Object Permanence.

Object permanence is the understanding that things exist even if you can’t see, hear or sense them. Babies begin to develop this skill around 4 months old. A really popular game that adults play with infants is peekaboo; they learn that even though you cover your smiling face… it still exists! That’s object permanence.

In Montessori environments, we include Object Permanence activities on our shelves. I’m going to share five that we really like. 

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Object Permanence Box, with a tray:

This is the first box I introduced to my children; usually around 7 months old. The idea is a baby drops the ball through the hole, it disappears for a second, and then rolls down a slight ramp inside the box out onto the tray and is stopped by the perimeter so that the baby can complete the action again. 

Object Permanence Box, 3 ball push:

Probably around 9 months, I introduced this ball push activity. It has a similar concept as the first box (the balls rolls down a similar style ramp and reappear themselves) but also has more variety with the 3 balls (in different colors.)

Object Permanence Box, sliding top box:

This next box, was one my children worked with around 11 months. It has a similar concept as the first and second box except now instead of the ball reappearing by itself (by sliding down the ramp back into sight), a child has to “look” for it. They need to have the strength in their hands to slide the lid over the left (or right) to see the ball reappear again. Then they can put the ball back through the hole, it disappears and they slide the lid over again to see the ball again.

Object Permanence, flip lid:

This next box, has a similar aim as the sliding top box, but this one has a lid that a young toddler needs to hold, flip and drop down to reveal the round disc. I introduced this around 13-14 months because the disc could fit inside my baby’s mouth before then. We love it, but be warned — it’s loud! Young toddlers don’t know to set the lid down gently so every time they flip the lid you’ll hear a BANG! 🙂

Object Permanence Box, with a drawer:

The last box I’ll share, is this one. This box has three parts and offers a bit of a challenge: dropping the ball into the box AND pulling out the drawer to reveal the ball AND finally pushing the drawer back into the box in order to do the activity again. The last part, putting the drawer back in the box is the major challenge. I didn’t notice my children being able to do that last step (replacing the drawer independently) until nearly 17 months. However, they enjoyed dropping the ball into the box, and pulling out the drawer at a much younger age; 13 months or so. 

So, if you’re finding that your child loves peekaboo, or dropping things on the floor and waits for you to return the item to him/her, or if you’re noticing that your child is experiencing separation anxiety (from people or items — becoming really upset when things are out of sight) you should consider including some of these activities in your environment!