I hate Hide and Seek. Yes, I said it. Of all of the games my kids ask me to play this one is the worst. I haven’t liked it since I was a child. I don’t know why exactly, but it just doesn’t work for me. Maybe it was all of the times as a child squishing myself into uncomfortable positions and never being found. For not liking it I was actually pretty good at it. As the seeker it was always frustrating walking around aimlessly not knowing where to look. Then I had my own children. This is and always has been their favorite game. I’m not sure how this happened seeing my personal opinion on the game, but it did. The problem is that they never grew out of it. At the ages of 9 and 11, they still love it. It doesn’t help that their favorite YouTube channels do extreme versions of Hide and Seek. This keeps the game high in their priority list of what they like to play. As I have had to learn to succumb to the torture that is Hide and Seek, I decided to look into the benefits of the game, if there were any. To my surprise, there are many benefits. It doesn’t make me like the game anymore, but it does help me to understand it better and allows me to stomach it as I’m asked nightly to play.
According to http://www.childsplayinaction.com Hide and Seek hits all of the pillars of executive functioning: Working Memory, Mental Flexibility and Self Control. Let’s break these down a little bit. For younger kids the memory work is a great benefit. The child has to rely on their memory of where they have looked and keep track of this while they are searching for the hiders. They are keeping the rules of the game in their minds as they play. They know that they have to take turns being the seeker and the hider. They are also mentally thinking of where a good place for them would be to hide on their turn as they are seeking. For the younger player, the game also helps them with object permanence. They are able to remember that even though they cannot see the hiders, they know that they are there and will return once they are found.
For the older kids, the mental flexibility becomes a real benefit to playing this game. They are using critical thinking skills by determining the best place to hide. They will have to think about getting into the right position to not be seen. Will they fit in the spot they want to hide in? What is the best place to hide that no one else will think of? These questions will get their brains cranking which will lead to problem solving. They will need to think quickly how they are able to achieve what they see in their mind. They will also get a hands- on course in conflict resolutions. I don’t know about your kids, but mine get upset when they are found. Especially if they are found first. This is a great learning opportunity for your child to figure out how to work through those emotions. There may also be conflict if two people want to hide in the same space. They will learn to be flexible as they discuss who gets to keep the spot and then find themselves a new one. Along with mental flexibility is also the lesson in perseverance. It can be hard to keep looking for hiders when you cannot find anyone. Children will learn that if they keep at it, they will find what they are looking for. They will then feel the satisfaction that they did it. They kept going even though it was tough.
Self- control is a hard thing for kids to learn. It comes with age sure, but they still experience big feelings at any age that need to be worked through. We have had to resolve many conflicts in this game by way of self-control. When they are found too soon for instance, instead of getting mad we help them redirect that into a positive towards the seeker. “They did a really good finding you didn’t they?” For younger children, keeping quiet while they are waiting to be found can be a huge challenge. My youngest would always laugh and then get upset when he was found quickly. He learned quite fast they he must hold it in in order to last longer in the game. It’s also hard to fight the impulse to tell the seeker where the others are after being found. This plays into conflict resolution a bit as well. If they don’t want to upset their friends, they must learn to keep quiet as to not ruin the game for others.
In addition to being a good physical activity for your kids to do that is not on a screen, it can also help with independence. The child has to find their hiding spot on their own. Once they are in the spot they must remain alone until found. This can be scary for some children to be isolated in a small spot waiting quietly. It does give them a sense of independence when they realize that they are capable of doing it by themselves. It gives them the courage to maybe try other things they may have not thought they were able to do on their own.
While I still don’t like to play this game, I do like that it isn’t just a silly child’s game. Not that there is anything wrong with just a plain, old, silly, fun game. In fact, I tend to like those better. Knowing the benefits of it does however make me see it in a different light. So much so that I have tried to come up with an alternative to the game that shake things up a little bit. I found these adorable glow- in the- dark lightning bugs. We hide them around the house in the cold months and outside in the summer. We take turns hiding the bugs and finding them. The boys love to explore different hiding spots for the bugs and get a real kick out of some of the spots they come up with. You could do this with glow sticks or glow rings as well. I feel like I may be stuck with this game for a while so, I may as well enjoy the ride while I can. I know one day they will not ask me to play, and everyone says I will miss it. Maybe I will, or maybe I won’t. I will get back to you on my feelings then. In the meantime, I will keep trying to come up with exciting ways to play. Do you have any fun twists on the game that your family plays? I’d love to hear them!!
Happy Hide and Seeking-
Nicole
