My first hide and seek

These activities are suitable for children aged 8-18 months and align with stage 2 of the Developmental Journal Babies Visual Impairment (DJVI).

Safety first

What you'll need

Blankets, boxes, containers, teddies, balls, musical toys

Tips

It’s important that your child understands that when an item is not visible, or can’t be felt or heard, it hasn’t simply disappeared. Your child may think the item is no longer part of their world, that’s only natural. The concept of object permanence will motivate your child to explore and search their world as they develop.

Remember if vision is reduced, smaller objects further away may not be visible to your child. Start with activities close and use bright coloured objects that are easily visible when uncovered.  

Activity

There are many games you can play with your child:

• Peek-a-boo
• Putting a blanket over a toy
• Hiding a toy or ball under a cup, container or box
• Hiding a toy or object in a saucepan by using a lid
• Posting objects into a cardboard post box and letting your child discover they are inside.
• Playing simple hide and seek in one room

At first, start by partially hiding something, such as part of a teddy under a blanket. Encourage your child to remove the blanket or do this together. Reinforce the behaviour with positive surprise and fun sounds when toys are found or uncovered. Use phrases like, 'Where's teddy gone?', 'Can you feel where teddy is?', or 'Can you see where teddy is?', to gain your child’s attention and develop the idea of them searching for something. 

To support your child’s needs, you may want to attach toys to their highchair with a short length of string will help them develop this concept. If the toy falls over the side, they can use the string to bring the toy back up. You could also hide toys that make a noise under a blanket or in a box.