What Does Playing Peekaboo Do to Help an Infant?

Stimulates Cognitive Development

• During the early months of life, what moves beyond their sight or hearing does not exist to babies, says the American Academy of Pediatrics on its website healthychildren.org. Playing peekaboo helps introduce the concept of object permanence -- the understanding that people and objects do continue to exist even when a baby cannot see or hear them. Your baby's initial discovery of object permanence appears at about 4 months of age. She will refine this concept through the next few months, learning when objects are likely to disappear or reappear and using prior experiences with an object to determine its likely location. Jean Piaget, renowned developmental psychologist and cognitive theorist, identified object permanence as ̶0;the major cognitive achievement̶1; of this developmental stage, according to Education.com.

The Evolution of the Game

• Peekaboo evolves over time as a baby develops his understanding of object permanence. When first playing peekaboo, the parent performs all of the action. The baby's role as the audience is passive. Simple disappear and reappear action is accompanied by a simple set pattern of sounds. As the baby gains cognitive skills, the game gradually changes. The baby takes on a more active role, such as encouraging further play with vocalizations. The form of the game continues to evolve as the baby develops, with new skills emerging to influence game elements, such as the balance of active and passive roles. A simple hiding game gradually becomes an increasingly sophisticated game.

Encourages Social Skills

• Significant social learning takes place during peekaboo. The game's engaging interaction encourages imitation and the development of verbal and nonverbal communication skills. A baby may vocalize, then stop and look expectantly at his parent, waiting for her response. What follows could include the baby imitating the way a parent speaks to him, awaiting a response before continuing, and changing or stopping the game. Babies gain experience with different tones of voice and their meanings. After taking the active role in the peekaboo game, a baby may use nonverbal communication, such as a hand gesture or other motion, to tell his parent that it's her turn. Taking turns is an important development in social skills, which influence school readiness, according to the Parent Trust for Washington Children. They also affect the quality of social experiences and relationships.

Learning Develops Brain Structure

• Playing games like peekaboo with your baby promotes brain growth and development. When your baby develops new skills, there is not just a change in his body of knowledge and abilities, but there is also a physical change in the structure of his brain. The stimulation provided by playing peekaboo causes new synapses to form in the brain, which are strengthened through repetition, according to the Parent Trust for Washington Children.