Probably, almost all adults remember the game of hide and seek from childhood. The variations of the game are different at each age. The older the child gets, the more difficult hide and seek becomes. But at any age, this game has a positive effect on the development of the child.
Hide and seek for the little ones
Hide and seek is actually the first game a kid starts to play. This is a game that involves not just manipulating an object, but interacting with another person, communicating with him.
For an infant, there is no concept of time and constancy of objects. If mom is gone, then this is forever. Moreover, leaving is equivalent to the loss of eye contact. Therefore, the first hide-and-seek is a peek-a-boo game, when a mother covers her eyes with her hands (hides), and then she finds herself. For the baby, it is not hiding, but finding the mother, restoring contact with her that brings joy. The kid is happy that his mother has not gone anywhere.
Over time, the child begins to cover his face with his hands or a diaper, hiding from his mother. Hide and seek at such an early age is a way to continually strengthen the bond with your mom.
Also, the baby learns the principle of the constancy of the world. For the child's psyche, the world disappears when the child closes his eyes. “I don’t see you, so you don’t exist” is the formula of the infant's thinking. The game of hide and seek just helps to overcome this formula and understand that the world remains the same, even when you are not looking at it.
Hide and seek after a year
When the child is already a little older, it is possible to come up with many options for hide and seek. This is hiding an object in your hand ("Guess in which hand"), and finding the treasure hidden somewhere in the apartment, and hide and seek with your mother, and much more, for which the imagination of the parents is enough.
As in the case of an infant, it is a great joy for a child to find something or to be found. The child's thinking develops. Hide and seek helps him in this: after all, it is necessary to set a goal for yourself (search for an object or a mother) and achieve it, which is not always easy, it is necessary to apply diligence and effort. Thus, hide-and-seek helps to shape the goal-setting processes and develop the child's perseverance.
But the most important thing is that hide and seek is a time of active positive communication with mom. Saturation of a child's life with such positive emotions is very beneficial for his development.
Hide and seek during adaptation to the kindergarten
Separately, I would like to say about the benefits of playing hide and seek when the child is sent to kindergarten. Some time before the child starts attending the preschool educational institution, it is better to start playing hide and seek with him. In this case, it is the moment of finding the mother that is important. With the help of this game, in the subconscious of the child, the confidence is formed that the mother will definitely be found, she will not disappear forever. It is with anxiety about this that a child encounters when he comes to kindergarten. Before that, he was constantly at home with his mother, and then she leaves. The child begins to get nervous that his mother will forget about him, leave him forever. By playing hide and seek at home with the child, the mother symbolically helps to cope with this anxiety.
Preschool hide and seek
Guys 3-6 years old are already playing hide and seek with each other. The game becomes quite complicated: the leader appears (the one who is looking for all those who have hidden) and the rules of the game. Like any other collective game at this age, hide and seek teaches children to interact with each other and negotiate. After all, the rules of the game in each team are different. In some group of children, it is enough just to find the one who is hiding, while in other children you need to run faster than him to the appointed place, etc. Rules need to be negotiated. Each particular child learns to follow the agreed-upon rules. If he doesn't do this, the other guys simply won't play with him.
Also, hide and seek at this age is taught to show leadership qualities. This refers to the one who proposes the game, is the first to play it, or who initiates a change in the rules. Therefore, if parents want to cultivate leadership qualities in a child, they should draw his attention to these points: where he can take initiative in a team.
