In my post on Month 12, I discussed about Object Permanence. You can read about it there.
For a long time, if something moves out of a babies’ sight they forget about it. For them, that thing stops existing. Around 10 to 12 months, they begin to develop an understanding that something exists even when it cannot be seen. This is called Object Permanence. One of the simplest signs is when you play Peekaboo with your Munchkin and they start enjoying it, looking for you and knowing you will reappear from somewhere.
Psychologist Jean Piaget studies show that one of an infant’s primary development milestones is the understanding of the concept of object permanence.
A Montessori Infant environment will have what is called an Object Permanence Box. A wooden box with a hole on the top and a tray attached to it. The munchkin puts a ball into the hole making it disappear for a moment, and then it reappears in a different place, i.e., on the tray. Playing with this over time makes the munchkin realize that the ball continues to exist even though he cannot see it. Furthermore, he understands that it till return to him eventually.
This is a classic Montessori activity for infants/toddlers and my munchkin loved working with it too. You get this beautiful material online however I did an easy DIY for the activity.
I took a tea leaves box, cut a hole on the top big enough for the ball to go in easily. I opened up one side of the flaps and taped it to the base so that it stayed stable. On testing, the ball went in fine but did not roll out easily so I added a layer of cardboard under the base of the box (about 1 inch on the side where the ball comes in). This helped raise one side so when the ball is put in, it rolls out easily.
I do not have step-by-step images but I included here an image of the end product. I did not cover it in any paper and left the box in its original form. After all, we are more concerned with the learning benefits from it.
Age: Generally around 10 to 12 months of age.
Purpose: To help develop the sense of object permanence. It also helps in developing concentration and gross motor skills.
Has your Munchkin discovered Object Permanence yet? Would you give this DIY a try? I would love to hear about it.