CBSE Class 4 · Mathematics
Hide and Seek
Official NCERT chapter from Math-Mela (book code demm1). ExamMaster notes are original teaching at CBSE Class 4 depth.
This lesson follows the official chapter “Hide and Seek” in Math-Mela. The words below are ExamMaster’s teaching, not a paste from the book. Use the NCERT chapter for the classroom sequence; use these notes to hold the idea without copying exercises or figures.
- CBSE Class 4
- Easy level
- 8 concepts
1A hiding place is a location you can name
“Behind the cupboard” is a place you can point to. “Somewhere” is not a location.
A hiding story without a landmark is a guess.
Figure. A hiding place is a named location relative to a landmark, not a mystery. Ria is behind the door. The door, table and pot stay where they are so the name can be pointed at.
How it works
- Name a landmarkCupboard, stair, curtain.
- Name a place-wordBehind, left, under.
- Point before you seekA word without a point is a guess.
2Left, right, in front, and behind are place-words
Those four words hang on a landmark and on which way the seeker faces. Turn around and left becomes a new left.
Do not reuse yesterday’s left after you turn.
Figure. Left, right, in front and behind are said from the person who is facing a landmark. Asha faces the door, so in front is toward the door and behind is the other way. Swap who is facing and the same floor changes names.
How it works
- Fix the seeker’s facingWhich way is forward?
- Pick one place-wordLeft, right, front, behind.
- Re-point if the seeker turnsThe words move with facing.
3A grid or a room can store those places
A floor-grid or a sketched room stores cells you can name: third tile from the door, left of the mat.
A scribble with no cells cannot store a find.
Figure. A room can be stored as a grid. Each cell has a name from a row letter and a column number. Ria is in A2 — that name is a place, not a guess.
How it works
- Draw or see the cellsTiles or boxes.
- Name one cellRow and landmark.
- Put the hider in that cellOne place, one name.
4The seeker needs a landmark, not a guess
“Look behind the green curtain” is a search rule. Opening a random drawer ignores the word you were given.
The landmark narrows the hunt.
Figure. The seeker needs a landmark. “Right of the window” can be pointed at. “Somewhere” cannot. Finding starts from a named thing in the room, not from a random hunt.
How it works
- Hear the landmarkThe curtain.
- Go thereNot a random shelf.
- Use the place-wordBehind, not on.
5Two children can hide in two different named places
Two hiders need two place-sentences. Mashing them into “they are behind” hides who is where.
One name per child.
Figure. Two children can hide in two different named places at once. Ria is under the bed. Sam is by the sofa. One name cannot cover both, and swapping names would fail the place test.
How it works
- Name child A’s placeBehind the stair.
- Name child B’s placeLeft of the pot.
- Keep two sentencesDo not mash.
6A map of the room is a picture of those names
A map is honest when each named place sits in the matching cell. A pretty map that swaps left and right fails the find.
Check the map against the room before you trust it.
Figure. A map of the room is a picture of the same names in the same layout. Door, table and pot keep their places. The map is not a new room; it is the names drawn smaller.
How it works
- Pick one nameBehind the cupboard.
- Find that cell on the mapDoes it match the room?
- If it fails, fix the mapDo not seek by a lying picture.
7The hiders did not change size
Moving from the stair to the curtain does not make a new child. Only the place-sentence changed.
Do not count a second child because the place changed.
Figure. Hiding changes the place, not the child’s size. Ria and Sam are drawn the same width and height. The place-words by the door and by the pot are what changed.
How it works
- Hold “the same child”One body.
- Change only the landmarkStair, then curtain.
- Say the new sentenceBehind the curtain now.
8Finding is a place test, then a count
First: is this the named place? Then: how many hiders are here? Place before how many.
Counting the whole house first is the wrong order for a named find.
Figure. Finding is a place test first: is someone at this named spot? Then a count. Door is empty. Table has Ria. Pot has Sam. The count is 2 only after the three place tests.
How it works
- Run the place-testLandmark and place-word.
- If it matches, count who is thereZero is allowed.
- If it fails, try the next named placeDo not invent a new word.
The seeker turns around. Old “left of the pot” is
- A new left — re-point
- The same place forever
- A count of children
Left hangs on facing.
Notes
- The official chapter title is “Hide and Seek”. Teach the school test for that title, not a contest shortcut.
- If a step needs a later class, stop. The next official chapter will pick it up.
Recap
Hold these pegs from the official chapter “Hide and Seek”. The wording is ExamMaster’s teaching, not a textbook recap.
- A hiding place is a location you can name
- “Behind the cupboard” is a place you can point to.
- Left, right, in front, and behind are place-words
- Those four words hang on a landmark and on which way the seeker faces.
- A grid or a room can store those places
- A floor-grid or a sketched room stores cells you can name: third tile from the door, left of the mat.
- The seeker needs a landmark, not a guess
- “Look behind the green curtain” is a search rule.
- Two children can hide in two different named places
- Two hiders need two place-sentences. Mashing them into “they are behind” hides who is where.
- A map of the room is a picture of those names
- A map is honest when each named place sits in the matching cell.
Practise Hide and Seek
Reading is free and needs no account. Practice, mocks and progress live in the app.
- A 4-question practice set that ends the chapter
- 1 quick check with worked explanations
- Timed mocks scored with the real marking scheme
- Readiness tracked per topic, kept on your device