This hide and seek game is very easy to play and doesn't need anything other than a vegetable or piece of fruit.
Not only will little ones enjoy hiding the vegetable and guessing where it's hidden, but it is also a great chance to build their vocabulary.
Watch the video below to find out more about this fun game.
What's that? That's a butternut squash. What do you make of that then?
We're putting it up there?
A shadow.
Oh you want a shadow? There it is, look. Can you see the shadow on the wall? What about if you go in closer and you can see your shadow? Look there's your shadow down there. And you can move your hands like this. What's that? Look.
A wave.
A wave shadow, look. It's an animal.
Where's the squash, is it under there? Shall I give you a clue?
Yeah.
It's near the big leaves. Near the big leaves?
Can you see it? There it is! Yeah you found it! Well done.
Do you want to get it out?
Yeah.
You might need to use two hands. I'll hold it up. It's heavy. Yep. There you go. Here he comes. There it is! Yeah, we found it!
Back.
You going to put it back in? Oh, very good.
Where do you want to put it? Here? Here we go. Oh, yeah, put it right under. If we sit here like this, she'll never know. Right, we're ready. Are we ready?
What are the benefits of playing hide and seek together?
- Hide and seek is great for helping children practise following simple instructions as you teach them what to do.
- Simple clues can help them to learn words and phrases to describe positions like 'under the chair' or 'behind the wall.'
- Letting your grandchild hide the vegetable helps them use their imagination to pick a hiding place.
- Repeating words they say as they play and building them into a phrase teaches them about sentence structure.
How to play vegetable hide and seek
Take any vegetable or piece of fruit you have in the house, and be sure to name it. Help your grandchild choose between a couple of different options so that you're led by them.
When it's your turn, hide the vegetable somewhere when they aren't looking. Ask them where it's gone - 'where's the squash, is it under there?'.
Let them walk around the house or garden looking for the vegetable. As they look in different places, describe where they're looking - 'is it under the chair? No…'
Offer simple clues using position words like 'near the big leaves'. Give them plenty of praise when they find the vegetable.
Let them take a turn to hide it from you too. They'll love the thrill as you look for it.
When you find it, clarify where it was hidden 'oh, it was behind the laundry basket!'.
Other games to try with toddlers
There are plenty of simple games that you can play with toddlers that keep them entertained while they learn new words too!
1. Shopping game
Lay out common household items on the table or floor - these make up your grandchild's 'shop'. Name each item as you lay them out.
One item at a time, ask them for different things that you need to 'buy'.
Praise them as they find each item and repeat back the item's name e.g. 'Yes, a ball, we needed a ball!'.
If they find it easy, start asking for more than one item at a time.
Find out more about simple shopping games
2. Tap, tap box
Put some items in the box without your grandchild seeing.
Build suspense for what you might pull out of the box by playing a drumroll on top and saying 'tap, tap, tap what's in the box?'.
Pull out an item - name it and talk about it with them. What does it look like? What does it feel like? What do you use it for?
Take a look in more detail at how you can play tap, tap box
3. Sock puppet theatre
Start by drawing some faces on the socks together - name the parts of the face as you draw them on and the expressions they have - are they happy or sad?
Use the socks as hand puppets to make up a story together. Make lots of noises and put on silly voices to add to the fun.
Take a look at our video for a bit of sock puppet inspiration.
