Children seem to love to hide, find things, and be found! Hiding is also considered a form of risky play, which is fun and great for kids! Try these simple invitations for play involving hiding.Make forts and hide-outs inside or outside
Create pillow and cushion forts
Hang sheets or blankets over chair backs or tables to make hiding spots
Make a tent using blankets hung from branches or on a rope hung between two trees
Make a cozy hideout from a large box. Cut out windows or doors, draw pictures on the sides of the box or bring in a cushion, pillow or blanket to make it comfortable. Take in a snack, a special toy and a few books.
Build a hideout using any or all of the above materials.
Make tiny worlds and hiding places for toys and bugs
Use a shoe box or cut out one large side of any small cardboard box (a cereal box, etc.) and add stones, twigs, leaves, grass, etc., to create your tiny world in a box. You can colour or draw details such as the sky, water, mountains, forest or jungle on the insides of the box. Add tiny toys or bugs or caterpillars to your world. If you have a box with a lid, you can cover your tiny world and save it to play with another day. Please remember, however, that living creatures are only visitors to your tiny world for a short time. Make sure that you return them to their homes where you found them.
Play hide and seek games
Hide the Button: This is a game for two people using a small object such as a button, a tiny toy, a small stone, a coin, a marble, etc. The game is usually played on a staircase indoors or outdoors - you can decide whether this is a good fit for your child. You can also play this game on a row of chairs or cushions. The object of the game is to be first to go from the top step to the bottom (or the first cushion or chair to the last in the row). Players take turns hiding the small object in one of their two closed fists. The other player then guesses which hand holds the object. If the guess is correct, he or she gets to move down one step or to the next chair, etc. If the guess is wrong then the person who was hiding the object gets to move down a step. The winner is the person who first reaches the bottom step, last cushion, or chair in the row.
Hide and Seek with a Twist: Hide and Seek is a familiar and favourite game of children. It is also a good game for young children to learn to count - to ten or twenty or one hundred - while giving the other players time to hide. In this variation, if you are found by the person who is IT, you must go with them and help find the others. Everyone who is found joins the group to find the rest of the players. The last person found gets to be IT.
Kim’s Game: This is a fun memory game to play indoors or out and with two or more players. Players view and try to remember each item in a small collection of objects. The objects can be anything you choose. If played outdoors, objects might be one or two stones of different colours, leaves, a small stick, a flower such as a dandelion, etc. If played indoors objects could be items from the kitchen, a collection of small toys, etc. The number of objects depends on the ages of the children. For young children, you might begin with only two, three, or four items. The players turn their backs and the person who is it removes one item from the collection. The players then turn around and take turns guessing which object is missing.
Hide the Toy: Hide a toy somewhere in the house, in the backyard or park for children to find. Whoever finds the toy first gets to hide it next. This can go on for ages and can get pretty creative!
Where would you hide if you were a…
Invite children to look around the yard or park, pretending they are an animal or bug who lives in that space. Where do they suppose they would hide? Why?
Books to Read Together Try spotting these books if you visit a library! “Where’s Spot” by Eric Hill and “Max and Ruby Play Hide and Seek” by Anne Paradis are examples of lift the flap books for toddlers, preschoolers and early readers. “Where’s Waldo” by Martin Handford and “I Spy” by Jean Marzollo are good for reading with a buddy as you must find one or several items hidden within the picture.
The Summer of Play project and the contents on this page are part of an initiative that grew out of the Canadian Association for Young Children. Please visit CAYC Saskatchewan on Facebook for more information: http://www.facebook.com/CAYCsask
