In our Tot School activity last week, the babies and I began playing hide and seek. Corbin and Lynley loved peek-a-boo as younger babies, and now they are ready to step it up a little bit! We have played find the object and find mommy or find baby.

Hide and Seek teaches babies problem-solving skills– “Where did the object go?”, strengthens memory skills-“I remember that Mommy had the toy, and I watched her put it under the blanket,” and object permanence– “It didn’t disappear. It has to be here somewhere because I saw Mommy hide it. “

We’ve played this game just about every day since I’ve introduced it, and I snapped photos on two of the days. Lynley enjoys finding objects under blankets or other toys, while Corbin prefers to play find Mommy, or Mommy find me. We have a corner with pillows and stuffed animals stacked up; and after only a couple of times of hiding there and hiding them there, Corbin will now go over to the corner by himself and lay face down on the pile. He’ll be very still and quiet, and I will say “where is Corbin?”, not a peep or a wiggle, and then I’ll tickle him and say, “There he is, I found you!” Cue the laughter. This is seriously the cutest thing ever.

More advanced hide and seek:
They will play this over and over again. Now that they understand the concept of hide and seek, Derrick and I have started trying more advanced hiding places with objects, like under a set of cups. We ask them which cup the ball or toy is under, and they find it! We have also started hiding in more difficult places ourselves, like around a corner or behind a curtain. I also want to try playing hide and seek with Jeep. Derrick hides from Jeep all of the time, so it would be cute if he hid with one of the babies from Jeep, and Jeep found them. I know this will get us the loudest laughs and squeals of joy.

Do your babies or children love hide and seek? What types of unique hiding places have you or your child come up with? Please comment below!