Cover your face or your child’s face – say “peekaboo” when you remove your hands or the material. Vary your tone and expression to maintain engagement.

Ways to develop numeracy through play

• Count – 1, 2, 3...Peekaboo!
• Include various patterned scarves.
• Sort scarves into colours, textures, sizes or patterns.
• Compare sizes – “We’ll need a big sheet to cover mummy and a little sheet to cover baby.”

Ways to develop literacy through play

• Sing Where is the Baby? to the tune of Frère Jacques:
  
  Where is *the baby?
  Where is *the baby?
  Here he/she is! (peekaboo)
  Here he/she is! (peekaboo)
  Now it’s time for cuddles
  Now it’s time for cuddles
  Kiss, kiss, kiss!
  Kiss, kiss, kiss! *Insert child’s name into the song.

• Wrap or cover a child under a large light sheet (make sure they feel safe and can breathe easily).
  
  TIP: A see-through piece of fabric allows the child to see while giving the illusion of hiding.
  
  
  Chant:
  Bug in the rug,
  Bug in the rug.
  Who is that bug in the rug?
  Peekaboo!
• Hide a toy animal under a cloth. Give clues for older children. “This animal is big, it’s brown, you can ride on it, it lives on a farm and says neigh – Can you guess what it is? Peekaboo, it’s a horse.”

• Sing or chant:
  Someone is hiding, hiding, hiding,
  Someone is hiding, under the rug.
  Who can it be?
  Who can it be?
  Someone is hiding under the rug.
  It’s [child’s name]! Peekaboo!
  (Remove the material, saying the child’s name – and peekaboo!)

• Make a small hole in a box or use a tissue or wipes box, fill it with scarves or other fabric remnants. You can knot them together or leave them loose. Let babies pull them out one by one.
• Play peekaboo with toys – try and guess ‘who’ or ‘what’ is hiding.

Play prompts:

Place your child on your lap or sit next to them. Cover your face with your hands. Remove them, then say “peekaboo”.

Use words like hiding, gone, back, hands, eyes, under and behind.

Parents or carers can:

• Comment on what their children are doing (say what they see).
• Sing in their home language.
• Use literacy and numeracy words (see words to use section above).

You can help families by:

• Modelling what you want them to do.
• Talking to them about the focus of the activity and what children might be learning.
• Writing up song lyrics or giving parents/carers a song book so that they can learn the songs.
• Making suggestions on what families can do at home.
• Encouraging parents/carers to sit face-to-face with their child or hold their child on their lap while playing peekaboo.
• Singing and playing peekaboo games at group time to role model for parents/carers.

Great Start activities are for parents and carers to do with their children.

• Playing peekaboo