Tiny Room, Big Room — The Shrunken Hiding Game

A shoebox model of a real room becomes a 3-D “map” — the child watches a tiny toy being hidden in the model, then finds the big toy hidden in the matching spot in the real room.

  1. Together, build a simple model of one room in a shoebox or on a tray. Use small boxes, blocks, and scraps for the main furniture — bed, table, sofa, shelf, rug — and place them where the real ones are.
  2. Choose a big toy and a little toy that go together (a large teddy and a small one, or a toy and a coin “baby” version).
  3. Stand in the real room with the model and name the matches: “This is little sofa, that is big sofa. This is little bed, that is big bed.”
  4. Send the child out. Hide the big toy somewhere in the real room — say, behind the sofa.
  5. Call the child back and, in the model, slowly hide the little toy behind the little sofa: “Little Teddy is hiding here. Big Teddy is hiding in the same place in the big room. Go and find him!”
  6. After they find it, ask them to go back and show where the little toy is hiding too.
  7. Swap roles: the child hides the big toy and shows you where to look using only the model — no pointing at the real room, no words.

Variation: replace the model with a simple bird’s-eye drawing of the room and mark the hiding place with an X — a flatter, more abstract symbol of the same space.

Requirements

  • Space: One ordinary room with 4–6 pieces of furniture
  • Surface: Floor or low table for the model
  • Materials: Shoebox or tray; small boxes, blocks, and fabric scraps for mini furniture; one large and one small toy; paper and pencil for the drawn variation
  • Participants: 1 adult + 1 child; a second child can take the hider role
  • Supervision: Moderate — adult hides the toy and guides the first rounds

Rationale & Objective

This game is adapted from Judy DeLoache’s scale-model studies. To succeed, a child must treat the model as two things at once — an interesting little object and a symbol for the big room — which DeLoache calls dual representation. Three-year-olds can do the basic search, but at 5 the challenging parts are the ones built in here: constructing the model, keeping the layout accurate, hiding in spots that differ only by position (behind versus under), and producing the symbol for someone else to read. The same insight underlies maps, diagrams, graphs, and eventually letters and numerals — DeLoache describes becoming “symbol-minded” as a central task of early childhood. Liben & Downs show that understanding maps as symbols continues to develop well into the school years, so a 3-D model is a sound stepping stone toward the “creates a map of the classroom” example in this subdomain and toward Teaching Strategies GOLD Objective 14.

Progress Indicators

  • Early: enjoys the model as a doll’s house but searches the real room at random; needs the adult to point out each match again
  • Developing: goes straight to the right piece of furniture when it is an obvious one; gets muddled when the model is turned around or when two hiding spots look alike
  • Proficient: finds the big toy on the first try in most rounds, including behind/under/next-to spots; can show the hiding place in the model after finding the toy in the room
  • Advanced: hides the toy and communicates the spot using only the model; succeeds with a flat drawn plan; notices and fixes mistakes in the model’s layout (“the shelf should be by the door”)

Safety Notes

  • Hide the big toy only in places the child can reach from the floor — never on high shelves, behind heavy unsecured furniture, or near sockets and heaters
  • Small parts used as mini furniture or the “little” toy can be choking hazards for younger siblings
  • If scissors or a craft knife are needed to shape cardboard, the adult does the cutting
  • Some children become upset when they cannot find the toy; give a warmer/colder clue rather than letting frustration build

Hints

  • Playfulness: tell the story of a shrinking machine — “whatever happens to Little Teddy in the tiny room happens to Big Teddy in the big room!” Children find the idea thrilling
  • Sustain interest: model a different room each week, add more furniture, hide two toys at once, or build a model of the garden or the route to the front door
  • Common mistake: letting the child play freely with the model just before the game. DeLoache found that handling the model as a toy makes it harder to see it as a symbol — keep it “special” during hiding rounds
  • Limited space: a single corner works — a chair, a cushion, a box, and a blanket give four hiding spots. No shoebox? Arrange the mini furniture on a sheet of paper
  • Cross-domain: naming positions builds spatial vocabulary (behind, under, between, next to); explaining the clue to a sibling stretches perspective-taking; building the model is planning and fine-motor work
  • Progression: model lined up with the room and distinctive hiding spots → similar-looking spots → model rotated → child is the hider → photo of the room instead of a model → hand-drawn bird’s-eye plan with an X

Sources

  • DeLoache, J.S. (1987), “Rapid change in the symbolic functioning of very young children,” Science, 238, 1556–1557
  • DeLoache, J.S. (2000), “Dual representation and young children’s use of scale models,” Child Development, 71(2), 329–338
  • DeLoache, J.S. (2004), “Becoming symbol-minded,” Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(2), 66–70
  • Liben, L.S. & Downs, R.M. (1989), “Understanding maps as symbols: The development of map concepts in children,” Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 22
  • Teaching Strategies GOLD — Objective 14 (uses symbols and images to represent something not present) and Objective 21 (explores and describes spatial relationships and shapes)
  • HighScope Key Developmental Indicators — Spatial awareness