FM.C.26 REMOVES AN OBSTRUCTION TO ATTAIN THE DESIRED OBJECT

Here is another activity to strengthen the child’s concept of object permanence. In this activity, the child takes active measures to retrieve a toy that has been put out of his reach.

How to Assess

Materials: A favourite toy and shoe box or pillow.

Method: Attract your child’s attention to the toy and, while he is looking, put the box or pillow between your child and the toy so that it forms a barrier. The toy should still be visible to the child.

Score plus if your child pushes the box or pillow away, or reaches over it, and retrieves the toy.

How to Teach

Encourage your child to take the toy by saying ‘Here’s … Can you take it?’ If necessary, guide his hand to push the barrier away, or reach over the top of it.

Playtime and Round-the-house Activities

This game can easily be fitted into normal daily routines. It could be played with Teddy and a pillow at bedtime, or with a rubber duck and a plastic plate in the bath. There are many variations. Try ‘hiding’ a toy under a clear plastic container or behind the clear lid of a shirt box. Cut a window in a piece of cardboard and cover it with cellophane. Then a favourite doll can appear at the window, perhaps appearing and disappearing in a game of peek-a-boo. You could put a barrier between your face and the child’s too, and wait for him to remove it, peeping over the top from time to time to encourage him. Refer again to the early peek-a-boo activities in the Personal and Social Sequences (PS.A.10, PS.A.14).

Remembering and Extending

The next step is to have the toy completely hidden, so this activity leads on naturally to that described in FM.C.32.