Cognitive Activity: Remembering an Object’s Location

Age: 6 to 9 months

Goal: To develop memory, motor skills, and confidence.

Materials: mat, basket, an object the infant is familiar with

Presentation

1. Prepare the work and get out the mat.
2. Sit with the infant in your lap or beside you facing the basket on the mat.
3. Take the object out of the basket and set the basket aside.
4. Picking up the object, tell the infant what the object is and describe it, allowing the infant to hold the object. (Ex, “This is a dog. Feel how soft it is.”)
5. When the infant drops the object, put it just behind the infant.
6. As the infant begins to look for the object, move yourself out of the way so the infant can quickly and easily find the object. Allow the infant to examine the object.
7. Next, place the object to the infant’s left just out of the line of vision. Once again when the infant begins to look for the object move yourself out of the way so the infant can quickly and easily find it.
8. Continue, placing the object in a different place each time.
9. When the infant is finished, take him/her with you to return the work and mat to their proper place.

Extension: cover the object with a scarf or hand towel and ask the infant “Can you find the dog?”, place the object in different places that the infant has to crawl to in order to get the object, place the object behind or under different items in the room (such as a blanket or under a dresser).

My son really enjoys this activity. He was quick to learn the initial activity, so we moved on to finding the object under a scarf and then in different places around the room.

He gets so excited looking for the object and will continue doing it until I run out of places to hide it!