Parent tip
Set out construction paper and crayons before inviting your toddler in so the first minute feels smooth.
Pocket Heart
Draw and decorate a small heart for your toddler to carry in their pocket.
Activity details
Instructions
- Cut a small heart shape from card or thick paper (palm-sized)
- Sit together and decorate it: 'This is your special heart'
- Let your toddler choose colours and add stickers
- Write 'I love you' or draw a small family picture on it
- Say: 'This heart has my love in it. Keep it in your pocket'
- Practise: 'When you miss me, squeeze it and feel the love'
- Put it in their pocket or bag before the next separation
- Ask about it at reunion: 'Did you squeeze your heart today?'
What success looks like
Messy hands and a child who doesn’t want to stop. The artwork doesn’t need to look like anything — the process is the point.
Draw a heart on card, decorate it together with colours and stickers, and give it to your toddler to keep in their pocket for nursery or outings. 'When you miss me, squeeze the heart and remember I love you.' This tangible transitional object bridges the gap of separation with something physical they can touch, hold, and control — a portable piece of home.
Why it helps
The NHS Best Start in Life programme acknowledges that separation anxiety is a normal developmental stage, and recommends consistent, reassuring routines to help toddlers build confidence that their carer will return. Transitional objects reduce separation anxiety by providing a tangible link to the attachment figure. The heart's small size means it can go anywhere, and the act of squeezing it provides proprioceptive sensory input that helps self-regulate. Creating the heart together imbues it with shared meaning, making it more powerful than a random comfort object.
Variations
- Laminate the heart so it lasts longer through nursery adventures.
- Make matching hearts — one for the child, one for the parent.
- For older toddlers, let them make the heart entirely themselves for extra ownership.
Safety tips
- Make the heart large enough that it can't be a choking hazard.
- Use non-toxic art materials only.
- Check with nursery that comfort objects are allowed in pockets.
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