Child Life Services

Therapeutic Activities Form

Submitted by: Ashlynn Petersen

Activity:
Hide N’ Seek with toys

Age:
Infant (around 5+ months with accommodations made to fit the developmental needs of the child)
Or
Toddler

Staff/Patient Ratio:
1:1

Therapeutic Rationale:
TO encourage motor development.
Gross and Fine Motor Development — Infants gross and fine motor skills develop and change drastically
throughout infancy. They go from being able to grasp and reach, to pulling and pushing, to crawling and
walking. This activity encourages infants to use their fine motor skills to reach for, point to, or pull the
object out of its hiding spot. It encourages gross motor development if appropriate for the infant to
physically move towards the object.
It could be accommodated for a child laying down, sitting up, standing, and in the crib or out of the crib
based on medical needs and developmental abilities.

TO encourage development of object permanence, symbolic thought, cause-effect relationship and

problem-solving skills.
Cognitive Development — According to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, during the
sensorimotor stage (infancy) object permanence has not yet been attained. When a person or a toy leaves
the infants sight, they do not recognize that that thing or person still exists. To them, if it is out of sight
they cannot grasp the concept that it will come back. Through a simple game of hide n seek, with an
object disappearing and reappearing, infants can begin to learn about object permanence. A part of
learning object permanence is the ability to think symbolically, to form a mental representation of an
object that is not in sight. Symbolic thought is a main component to object permanence that is developed
over time.
Problem-solving skills in infancy are just beginning to form. When the infant searches for the object that
has been hidden, they have to find it, get to it, and retrieve it. They must problem-solve to figure out how
to get the item.
Infants might also begin to use what Piaget referred to as secondary and tertiary circular reactions. They
make something that is fun last by doing it again and again, and eventually with some variations. During
hide n seek, they might want to play it again and again, eventually they might want to hide something
else.

TO encourage fun and normalization of the environment.

Psychosocial/Emotional Development — Erikson’s psychosocial stages discuss trust vs mistrust for
infancy. Infants are learning to trust or not to trust the world around them based on their needs being met.
Personality develops through this trust vs mistrust, the child’s temperament, and the environment. A
hospital environment can threaten an infants sense of trust vs mistrust and can be scary. This activity
helps to normalize the environment and show that people are still around for them. This activity is a fun
game for children and is very open ended. It can be used with a variety of infant stages, with different
materials, and in different ways to create a fun but beneficial game for the child.
TO support caregiver and infant interactions.
Attachment theory — Bowlby discussed attachment as the bond between a infant and their caregiver. It is
a crucial influence on the child’s development in the sense of coping, relationship formation, and
personality formation. Hospitals can threaten the attachment of a child/caregiver depending on the
circumstances. If caregivers are present, a CLS can encourage this type of activity and interaction
between themselves and the infant, and if not, a CLS can step in. This will provide some crucial social
interactions for the infant

Materials:
1. Preferred/interesting small, but safe toys
2. Buckets
3. Blanket
4. Pockets

Based on the age and developmental level of the child, this activity can be as simple as putting a preferred
toy in your partially in your pocket (with the child watching and able to see it) or as complicated as hiding
it under something around the room and anywhere in between. The caregiver will hide the toy and the
child will try to find it. For younger infants, or infants who are not able to move much for medical
reasons, the toy could just be hidden behind something and then shown to the child, more like a game of
peek-a-boo.

Implementation:

This activity would typically be done as an individual activity with either the family or a CLS. It could be
done in the playroom or in a chid’s room depending on their needs and development. Materials should be
brought to the preferred location. This activity can be performed frequently and as much as desired.
CLS could assess the infant to see what types of toys are interesting to them, or ask parents what interests
the child.
They would also assess to determine developmentally what would be adaptation of this activity would be
appropriate for the particular child.

Special Considerations/ Adaptations:

Safety considerations: Must take into consideration any tubes/wires/cords that the child is using to
determine where and how this activity can be implemented. Also be aware of any incisions or wounds
that a child might have that would impact how the child could be moved or how they must be positioned.
Cardiac surgical patients often have incisions on their chest that require handing precautions to be taken
when lifting children.
Be sure that toys are safe and large enough to not be a chocking hazard.

Adaptations: For a younger infant, this can be done with the child sitting on someones lap with the toy
“hidden” in the pocket of a coat or sweater. You can encourage the infant to look at the toy and When an
infant can sit independently, toys can be “hidden” in front of them. Babies who are pulling to stand can
use this at a table. Walking infants can enjoy exploring the room to find the object. Different materials
can be used depending on interests and developmental level as well.