Hide and Find Games

A COMMUNICATION GAME THAT GROWS and Changes

Photo by Kindel Media on Pexel.com

Hiding and Finding a Person: Peek a Boo!

If I can't see you, you must not be there! The first Hide and Find game is Peek a Boo! In this game, we hide our own eyes. Hiding your own or your child's face under a scarf is also a wonderful version of this game. Click Peek a Boo for a complete analysis and description of all the versions of this game.

DUCK WHERE ARE YOU? This is a video demonstration for parents or caregivers to see how one might play this simple Hide and Find game. Using a Calling Melody allows the child to use their musical ability, which is often a stronger skill than their vocabulary comprehension.

Hiding and Finding an Object

Pick an item to hide that the child wants.
Hide it in one of a limited number of places.
Use a calling melody as a clue that you are looking for something.
Help your child find the missing item.
Don't make it obvious that you are hiding things, just make it obvious that you are helping your child find things. You want to be a hero, not a villain.

In this video clip, the target word might be DUCK in which case, you need at least one other item to be looking for. The learning target might be the melody of calling in which case, using this melody to find lots of lost items will be helpful. Or the learning target might be the game itself, with the two cups in preparation for teaching lots of words with a hide and find game. Or maybe the learning target might be the joint/shared moment of excitement when you find the duck. In this case, let your inner actor come out and be genuinely excited when you find the hidden item.

Hiding and Finding A Puzzle Piece Video Model

This video was used as a Video Model for a child prior to playing the game. Below, you see a child playing the Hide and Find with Puzzle game. Note that very little language is used to to help the child hear the target words.

Child learning the words UNDER HOUSE, UNDER DRUM, UNDER BEAR

In other sessions, he learns other location words such as IN, INSIDE, ON, BEHIND and the words for other items that worked well as hiding places.

Hiding and Finding A Puzzle Piece Demonstrated

Note that this child is willingly playing this game, including letting him mom cover his eyes while puzzle pieces are hidden. He watched the video model, above, and had played other Hide and Find Games prior to this session.

Note also that as soon as he clearly did not understand the words, Under House, I pointed at the House so that he did not get in the habit of just looking under every item but rather kept expecting me to give him the information about where the puzzle piece was. Over several sessions, he learned to comprehend the words.

Here, in order, are all the learning objectives involved for this child playing this simple game:

The Hide and Find Game is about looking for hidden puzzle pieces
The steps to this game are to let mom cover your eyes,
Listen to hear where to look.
If I don't understand, look for a point to where to look.
Get the puzzle piece and put in in the puzzle.

It was evident that this child liked the game in that he waited, put toys back after looking under the toy, and kept playing until the puzzle was assembled. We ended this game then but we were using a Hide and Find game as a stop along a Route that included four different games. He went on to a swinging game, a balloon game, and a jumping on the trampoline game. He returned to play this game three times over a 45 minute play session and got better at comprehending the target words every time he played it.

TIP: PARENTS AND TEACHERS OFTEN WONDER IF THEIR CHILD IS CHOOSING TO NOT LISTEN BUT NO . It is confusing. Sometimes, the child appears to understand and sometimes they do not. Why is this? I spend a lot of time in The Netherlands, where they speak Dutch. Most of the time, I let the language flow over my ears without trying to understand because it takes so much effort for me to understand even a little of what is being said. When I do try to use my limited Dutch to understand the language, I depend on my social understanding of what is probably being said, at this moment, with these people, who have these facial expressions, hand gestures, and these items close by. Young children with autism do not have the ability to understand all these social and contextual clues to help them. Sometimes, in familiar situations, the child might make a good guess at what is being said but most of the time, it is just too difficult. A Hide and Find game is a way of making the context and the social cues much easier for the child and the language limited enough that the child can begin to figure it out.

Advanced Level Hide and Find Game: Point Cups

Advanced Hide and Find with Head Nods and Shakes

READING HEAD NODS AND HEAD SHAKES These children are practicing shifting attention between the toy where balls are hidden and their play partner's head where she is shaking her head NO or nodding YES to indicate if a ball is hidden under a door in this Caribou Cranium Game. Note: This game is hard to find but buy it if you find one second hand somewhere.

Photo from Amazon, where this game is sold.

SCAVENGER HUNT GAME: FIND AND SEEK

One does not need to buy a formal board game to have a scavenger hunt but how lovely it is to have the game all prepared for you. There is lots of opportunity for movement in a scavenger hunt, however you choose to play it. Movement games, for some children, are almost necessary, as they are not able to stay focused or calm without moving. It is also easier to learn and remember vocabulary that is learned while moving within an environment where those new words will actually be used. So a scavenger hunt in the home or outside where the child plays is the perfect place to hear new words and see what the words mean. See this page for more Board Games

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