hand holding a mug of hot chocolateGames and Puzzles

This activity provides opportunities to identify and describe movement using directional language to develop spatial sense and vocabulary.

  1. Somewhere in the room, hide an object for your child to find.
  2. Have your child move up to five steps at a time and describe the movements to you (For example, your child may say “I am taking 3 steps forward” or “I am taking 2 steps to the left”)
  3. After your child has taken steps, tell them if they are
    hot, warm, cold, or on fire.

hand holding a chocolate ice cream coneHot = Your child is near the object
Warm/Getting Warmer = Your child is moving closer to the object
Cold = Your child is far away from the object
Cool/Getting Cooler = Your child is moving farther away from the object
On Fire = Your child has found the object.

4. Continue until your child is ‘On Fire’ and finds the object you hid.

Ask your child to go back to where they started and give a set of instructions for the fastest way to the object. (e.g., take 4 steps forward, take 3 steps to the right, take 2 steps forward, take 4 steps to the left).

Switch roles and have your child hide the object and you find it.