second and third stages outdoors, there was higher humor production indoors in the fourth stage than outdoors. In addition, while the highest humor production was in the second stage, the lowest in the fourth stage was in the third stage. Findings of the study related to the humor styles theory of Martin et al., children used positive and negative humor styles more outdoors than indoors. While the children mostly preferred participatory humor, one of the positive humor styles, they preferred less self-enhancing humor indoors and outdoors. While the children preferred the aggressive humor the most among the negative humor styles indoors and outdoors, they preferred the less self-destructive humor style. In addition, according to the study's findings, children did not use offensive humor to harm others and play. At this stage, we can suggest a new style for offensive humor in early childhood. Keywords: Humor, humor styles, humor in early childhood, inconqurity theory, early childhood education