Confidence & feelings
Flashlight rescue
- Builds: Facing the dark
- 10 min
- Ages 3–6
- Energetic
- No mess
From the house
- A flashlight
- A teddy
- A room you can make dim, with the hall light on
How to play
- While they wait outside, hide teddy somewhere easy in a dim room, leaving the door open.
- Hand them the flashlight and say, “Teddy is lost in the dark, can you rescue it?”
- Go in together the first time, then wait in the doorway and cheer them on the next time.
- Celebrate every rescue, then they hide teddy for you.
Fit it to your child
- Easier: Keep the room only a little dim, hold hands the whole way, and hide teddy in plain sight.
- Harder: Hide two or three things and call out clues like “It’s under something soft” from the hall.
Words to use
- dark
- light
- brave
- find
- rescue
Why it helps
Stepping into the dark with a light, a little farther each time, shows them that scary feelings shrink when they face them in small steps.
Grown-up eyes: Clear the floor so nothing trips them, and use a flashlight with a closed battery cover. If they don’t want to go in, go together; never push.