TinyStepper
Toddler sitting inside a cardboard box car with stuffed animal passengers

Peekaboo Face Parade

Peek-a-boo with different expressions — surprised, happy, silly — building facial recognition and anticipation.

Activity details

12m–20m5 minslowindoorNo prep

Instructions

Get ready
  • Sit face-to-face with baby
  • Cover your face with both hands
  1. Sit face-to-face with baby
  2. Cover your face with both hands
  3. Say 'Where's Mummy/Daddy?'
  4. Wait 2-3 seconds (build anticipation)
  5. Reveal with a BIG expression — 'SURPRISE!' or 'HAPPY!' or 'SILLY!'
  6. Name the expression: 'That was my surprised face!'
  7. Repeat with a different face each time

Parent tip

Start before you overthink it. No-prep activities work best when you begin while the moment is still recoverable.

Parent and child sitting face-to-face laughing together in a warm shared moment

What success looks like

Back-and-forth between you — words, gestures, shared pretend. Connection is the real outcome here.

Play peek-a-boo but with a twist: each time you reveal your face, show a different expression. Surprised with wide eyes. Happy with a big smile. Silly with tongue out. Name each one: 'Surprised!' Peek-a-boo is toddlerhood's first separation rehearsal — the parent goes away, the parent comes back — and adding an emotion-naming game to each return gives your toddler vocabulary for the feelings that rise and fall inside the disappearance.

Why it helps

Peek-a-boo teaches object permanence and anticipation — key cognitive building blocks. Adding different expressions introduces emotion vocabulary early. The pause before the reveal creates a natural 'wait time' that encourages babies to vocalise in anticipation. Speech and Language UK highlight face-to-face interaction as foundational to early communication development.

Variations

  • Use a muslin or scarf instead of hands for a bigger reveal.
  • Let baby cover YOUR face and you make the expression when they pull the cloth away.
  • Add sounds to each face — gasp for surprised, giggle for happy, raspberry for silly.

Safety tips

  • Never cover baby's face with fabric — only your own.
  • Watch for overstimulation — if baby looks away, pause.
  • Keep the game gentle — sudden loud reveals can startle sensitive babies.

Want to try another?

Babble Echo Game

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