Hide-and-Seek: What Leaves and What Returns
When toys are absent, children have always found simpler ways to extract fun and entertain themselves. A game of searching, hide-and-seek requires an occupiable space. It requires more of its players, however, asking them to: conceal themselves in otherwise visible places, use their resourceful minds, contort their bodies if necessary, and remain silent. According to the “Hide-and-Seek” entry in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, “the game is played differently in various regions,” each place carrying its own specific rules and distinctions. Regardless of where hide-and-seek is played, it carries a balance of agility and mystery at its core.
An old and popular “children’s game” (Tikkanen), hide-and-seek defines the genre of games that traditionally require no materials. In fact, it may have been one of the earliest games of its kind, defined by the Encyclopaedia as being spontaneous, imagination-formed play with a set of rules. Part of the Encylopaedia’s concerted efforts to document topics under this umbrella, hide-and-seek is also one of the first “searching games.” The earliest recorded account of the game, made by Greek rhetorician Julius Pollux, dates back to the 2nd century. Though its ancient title, apodidraskinda, is lost, the game survives in modern Greece under the name kryfto. (Tikkanen) To further develop this ethos, the hide-and-seek entry contains a nineteenth-century German painting of children playing the game (and being found) in a wooded area. With the game’s more specific instructions being inconsistent, the basic formula requires a hider and seeker. The seeker typically counts to a large number, possibly 100, waiting for the hider to conceal themselves nearby. The first player to be found may become the next seeker, and the last found has won the round. Sometimes, the players may agree upon a certain location to serve as a “home base,” a tangible place the hidden may run to in order to evade their discovery (Tikkanen). These seemingly basic instructions outlined at the beginning of the hide-and-seek entry are provided in simple terms. A fair reading level strays away from the weighty English one could associate with a reference book. This may have unintentionally made the entry accessible to young readers – players of the game.
Speaking to continuity, the game has persisted and entertained for generations; it cannot be bought, sold or discarded. It evokes a clear sense of tradition and playing the game is a sort of inheritance (Tikkanen). Never knowing a distinct ethnic group or social class, hide-and-seek could still be considered groundbreaking if it was introduced today. “The game is played throughout the world” (Tikkanen), each version having its own rules that could differ from America’s. Encyclopaedia Britannica lists the title “hide-and-seek” in the countries’ respective languages, including almost every continent. In Europe, the Spanish game is called el escondite, the French game jeu de cache-cache, and the Romanian game de-av-ati ascunselea. In Asia and the Middle East, the Korean game is called sumbaggoggil while the Israeli game is called machboin. In the African country of Nigeria, the game is called oro, played principally by children of the Igbo people. Oro is a “combination of hide-and-seek and tag” (Tikkanen). This version employs the use of a “home base” as well. With such a rich cultural variance, it is extraordinary and almost mysterious how children of many backgrounds have played the same game with no contact to other nations.
In a changing, technologizing world, this sense of raw creative and imaginative play is unmatched. It has not necessarily diminished, but has metamorphosed into something incomparable. Though it is a generalization to comment on the upsurge in children preferring smart devices and screens to actual toys, it is worth noting that this change is unprecedented. In the past, the invention of new toys may have deterred children from “organic” games such as hide and seek, but the latter has always prevailed, seeming as fresh and moldable as it was in nearly two thousand years ago.
The field of child psychology, a 20th century endeavour, first described the thought processes of children in tandem with their development (Editors). One pioneer of this experiment-based research was Swiss professor Jean Piaget, a studier of formative children (Editors). He found that in the post-infancy world, children engage themselves in an exploration of reality (McLeod). They constantly challenge the established world around them by seeing how it relates to their individual constructed reality (Editors). One of the highlights of Piaget’s child development phase research is object permanence, a concept introduced within the first year or two of life. The child’s comprehension of this concept is critical; it shows them that objects hidden from sight still exist. Piaget first tested this experiment by hiding a ball under a blanket, observing if the child was inclined to rediscover the ball (McLeod). Early on, we teach children that nothing is forever; components of their world may disappear at any moment. We always counter this with the possibility that these things will come back to them.
American child psychiatrist Shira Vollmer explores this emotional weight behind object permanence in her Psychology Today article, “Hide and Seek”. The title is more than fitting; the practice of object permanence is a solo game of hide-and-seek. A world-renowned and ancient game, children are tasked with finding other players they know to be concealed somewhere nearby. Though the seeker knows their friends are still present, they feel a need to hastily discover them. In some versions of the game, the found players help the original seeker locate more people (Tikkanen). This camaraderie unknowingly encourages teamwork and critical thinking. Adolescents plays this same game as manhunt, opting for an outdoor night setting. However, in the first year or so of a child’s life, it is more common for them to play the foundational “peek-a-boo” with a parent. During peek-a-boo, the parent covers their face or turns away, prompting the child to question where they have gone. Never away for long, the parent reveals their face suddenly, answering the child’s question and mending any possible fear. Seeing peek-a-boo as a relief for separation anxiety, Vollmer notes that “The infant’s brain processes information such that out of sight means out of mind…The joy in seeing the face return comes from the relief that the separation ended.” Separation anxiety is a common issue in childhood, for as they grow closer to adolescence, children have much to do without the help of their families. These situations might translate to a first day of school meltdown or first night at sleepaway camp. Children and adolescents are naturally dependent on their parents for their basic necessities; the absence of this privilege may trigger uncomfort. Vollmer characterizes these feelings, saying that “This dance between separation and reunification is endlessly reassuring because it reminds the child that separations can be temporary and therefore sustainable.” The basic function of a reunion is to bring together people who have been separated for a prolonged period of time. Teaching children that their parents will always return to them is a very brave constant to instate.
Sometimes, due to tragedy or neglect, there is not always a reunion. In hide-and-seek, a player may never be found, just as a child may never be picked up from school in the wake of a mass shooting. To instill the comfort of reunion in children is almost cruel; there are few constants and many changes in their upcoming lives and relationships. Childhood, in imitation of life, is not constant. There is no promise that things will always be the same once one has left them. The validation is a return to familiarity: “soon after the child feels the joys of exploring, he gets lonely and so he wants to be reassured that his friend wants to find him. This is life affirming” (Vollmer). Exploration is more characteristic of childhood or adolescence than any other age. When children rush to find hiding places, they are getting a sense of their given environment and forced to find a niche to insert themselves in. They may have to contort, crouch or disguise themselves, but they will ultimately know when they have made the wrong decision. This moment of tension is important; it teaches them that having autonomy from others puts them in a place of self-reflection. They master their fears and ultimately become fine waiting, the event of being found still imminent. For, according to Vollmer, “To be pursued is to be loved. The joy of being found is the joy of being alive and feeling cared for.” We have to cope with separations throughout life. Hide-and-seek gives children practice at independence and helps them find joy in reunification.
When looking at the horror genre, one may find a repeating usage of the game as a bizarre way to conjure suspense. Killers characteristically seek out their possible victims as they pray to avoid being discovered. This life-or-death version of the game plays with adrenaline, as its harmless version does. No one wants to be found first; it means your quick-thinking skills fell short. While this hide-and-seek-and-die trope is excessive and almost campy, few stories remove the possibility of murder. In the folktale series, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, compiler Alvin Schwartz presents an oral tradition tale he calls “The Bride.” In the story, adults at a joyous wedding feast decide to take part in “old children’s games” (Schwartz) as part of the celebration. The bride hides in an old attic trunk, seeking to be the last found. Getting into the trunk, the lid knocks her on the head and she falls unconscious, locking her inside. Although the guests look for her, they assume she had second thoughts and ran away for good. The bride is forgotten about until a maid finds her rotting corpse several years later (Schwartz).
As tragic as “The Bride” is, the story encapsulates the theme of hide-and-seek: things can disappear right before our eyes; they may or may not return. Schwartz intended this story to be for children, as scarring as it is. Hide-and-seek’s usage in this way is certainly trauma-inducing but also deliberate, as many of the other “scary stories” carry premature themes of redemption, forgiveness and sacrifice. This may be why parents in the eighties fought to ban the series from American public schools and libraries (Radulovic). The reality of never being found is terrifying, the emotional impact driven by Stephen Gammell’s disturbing illustration. The bride is depicted in her decomposition, her mouth contorted into a scream, her bouquet devoid of life. A fate like this, Schwartz signifies to the young audience, is the worst kind. Being forgotten and never found is something undesirable. Even when they have surpassed comprehension of object permanence, children should be seeking more than they should be hiding.
Works Cited
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Jean Piaget.” Encyclopædia Britannica.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 12 Sept. 2019.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Piaget. Accessed 27 September 2019.
McLeod, Saul. “Object Permanence.” Simply Psychology, 1 Jan. 2018.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/Object-Permanence.html. Accessed 28 September 2019.
Radulovic, Petrana. “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’s Legacy of Library Challenges and Bans.”
Polygon, Polygon, 14 Aug. 2019,
https://www.polygon.com/2019/8/14/20804222/scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark-banned-books. Accessed 20 October 2019.
Schwartz, Alvin. More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, HarperCollins Publishers, 1984.
Tikkanen, Amy. “Hide-and-seek.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 28
May 2008.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/hide-and-seek-game. Accessed 10 September 2019.
Vollmer, Shirah. “Hide and Seek.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 23 Dec. 2009.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/learning-play/200912/hide-and-seek. Accessed 27 September 2019.
