Have you ever covered your eyes, uncovered them again and watched your baby smile or giggle with glee? This simple game of peek-a-boo has profound developmental meaning.

Today, I’m sharing how playing a simple peek-a-boo game with your little one contributes to their cognitive development. If you add in some MUSIC, you’ll make the experience even more special and memorable!

Why the big fuss with peek-a-boo?

Peek-a-boo is so much more than a game!

Scientists believe that it encourages children in the area of OBJECT PERMANENCE.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who was the first to make a systematic  study of how children learn and develop. He is thought by many to have been the major figure in 20th-century developmental psychology.  

The sensorimotor stage is the first of the four stages in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. It extends from birth to approximately 2 years, and is a period of rapid cognitive growth.

During this state, babies begin to understand their worlds by co-ordinating the things that they see and hear (sensory experiences) with the things that they can touch (motor experiences).

What is “object permanence”?

The main development during this first stage is the understanding that objects exist and things happen outside of me. In other words, my world operates outside of just me!

During this sensorimotor stage of development, the baby lives in the present. He or she does not yet have a mental picture of the world stored in memory, so doesn’t have a sense of permanence. In other words, if the little one can’t see something, then to him / her, it doesn’t exist.

A child that has understood object permanence, will look for a toy hidden behind a blanket. A child that hasn’t understood object permanence will believe that the hidden toy is gone forever.

[FUN FACT – The blanket example is actually based on the research that Piaget did in his original studies.]

Why is this critical to a baby’s development?

When your baby is very little, the sudden onset of tears or screams when you leave then room, can be difficult to manage – especially when you just want to go to the bathroom in peace.

When you leave, they believe that you’re gone for good! Not a wonder they’re so upset!

It’s so important for children to grow to see their world and parts of their world as separate to them. As difficult as developing object permanence can be (especially when it dove-tails with separation anxiety), it’s such an important part of a child’s cognitive development.

Playing a simple game of PEEK-A-BOO can help with this development!

Peek-a-boo to music

Wriggle and Rhyme is a music programme for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers.  In our classes, each activity that we do is set to music. That’s because MUSIC connects with our brains in so many ways, providing a “full brain” workout, when used intentionally.

By using music, we encourage a full brain workout.  That’s because music attaches to our memories and so, all the words that we sing, embed into the children’s brains.  Each song has a rich, intentional developmental activity attached to it that encourages an area of physical, mental and / or emotional development.

One of our songs and activities in our baby programme uses the concept of PEEK-A-BOO.

Our unique musical stories

You can find our original PEEK-A-BOO song on our GROWING TOGETHER album – available on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify or your favourite streaming service.

More info here – http://wriggleandrhyme.co.za/our-music