In the room
They want peekaboo for the 40th time
Repetition is not boredom. It is a scientific replication study.
What is actually happening
Object permanence is under construction. When you vanish and return, you are proving that love and objects persist. The giggle is the sound of a prediction coming true. They will stop when the hypothesis is solid — not when you are tired.
Do
- Play it. Vary it: scarf, hands, around a door
- Let them be the hider as soon as they can
- Connect it to real goodbyes: people come back
Don't
- Refuse the 40th round as 'pointless.' It is the point.
What to say
- I went away… I came back. Still here.
- You found me!
The scaffold
Hide a toy under a cup, then two cups. You just invented working memory class.