By Lisa M. Belisle, MD, MPH
Originally published July 2006, Parent & Family
Raising Readers is in its sixth year of providing books to children from birth to age five through hospitals and medical offices. One of the books provided is the classic ‘lift-the-flap.’ Read on to find out how this special type of book (and the related game of peek-a-boo) can be an important part of your little one’s brain growth…
When my children were toddlers, they loved ‘lift-the-flap’ books. From Corduroy’s Christmas, to the Berenstain Bears’ Home Sweet Tree—they couldn’t get enough. After many times reading the same book, I would hear my husband sigh softly as little Campbell, Abby or Sophie crawled into his lap yet again with one of these charmers. Clearly they were getting more out of the experience than he, yet he doggedly continued with the task at hand. Child development experts would applaud his patience. They would remind him that he was helping his kids engage in a task with just the right balance of knowns and unknowns. He was championing the Peek-a-Boo Principle.
Most of us are familiar with the game of ‘peek-a-boo.’ For those who aren’t, here’s the technique: catch your baby’s interest, cover your eyes with your hands, then open your fingers and cry “peek-a-boo.” This is best done at first with a happy face, though in older children, one may decide to act sad or crazy. Many children will play ‘peek-a-boo’ for quite a while, rewarding you with smiles or other changes in expression. While this has traditionally been recognized as game for 7 to 9 month-olds, the latest research indicates that babies as young as 4 months can enjoy this activity.
Why is peek-a-boo so important? Children use this game to make connections between their brain cells. The more they use these connections, the stronger these pathways become. When multiple pathways fire at the same time, they become wired together, forming networks. As children get older, their brains start getting rid of some of these connections. If they haven’t been used often enough (or at all), some networks disappear altogether. This is the “use it or lose it” idea.
Peek-a-boo is a particularly appealing way for babies to use their brains because it involves other people. Remember the peek-a-boo-playing four-month-old? He already recognizes and reacts to certain emotions. Use a ‘negative’ face with a baby, and he is likely to respond the same way. Infants are all about body language—especially when it comes from someone they love.
Older children benefit from peek-a-boo in more advanced ways. Six-month-olds will often join in the game, moving their hands around and practicing control of their big muscles (called ‘gross motor control’). They begin to show a sense of humor, giggling at the funny faces of their favorite adults. They also start to enjoy the literary version of peek-a-boo: lift-the-flap books.
Lift-the-flap books are great for early development. Children must listen to the sounds the adult makes (to know when to lift the flap), look at the correct flap and use their fingers to move the flap off of the page. Peek-a-boo and lift-the-flap books also deal with the idea of object permanence—that something can exist, even if a child can’t see it (such as a toy that has fallen behind a couch). In recent studies, children as young as 10 weeks old have shown that they realize life is not as simple as “out of sight, out of mind.” They know when a parent lurks behind a pair of hands, just as older kids recognize that a picture is still present even when covered by a flap.
As seen in my children’s devotion to Corduroy’s Christmas (no matter what time of year), many kids have a fondness for flap books. This preference is related to an early reading skill called print motivation. When kids like a specific book, they want it read to them over and over again. If this fondness for books is nurtured, kids will eventually want to learn to read on their own. (For a sampling of potentially prized flap books, see Lift-the-Flap Favorites, below.)
The next time you feel like groaning when your child hands you her beloved lift-the-flap book, remember the Peek-a-Boo Principle. There’s nothing like this well-loved activity to help your child build brain connections, and encourage her love of reading. Now I’ll just have to convince my husband of this fact, because at age 5, sweet Sophie still loves Home Sweet Tree…
(This article was revised from the January 2005 Raising Readers Issues Brief.)
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RESOURCES:
WEBSITES
LIFT-THE-FLAP FAVORITES
Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell (Little Simon, 1986).
Peekaboo! by Jan Ormerod (Bodley Head, 1997).
Peek-a-Moo by Marie Torres Cimaruski and Stephanie Petersen (Dutton Juvenile, 1998).
Toes, Ears & Nose by Marion Dane Bauer and Karen Katz (Little Simon, 2003).
Where Does Maisy Live? by Lucy Cousins (Candlewick, 2000).
Where is Maisy’s Panda? by Lucy Cousins (Candlewick, 1999).
Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill (Putnam, 2003).
Who Said Moo? Harriet Ziefert and Simms Taback (Blue Apple, 2002).
