Packing Paper Nest

What you need

• packing paper
• cushion
• blanket

How to do it

1. Spread a soft blanket on the floor and pile a cushion and some crumpled packing paper on top.
2. Sit your toddler in the middle and tuck the paper and blanket around them like a nest.
3. Read a book or sing quietly together while they settle into the nest.
4. Let them rearrange the paper and cushion themselves if they want a different shape.

Why it matters

Settling into a soft, quiet nest they helped build is a gentle way to wind down together, and it gives the packing paper one more warm job before it goes in the recycling. Crumpled paper also makes a soft, safe rustle that is easy to get curious about without being loud.

What they're learning

Focus & persistence

Settling into the nest and staying still to listen builds sustained attention.

Listening

Following a quiet story or song while settled trains attentive listening.

Cause and effect

Crumpling the paper and hearing its soft rustle is a gentle, repeatable result.

What to look for

Watch for them settling their shoulders down and going still, a sign the nest is doing its calming job.

A tip

Check the paper for staples or tape and keep it loosely crumpled, not tightly wound, so nothing wraps around little hands.

More like this

Under the Blanket from 15 months · 5 min More Bricks, More Bubbles from 20 months · 5-10 min Wave From the Window from 14 months · 5 min Doorstep Watch from 12 months · 10-15 min