What Is a Hidden Picture?

Who doesn’t love a great hidden picture activity? They are sure to keep your students entertained for hours – especially during this holiday season!

A hidden picture is an intricate drawing with objects cleverly camouflaged within it. The viewer’s challenge is dissecting the image and visually identifying all the concealed objects. These puzzles are often used as entertainment and cognitive exercise, encouraging attention to detail, visual perception, and problem-solving skills.

This resource includes a:

• Gingerbread House Hidden Picture
• Christmas Tree Hidden Picture
• Santa’s Sleigh Hidden Picture

Ways to Use These Hidden Picture Worksheets

There is the obvious way to use these hidden picture worksheets with your pupils – print a copy for each one to find the hidden objects. However, our team of teachers here at Teach Starter wanted to give you some alternative ways to use them to get you through to Christmas break.

• Print off several copies on card and laminate. Throw it into a centre for pupils to circle the hidden images with a whiteboard marker. When all the items have been found, they wipe the board clean for the next pupil to use.
• Use it as an active game with the entire class! Project the image on the whiteboard and cover the items needing to be found. Split the class into two teams and have them line up at the back of the room. Give each team a dry-erase marker. Play as a relay race, uncovering each item one at a time. The team that finds the most items in the end, wins!
• Project the image on the whiteboard and cover the items needing to be found. Set a timer for 1 minute and have the class study the image for the duration of time, looking for hidden objects within the image. When the timer chimes, cover the entire image and have each student silently write down all of the objects they believe were hidden in the image. Uncover the list of hidden objects and see which pupil wrote down the most.
• Make it a friendly class competition. Give each pupil their own copy of the puzzle face down on their desk. The class will turn over their puzzle on your signal and begin finding all the objects. Use a stopwatch to find the fastest time in the class. Then, have your pupils try to beat the time with a second puzzle.

Download and Go

This download is the perfect choice for a quick go-to activity for your pupils in the week leading up to Christmas break. Click the Download button to get a PDF version of 3 hidden picture puzzles to use with your class.