How to play the best game of hide and seek ever

In the brand-new Peter Rabbit picture book, Peter and his friends play a rather dangerous game of hide and seek with Mr Tod the fox. And whilst we certainly don’t recommend playing hide and seek with a very hungry fox (especially if you are a woodland creature) we do have some ideas for levelling up your game to make it extra thrilling.

For those who may have never played before, a game of hide and seek typically involves one person being the seeker, and the rest of the group hides. The seeker counts to a specified number and covers their eyes whilst everyone else hides. The seeker then usually shouts something along the lines of ‘ready or not, here I come’ and goes to find everyone.

Team up

Once the seeker has found the first person, team up and find the rest. Each person found results in another seeker. And the thrill of this game is that you don’t want anyone to see where you choose to hide at the start!

Set a timer

Increase the stakes of a standard game of hide and seek by adding a timer. Each person gets a chance to be the seeker, and whoever finds everyone in the fastest time wins.

Reverse it

Begin the game with only one person hiding and the rest seeking. Once a seeker finds the person hiding, the seeker will join them in the hiding place. When the next seeker finds the two hiding, they join them, and so on and so forth.

Move from your hiding place

Another simple twist on a standard game of hide and seek – instead of staying in the same hiding spot, the hiders can move every time the seeker isn’t looking.

Hide and seek with a jail

Decide on a spot that will be the designated ‘jail’ and one seeker will count whilst everyone else hides. Every time the seeker finds someone they have to go back to that spot and the aim is to get everyone in ‘jail’. However, the others who are still hiding can free those in ‘jail’ by tagging them when the seeker isn’t looking.

Forty forty

You may know this game by a different name, but it is a combination of hide and seek and ‘It’. Decide on a spot that will be the base – the seeker will count here (usually to 40) whilst the other players hide. When the seeker goes off to find everyone, those hiding must try and get back to that spot and shout ‘forty forty’ (or whatever you like) before the seeker tags them out. The last person to get back to the base or tagged by the seeker is the seeker in the next game.

Add a water pistol

In the summer months, why not add a water pistol to a game of hide and seek? The seeker has a water pistol and whenever they find someone, they squirt them with water. Or everyone in the game has a water pistol, and it’s just a case of the seeker firing at the hiders, and the hiders firing at the seeker.

Hide and hunt the treasure

This is a good one to play in teams. Each member of the first team chooses an object – this could be a favourite toy or a book – and then must go and hide whilst the second team has their eyes closed. Once all the members of the first team have hidden their objects, the second team goes off to find them. When all the objects have been found, the teams can just swap roles.

Find out if Peter Rabbit can outfox Mr Tod in the brand-new picture book, available now