English game for kids
Hide and Seek (What's Missing?): An English Memory Game for Kids
The word cards dance on the screen, everyone closes their eyes, and one card disappears. "What's missing?" Your child has to remember the card and say its name in English. This classic memory game is the moment a child moves from recognising a word to saying it.
Published:
- Ages
- 4–12
- A round takes
- 2–3 min
- Played in
- From Preschool 1 to Level 6
How to play
- 1
The teacher shows four to six cards of the unit and you say them together.
- 2
"Close your eyes!" The teacher and your child cover their eyes.
- 3
The cards dance and one of them hides.
- 4
"What's missing?" Your child says the name of the hidden card.
- 5
The card comes back with its sound. Next round: more cards, or two missing at once.
A sample round
This is how a round sounds in a live lesson.
TeacherPen, ruler, book, bag. Close your eyes!
Child(covers eyes, then looks) Hmm…
TeacherWhat's missing?
ChildThe ruler!
What your child learns
- Recalls and says the new words without hearing them first: real speaking, not repeating.
- Builds memory and attention, which also help with longer lessons.
- Practises the short answer "The …!" and, later, "It's a …".
- Improves pronunciation, because the child produces the word on their own.
Best age
Hide and Seek works from age 4 with three or four cards. Older children (8–12) play with more cards, with two missing at once, or with whole phrases such as "Who ate it?".
Play it at home
No screen needed: a few toys or a picture book are enough.
- Put four toys on the table, cover them with a towel and take one away. Ask "What's missing?"
- Let your child hide one for you, and get it wrong now and then.
- Play with a theme: fruit, colours or animals from your child's unit.
Questions parents ask
My child knows the word but doesn't say it. Is that normal?
Yes, especially at first. The teacher can give a hint, such as the first sound, a gesture or the word in your language, and then your child says it in English.
How is this different from flashcards?
Flashcards ask a child to repeat. Hide and Seek asks them to remember and say a word with no model, which is harder and makes it stick.
Play it in a live lesson
This game is part of every Flalingo kids game lesson. Your child plays it with a teacher on the same screen, using the words of their own unit.