Peek-a-boo Game
October 17th, 2012

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Many cultures have a Peek-a-boo Game that’s played with little kids.  First you hide the child’s face behind a cloth, a hand or another object.  Then you say "Peek-a-boo!"  Next you quickly take the object away from the child’s face and say, "I see you!"

A similar game called "Bo-peep" has been around since at least the 1500’s. (1)  In that game the child’s face is covered and when the object is removed the adult says, "Bo-peep!" 

Slightly older children play Peek-a-boo by hiding themselves or their face (instead of the adult doing it).  It’s a big achievement for a child to be the one to initiate the game.

Here’s a video showing a child playing Peek-a-boo…

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A Reader’s Question about Peek-a-boo:
 
We were asked by a reader about an old German version of the Peek-a-boo game.  Here’s what she wrote:

Does anyone on here know the old German version of Peek a boo. Sounds like ‘MU MU GEEKS’… I remember my mother playing this with my children. On ‘geeks’ you showed your face… on ‘MU MU’ you cover your face with your hands… it could be ‘moo moo geeks’!

I found that they normally say "kuckuck" in German for "peek-a-boo".  That literally means "cuckoo".  In France they say "coucou" (cuckoo).

Here’s a video of the game in French…

If anyone knows anything about "moo moo geeks", please let us know in the comments below.  We’d also love to learn the phrases you use to play "peek-a-boo" in your language.

Mama Lisa

(1) Source: Merriam Webster

This article was posted on Wednesday, October 17th, 2012 at 3:07 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, England, English, Games Around the World, Germany, Languages, Peek-a-boo, Questions, Readers Questions, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

One Response to “Peek-a-boo Game”

  1. Margret Says:
    October 18th, 2012 at 8:39 am

    Thanks for all the ideas, I basicly found the same things. I am wondering if it is maybe out of the old German Language…In the next few days I will ring my Aunt and see if she knows anything about this.. I have searched Google in a variety of spellings eg…mu mu geaks. mumugeeks..moomoogeeks..no luck.. hopefully I will find out as my great niece is playing the game with her son and she was the one who asked about it..

    love this site, if I had not been looking for this I would never have found it.
    Cheers..

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