Cup Hide And Seek

What you need

• six or so plastic cups or stacking cups
• one or two small toys

How to do it

1. Turn the cups upside down and spread them out on the rug.
2. Let your toddler watch you hide a toy under one cup.
3. Ask them where it went and let them lift cups until they find it.
4. Knock the empty cups over, stack them up, and hide the toy again.
5. Swap round and let them hide it for you to find.

Why it matters

Finding the toy under the cup again shows them that things are still there when they can't see them, and lifting the right cup is a little win every time.

What they're learning

Remembering where

Keeping track of which cup the toy went under is early memory work.

Lifting and placing

Picking a cup up and putting it down again takes a steady hand.

Taking turns

Swapping who hides is an easy first turn-taking game.

What to look for

Watch whether they go straight to the right cup or lift every one. Both are fine, and the first one gets more common with practice.

A tip

Use toys too big to fit through a toilet roll tube so nothing small ends up in a mouth.

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