Materials
A tray
2 or 3 items for your baby to explore
A small blanket or cloth of some kind
Directions
Sit your baby on the floor in front of the tray. Give him one of the items to explore. (Put the others aside for now.) Let your baby explore the item for a few minutes. Choose something that is safe for him to mouth, because that will be part of the exploration! After a minute or so, take the object from your baby and hide it on the tray under the blanket. What is the reaction? If your baby is 6 to 10 months old, he is probably perplexed, wondering where the item went, even though you put it under the blanket in front of him! He has not yet developed what is known as “object permanence,” which is the awareness that if something is gone from view, it’s not gone forever. Generally, babies at 
this stage of development learn through exploring the environment that objects still exist even when covered up or hidden. Try it again with another object. It’s a fun game to play again after a few weeks. Playing peek-a-boo is another way to illustrate this concept with younger babies.