Last Saturday we were staying with some long-time friends whose child is the same age as ours. After dinner, in an effort to engage our respective teenage daughters, we agreed that they could choose what game we played. The girls chose hide-and- seek.
It has to be said the grown-ups were not wild about this idea. But we stuck to the deal. So for the next hour or so, two children and four adults played hide-and-seek in a modest four-bed semi. Indoors only.
I’m not going to tell you how it went – yet. Because first I’d like to invite you, my readers, to play hide-and-seek too. With children. Then in a week or so I’ll post part 2, and we can compare notes.
So go on: find some willing players and get hiding and seeking. If it is anything like my experience, it should be illuminating.
Rethinking Childhood 
A question I can answer easily with little or no thought. Truthfully, about 15 minutes before reading this. I am duty parent today so I did the school run and after ensuring no homework and that piano, horn and clarinet had been practised I, defending myself against the usual “Can we watch telly” suggested they thought up a game I would have played at their age. Bethany, 9, decided on hide and seek. Samuel, 11, agreed and both were shocked when I went to the kitchen and started counting. This is a 5 bed with a walk around ground floor around a central wall and a gallery landing and I thought perhaps a bit too open plan for this. The first round took a little longer than expected and I found Beth first in the living room hiding under a sideboard. Sam was found about 5 minutes later hiding under his bed. Now, I am not small, so they assumed I’d find it harder and they suggested I’d be behind doors or curtains as that’d be easy for me. Not so, I managed to get under the same sideboard as Beth and was there for 15 minutes while she got Sam and they both set off looking for me assuming I wouldn’t be able to hide. Round 3 saw Sam searching. Beth hid under a bean bag in the dinning room and I climbed up onto Sam’s loft bed under the duvet (assisted by the fact he still has piles of soft toys to hide behind). After just over an hour we had to stop as I need to make dinner and as I type this I am listening to Mario Cart Wii, although I’ll join in that later too.
I can honestly state that my inner 6 year old is well developed and in full fighting order :)
Actually it just so happens I played Hide-and-Seek briefly yesterday. My 14yo, 12yo, and 10 yo daughters were entertaining a friend’s 4 yo and I was given instructions to start counting to 50 while they went and hid. All four of them tried hiding under the bed together, which was pretty easy to find, but it was still ecstatically exciting for the 4 yo (and very funny for the others ) as I did my routine of not being able to see them as I searched every other corner of the bedroom for them. They hid one more time ( I was less patient counting all the way to 50 this time, so I sped it up a bit). Had a little more difficulty locating them second time around, but following the muffled giggles and laughter I finally tracked them down in the broom cupboard. I guess it was more a cross between Hide-and-Seek and Sardines than Hide-and-Seek proper, and as the 4 yo is a fairly excitable character, they had moved on to the next game before I got to have a turn at hiding. Still, lots of fun – never turn down the opportunity to play hide and seek with a bunch of kids, I say!
Simon, Bruce – thanks for your replies. Two dads – significant? (Probably not, but interesting nonetheless). Bruce, your observations about the emotional dimensions of the experience are to the point. I aim to post Part 2 in the next few days.
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