Object permanence refers to the ability to understand that a person or object still exists, even when we can’t see it or hear it. Humans develop object permanence in their first year of life, during Piaget’s sensorimotor stage, and indicates that the infant has achieved their ability to form a schema of an object or person.

As newborns, humans are innately egocentric. It is difficult for an infant or toddler to conceptualize that things outside of themselves interact with the environment in the same ways as they do. While this egocentrism continues throughout the preoperational stage of development, object permanence is one of the first steps in understanding other people’s perspectives and experiences.

Once a child has developed object permanence, several behavioral changes may take place. Games like peek-a-boo will lose their novelty; when a child lacks object permanence, they genuinely believe that the person disappears behind their hands. Once it has developed, however, they understand that the person is still there. They might begin to experience separation anxiety and cry when their caregiver leaves the room, and will intentionally search for objects that they know they like to play with.

Typically, object permanence begins around 8 months of age, but there are several games caregivers can play with the child to help them develop this concept. Peek-a-boo is a popular game for this; the caregiver can also do this with toys by placing one behind or underneath a blanket only to reveal it repeatedly to the child. You can also speak to the baby while you are out of sight or in another room; this will also help ease separation anxiety.

Object permanence is perhaps one of the most important steps in a child’s development from infancy into early childhood. A strong sense of object permanence will help a child make friends, empathize with others, and strengthen their memory of people and events around them. Following research by Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget, object permanence is essentially the first building block of learning, upon which children will continue to construct meaning for the rest of their lives. This essential skill should be nurtured and encouraged in your child whenever possible to help give them a strong foundational understanding of learning and of the world around them.