Students can see the ramifications of a law prohibiting third children by making their own family tree. Students create a family tree that includes as many relatives as they can think of offhand. Then they're asked to consider who would not have been born if they lived in a society like the one in "Among the Hidden." Children can see that some important family members (even the students themselves) may not have been born.
The novel can be used to launch a variety of discussions. Possible discussion topics include: population control and China's one-child population policy, how a population policy like the one in the book would affect the United States, how different types of government function and the importance of citizens' rights.
Children can design alternate covers for "Among the Hidden," using art supplies to portray themes or favorite scenes from the book. Children can create posters and other propaganda that they envision the book's government might use.
Students can write an alternate ending for the book or journal about their feelings after having read the book. They can write about how it might feel to be in Luke's place or in another character's shoes. Students can pretend they are a shadow child and compose emails to connect to other shadow children as the character Jen does in the book. Students can imagine what the future would be like for Luke, and compose a letter he might write to his parents telling them about his life.