Building Security Through Object Permanence

Any parent will remember when their baby began to realise that they were separate people, and became distressed when they were out of sight. This key stage of infant development is marked by sleepless nights and a need for your baby to be reassured that you are there with them.

There are many ways to build their security in your attachment through this time, such as games of hide and seek, peekaboo and covering toys with a cloth to “find” them together. Within Montessori, one way we support and extend their cognitive understanding and confidence that mummy and daddy exist even when we can’t see them is through the Montessori Imbucare box – or Object Permanence Box.

The key learning for babies to begin to grasp in this time is the ability to form a mental representation of the ball that exists even out of sight, of object permanence. There are various developing forms of the Imbucare box in Montessori materials, and the two versions we sell are the first stage of object permanence, where the ball is out of sight briefly and your baby does not need to open or look for the ball before it becomes visible. This isolates the intended learning for your baby without it becoming too complicated initially. As your baby learns to drop or push the ball into the object permanence box, watch it disappear and reappear out the base, they are constructing a solid foundation of the effect of their movements and the permanence of the sphere even when it is out of sight. Essentially, they are learning the concept that you are there even when they can’t see you.