Where Is Bunny Hiding?
Play hide-and-seek with a favorite toy. As the hiding place changes from soft fabric to a box, watch how your baby carries a familiar search strategy into a new problem.
- 9 months
- Quick prep
- At home
- About 5 minutes
Developmental benefits
- Cognitive：Finding Bunny under a blanket and then trying the same search actions with a coat and a shoebox gives your baby experience applying a familiar solution in a new place.
- Language：Repeatedly hearing words such as “Bunny,” “blanket,” and “box” while looking at the objects helps your baby connect spoken words with what they see.
Preparation
What You’ll Need
- 1
A favorite toy, blanket, coat, and shoebox
Step 1
Bunny Plays Hide-and-Seek
Choose a favorite toy, such as a bunny. Point to the toy and the blanket and name them. Then let your baby watch as you hide Bunny under the blanket: “Where did Bunny go?”
What to notice
- Looks at the matching object when you say “blanket” or “Bunny”
Vocabulary - Watches closely as you hide the toy under the blanket
Cognitive Self-Regulation (Executive Functioning)
Tips
- Many babies this age enjoy looking for a toy they watched disappear. Give your baby time to begin the search.
- Naming the objects during the game helps your baby connect each word with what is in front of them.
Step 2
Bunny Is Under the Blanket
Encourage your baby to find Bunny. They may pull, lift, or push the blanket aside while working out how to uncover the toy. Let them play with Bunny for a moment, then hide it inside a soft coat and invite another search.
What to notice
- Looks under the blanket after watching you hide the toy there
Memory - Pulls, lifts, or pushes the blanket aside while searching
Reasoning and Problem-Solving
Tips
- If the search becomes difficult, uncover one small part of Bunny and look together instead of taking the toy out for your baby.
- A blanket and a coat are both soft and easy to move, which makes the first change of hiding place familiar enough to explore.
Step 3
Where Is Bunny This Time?
Watch whether your baby pulls at the coat as they did with the blanket. Once that hiding place is easy to solve, put Bunny in a shoebox and see what your baby tries when the container opens in a different way.
What to notice
- Uses a familiar search action to look for the toy in a new hiding place Reasoning and Problem-Solving
- Uses their fingers to pry at the shoebox lid
Fine Motor
Tips
- A shoebox may take longer to open than soft fabric. Give your baby time to touch, pry, and pull at the lid before helping.
Better Parenting Content Team · Updated September 11, 2026