This was one of the first “games” J ever played (when he was 16 months old).
I brought a flashlight, plastic cup, and 10 pompom balls into his room. I “hid” (in plain sight) the balls throughout his room, we turned out the light and used the flashlight to try and find them. As we found them, he would put them in his cup. So simple and such a winner! It took almost 20 minutes to get all the balls in his cup. He kept accidentally dropping one (or more) out of the cup while reaching for another one. He would bend down, pick up the ball (while the last one fell out of the cup), put the ball inside the cup then look down and see ANOTHER ball right there too! Or he would manage to get 5 or 6 balls in the cup, bend down to pick up the 7th, put it in his empty cup, turn around and find 6 more right there behind him. When he finally finished, he was happy to play again and again.
My basic teaching goal going into this was to encourage him to finish what he started. To me that’s the requirement of a “game”. You’re given a task, told what is required to win and you play until the win/end is achieved. True, he had no competition in this game (unless you count the sneaky cup that just kept tossing out all those balls!), but at his age the task itself is competition enough.
As he's gotten older, I can hide items in more difficult spots or even hide in the dark myself and he has to use the flashlight to find me. Since all toddlers seem to love flashlights, this just adds extra fun to the traditional hide and seek.
(This is cross-posted, here)
I brought a flashlight, plastic cup, and 10 pompom balls into his room. I “hid” (in plain sight) the balls throughout his room, we turned out the light and used the flashlight to try and find them. As we found them, he would put them in his cup. So simple and such a winner! It took almost 20 minutes to get all the balls in his cup. He kept accidentally dropping one (or more) out of the cup while reaching for another one. He would bend down, pick up the ball (while the last one fell out of the cup), put the ball inside the cup then look down and see ANOTHER ball right there too! Or he would manage to get 5 or 6 balls in the cup, bend down to pick up the 7th, put it in his empty cup, turn around and find 6 more right there behind him. When he finally finished, he was happy to play again and again.
My basic teaching goal going into this was to encourage him to finish what he started. To me that’s the requirement of a “game”. You’re given a task, told what is required to win and you play until the win/end is achieved. True, he had no competition in this game (unless you count the sneaky cup that just kept tossing out all those balls!), but at his age the task itself is competition enough.
As he's gotten older, I can hide items in more difficult spots or even hide in the dark myself and he has to use the flashlight to find me. Since all toddlers seem to love flashlights, this just adds extra fun to the traditional hide and seek.
(This is cross-posted, here)
2 comments:
I love this because it's perfect for my young twins (19m). We played it tonight with cotton balls and we kept the lights on so they could get the basics of the game before we turn the lights off next time. They loved it -- definitely one we'll do again!
Thanks!!
Fantastic! I will be trying this with my 22-month-old. I'm sure my 5-year-old will want to join in. :)
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