Peek-A-Boo!
Peek-a-Boo is a great way to help your little one for so many reasons:
- Object permanence: understanding that just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. This helps with separation anxiety.
- Predictability and patterns. Children grow to understand the growing anticipation before BOO!
- Language development. Repetition of phrases such as “Where is daddy?” and “Here I am”
- Emotional development through the element of surprise
- Social development through turn taking
- Gross motor development: Reaching for little ones, as well as walking/crawling/scooting motivation for older ones
Some tips:
- Start with a see-through material to help reduce any anxiety. You can move to other materials and objects as your little one’s familiarity grows
- Change it up! Cover teddy’s face
- Follow their lead: A lot of little ones will start to transfer the game to other settings – be ready to engage with curtains, doors, furniture, toys and humans
- A Jack in the Box can be a fantastic next step, too. The predictability of the music is fantastic – you can also experiment with fast/slow
Add some singing!
I’ve attached 3 different recordings for you that you can sing while you play Peek-a-Boo!
- ‘Peek-a-boo’ by Lynne Kleiner
- ‘Peek-a-boo’ from the Play School New Useful Book
- ‘Jack in the Box’ from World’s Best Kids Song - Juice Music
I hope you enjoy lots of giggles and cackles as you have a go!
