Treasure hunt

Materials You Need: An ordinary box or a plastic container, shredded paper (newspaper, paper towels, or other paper cut into strips), small toys, or other small objects (safe for a child) that you have around your home. 

What You Can Do Together: Put the objects or toys in the box together with the shredded paper so that the toys are hidden from view. Attract your child's attention with a friendly facial expression saying, "Look what I have! Treasure!”, and then ask her to try to find the hidden things. Give him/her a simple instruction, “Find a...” or “Where is the...?”. Allow him/her to touch both the paper and hidden objects and to enjoy exploring. When he/she finds one of the precious items, always name the treasure "And here is the...". Follow the child's reaction and describe what you see, "You like it!", "You want to find more!", or praise his/her success. Support him/her if he/she wants to say what he/she found. Continue until all the treasure in the box is discovered. Vary items or toys that you hide to allow for variety in learning, but also to help your child to acquire a wealth of different words. 

What Your Child is Learning: Your child learns to communicate and imitate the gestures that adults make and the words they say. Adequately your child uses gestures in response to requests.