MC3: Hide and Seek

1. Overview

“Hide and Seek” teaches your child cardinality – the idea that the last number they counted when numbering a group of objects is the same as the number of objects. This provides more counting practice and builds the foundation for addition and subtraction.

How many balls am I hiding?

2. Materials

3. Activity

Place any number of objects on the table and have your child count them.

Adult: [Place five objects on the table]
            Count these objects.
Child: One. [Touches first object]
            Two. [Touches second object]
            Three. [Touches third object]
            Four. [Touches fourth object]
            Five. [Touches fifth object]

Now hide the objects with your hands. Ask your child how many objects you’re hiding.

Adult: [Covers all objects]
            How many objects am I hiding!
Child: Five!
Adult: Good job!

If your child answers incorrectly, uncover your hands and ask your child to recount the objects.

Adult: [Place five objects on the table] Count these objects.
Child: One. [Touches first object]
            Two. [Touches second object]
            Three. [Touches third object]
            Four. [Touches fourth object]
            Five. [Touches fifth object]
Adult: [Covers all objects]
            How many objects am I hiding!
Child: Four!
Adult: [Reveals all objects]
            Try counting them again!
Child: One. [Touches first object]
            Two. [Touches second object]
            Three. [Touches third object]
            Four. [Touches fourth object]
            Five. [Touches fifth object]

Once again, cover the objects and ask the same question. If your child has trouble, tell them the correct answer and ask them to repeat after you.

Adult: [Covers all objects]
            How many objects am I hiding!
Child: Three.
Adult: [Reveals all objects]
            No. This is one. [Touches first object]
            No. This is one. [Touches first object]
            Two. [Touches second object]
            Three. [Touches third object]
            Four. [Touches fourth object]
            Five. [Touches fifth object]
            Now you try.
Child: One. [Touches first object]
            Two. [Touches second object]
            Three. [Touches third object]
            Four. [Touches fourth object]
            Five. [Touches fifth object]
Adult: Now let’s start from the beginning. [Restarts at very beginning of activity]

Repeat the game with a different number of objects