Playing Peekaboo With Your Child

Watch and listen to Ann McKitrick explain why you should play peekaboo with your baby and how it helps with development

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The Link Between Peekaboo and Object Permanence

If you have a baby between 6 and 24 months, you know that you can almost always get them to smile by playing peekaboo. Why is this?

Why does every baby love to play this game?  Well, it’s because they are working out what theorists call object permanence. This is the process of figuring out that things exist, even when you can’t see them. If they go away and come back, they are going to be relatively consistent.

When you move away and then you show up again for a brief moment, the child is wondering, “Are they there? Are they there”? Then you show your face and, of course, there’s a smile that follows. This exchange of positive fun and energy between the two of you is delightful and enjoyable.

Your baby will like to do it over and over and over again.

Play with your babies. They love to play peekaboo. When you’re standing in the line at the store, and there’s a kid in front of you playing peekaboo with them, engage with the children, and watch to see what happens. This is how they are figuring out how things work in the world.