My dad used to perform a “magic trick” when I was a child, hiding a ball under one cup only to seemingly make it reappear from under another like magic. This is a simpler variation on that old trick, perfect to play with your almost-one-year-old!

I used only two cups and a ball because I knew the items themselves would be of great interest to Veronika, who sure enough wanted to grab everything nearly before I had time to hide the ball. Use three cups if your baby is more patient!

I let her see me hide a ball under one of the cups, then asked her where it was.

Each time her hand immediately moved to the cup over the ball, almost too fast for me to snap a good picture.

Obviously this game is great for object permanence. Even cuter, this time she wanted to hide the ball herself. As soon as she uncovered it, she puzzled over how to insert the ball so it was hiding again.

Inevitably her cup was facing upwards, not down, but I loved watching her brain at work on this one.