Play with Logic and Spatial Skills
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
You’re Getting Warmer…
Hide and Seek and Peek-a-boo are timeless games around any home with children, and here is no exception. The warmer/colder game is a fun twist on hiding play. Sometimes B (or more often Mommy or Daddy) gets tired of hiding under the stifling blanket and waiting to be found (especially in the heat of summer)! We take turns with B hiding objects inside and out:
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| On the bookshelf... |
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| In the couch cushions... |
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| On the bed... |
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| Even in the bathtub! |
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| ...and in the garden. |
Then we give clues to find them: “You’re getting warmer, warmer, now colder, warmer, hot!” Sometimes we also practice spatial cues, including higher, lower, left, right, near, and far, for an extra cognitive challenge. B loves to be the clue giver as much as the hunter, and I love that he’s practicing academic vocabulary while he’s having a good time. Sometimes we hide several objects at once, sort of like an easter egg hunt, and it becomes a memory challenge as well. Occasionally B gets so caught up in finding good hiding spots, that the object disappears for a day or two until we come across it again in another game!
Backseat Hide and Seek
I’ve capitalized on this interest in searching for hidden objects to make car rides and waiting at the doctor or restaurant more fun as well. There are several great books that introduce kids to the concept of searching for hidden pictures without being quite as complex or challenging as the famous Where’s Waldo?
We enjoy the Little First Look and Find series for independent play/reading because they’re sturdy board books and each page has a picture bank of items to find, so word recognition is not required. Some of the I Spy series has this feature as well, and B enjoys the more challenging I Spy Books when he has a grown-up to help with the reading. We recently 
purchased Hide and Seek in Colors
, which has a magnifying glass on a ribbon that tucks in the front cover; and while it isn’t really necessary, it makes the seeking more fun, and having a physical object to seek with allows us to practice our warmer/colder game. Appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades (depending on complexity and independence)
Come Play at the We Play link up at Childhood 101
Stop by Friday and share a book or two at Feed Me Books Friday!
4 comments:
My Princess is hopeless at finding objects! Whenever I tell her "warmer" she starts moving the wrong way again! I hate playing it bcause it is almost impossible for her to find anything without me putting her in front of it.
I am NEVER going to get her to be my navigator! LOL
She does love those find it type books, and we regularly play find it games on the computer together, her directing my mouse movements to the object. She is getting very good at them too!
The Hide and Seek Colors books looks like fun. I bet he'll love Animalia when he's older!
A great idea, especially teaching spatial awareness. My girls are shocking with finding things, but a game like hide and seek can certainly be good practice :)
Hiding and finding objects is sooo fun! We need to play this more.
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