The play science behind pockets, treasures, hiding, finding, and Nom-Noms
If you’ve ever watched a child carefully place a tiny toy inside a box, a sock, a backpack, a cup, a drawer, or one of your shoes, you may have wondered:
“Why is this the game?”
And then, five minutes later, after they take everything out and put it all back in again, you may have wondered:
“No really. Why is this the game?”
Good news: this kind of play is not random. It is not “just making a mess.” It is not your child personally declaring war on your storage system.
It is a real and meaningful part of how children explore the world.
At The Tooth Brigade, we make pocket-mouth pillows known as Nom-Noms, classic Tooth Pillows for lost teeth, and Littles bag charms for tiny treasures. So yes, we love a good pocket. But the more we study children’s play, the more we see that pockets, hiding places, tiny compartments, treasure spots, and “put it in, take it out” play are connected to something much bigger than storage.
They are connected to curiosity.
They are connected to problem-solving.
They are connected to the way children learn that objects can disappear, reappear, travel, belong somewhere, and still exist even when they are out of sight.
That’s a lot of brain work for something that looks like a child stuffing a plastic dinosaur into a plush mouth.
Which, to be fair, is also pretty funny.
There’s a name for this kind of play
In early childhood education, repeated patterns in children’s play are often called schemas. A schema is a pattern a child returns to again and again as they test an idea about the world.
Parents may not use the word “schema” at home, but they recognize the behavior instantly:
Your child keeps filling bags with toys.
They hide things under blankets.
They tuck treasures into pockets.
They put objects into containers and dump them out.
They carry the same three tiny things from room to room like they are moving precious museum artifacts.
They wrap toys in napkins, boxes, blankets, or whatever clean laundry you were hoping to fold.
Early learning experts describe these repeated patterns as part of how children build understanding through hands-on play. The National Association for the Education of Young Children describes developmentally appropriate practice as a strengths-based, play-based approach to joyful learning. In other words, play is not a break from learning. For young children, play is often the learning.
You can read more from NAEYC here: Developmentally Appropriate Practice
When kids put things inside other things, several common play schemas may be showing up.
Posting play: “Can this fit in there?”
One of the most recognizable patterns is often called posting play.
This is when a child puts an object into an opening: a ball into a tube, a coin into a slot, a block into a box, a toy into a bag, or a little treasure into a pocket.
To grown-ups, it may look simple.
To a child, it can be fascinating.
They are testing shape, size, space, cause and effect, and control. Will it fit? Will it disappear? Can I get it back? What happens if I try again? What happens if I try something bigger? What happens if I try something that absolutely, positively does not fit but I am deeply committed to this experiment?
That last one is where parenting becomes a spectator sport.
This kind of play can support fine motor development, hand-eye coordination, and problem-solving because children are practicing how to grasp, aim, release, retrieve, and repeat. They are learning through tiny experiments.
A 2023 study published in Frontiers in Psychology followed a young child’s natural interactions with household objects over 2½ years and specifically looked at the child putting objects in and taking them out of containers. The study is a lovely reminder that this type of everyday play is rich with learning.
Read the study here: Putting things in and taking them out of containers
Containing and enclosing: “Where does this belong?”
Another related pattern is sometimes called containing or enclosing play.
This is when children place objects inside a defined space or create a boundary around something. It might be a box full of animals, a blanket wrapped around a doll, a ring of blocks around a toy car, or a pocket filled with “important stuff.”
To a child, putting something in a special place can feel powerful. They are making order. They are creating a little world. They are deciding what belongs where.
That is a big deal.
Children spend a lot of their lives being told where to go, when to eat, when to sleep, what not to lick, and why the dog’s water bowl is not a sensory table. In play, they get to be the organizer. The boss of the tiny objects. The mayor of Pocket Town.
This kind of play can also connect to early spatial awareness. Children begin to understand ideas like inside, outside, under, over, hidden, full, empty, near, and far. Those words may sound basic, but they are building blocks for later thinking in math, science, language, and problem-solving.
Research on object construction in infants and toddlers has also studied actions like stacking and nesting, showing how young children’s object play develops as they learn how things relate in space.
Read more here: The Development of Object Construction from Infancy through Toddlerhood
Transporting: “This treasure is coming with me”
Then there is transporting play.
This is the child who fills a bag, basket, wagon, stroller, backpack, purse, or pocket and moves treasures from one place to another.
Sometimes the treasures are obvious: little toys, crayons, blocks, snacks, charms, or stuffed animals.
Sometimes they are deeply mysterious: one sock, three rocks, a marker cap, a plastic spoon, and a leaf that apparently has emotional significance.
Transporting play lets children practice collecting, carrying, sorting, remembering, and planning. They decide what matters enough to bring along. They choose what to keep close. They create their own little traveling collection.
For many parents, this is the stage where you discover that your child has been carrying half the playroom in their coat pocket. Honestly, respect. Inefficient, but ambitious.
With Nom-Noms, this transporting instinct has a built-in home. A child can tuck a note, tiny toy, candy treat, charm, or little treasure into the pocket mouth and bring it along for the day. It is plush play with a place to put something.
That little “something” matters.
Hiding and finding: “It’s gone! Wait — it’s back!”
Putting things inside other things also connects to a major early developmental idea: object permanence.
Object permanence is the understanding that something still exists even when you can’t see it. Peekaboo is the classic example. So is hiding a toy under a blanket and watching a baby search for it.
Developmental psychologist Jean Piaget helped popularize the idea, and researchers have continued to study how babies and young children understand hidden objects. One study on infants’ search behavior found that object permanence is not necessarily a single “now they have it, now they don’t” milestone. Children may show different levels of understanding depending on the type of hiding event.
Read more here: New findings on object permanence
For parents, the important takeaway is simple: hiding and finding games can be meaningful. When a child hides a treasure in a pocket and then pulls it back out, they are not just playing with the object. They are playing with the idea of “gone” and “back.”
That tiny reveal can be thrilling.
The toy disappeared.
The toy returned.
The child made it happen.
Encore performance requested immediately.
Play also builds connection
The American Academy of Pediatrics has written about the importance of play in healthy child development, including its role in social-emotional, cognitive, language, and self-regulation skills.
Read more here: The Power of Play
That matters because play is not only about what a child does with an object. It is also about what happens between the child and the grown-up nearby.
A child hides a toy.
You gasp.
They giggle.
They pull it out.
You say, “You found it!”
They do it again.
That back-and-forth interaction is powerful. Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child calls these responsive exchanges “serve and return” interactions, and they help support early brain development.
Read more here: Serve and Return
This is one reason we love the idea of grown-ups slipping little notes into a Nom-Nom. A note in a pocket can become a tiny moment of connection: a lunchbox-style surprise, a bedtime message, a “you’ve got this” before a big day, or a sweet little reminder from someone who loves them.
We’ll be sharing more about that soon with Nom-Nom Notes, because tiny notes deserve their own spotlight. And possibly their own applause.
So why do kids love pockets so much?
Because pockets give children a place to practice big ideas in a small way.
A pocket says:
You can put something here.
You can hide it.
You can find it.
You can carry it.
You can choose what matters.
You can share it.
You can keep it close.
That is why pocket play can feel so satisfying to children. It offers control, surprise, repetition, and imagination all at once.
And when the pocket is part of a soft, huggable plush character? Even better.
Now the pocket is not just a pocket. It is a mouth. A hiding spot. A treasure holder. A secret keeper. A little stage for a child’s imagination.
Where Nom-Noms fit in
Nom-Noms were designed around a play pattern kids already love: stuff it, stash it, snuggle it.
They are soft plush friends with built-in pocket mouths made for tiny treasures, little surprises, notes, candy treats, charms, small toys, and all the very important things children somehow cannot leave behind.
The Tooth Brigade makes three kinds of pocket-powered products:
Nom-Noms — pocket-mouth pillows for treasures, notes, toys, candy, and everyday play.
Tooth Pillows — special pocket-mouth pillows made for the tooth-losing years.
Littles bag charms — smaller clip-on friends for tiny treasures on the go.
Nom-Noms are labeled for ages 3+, and as with all toys and small objects, grown-ups should choose age-appropriate treasures and supervise play when needed. Small items can be a choking hazard for children under 3, and parents can learn more from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission here: Small Parts and Choking Hazard Guidance
That safety note is important because the pocket may be playful, but the grown-up is still in charge of what goes inside.
Tiny toy? Great for the right age.
Small candy? Grown-up approved.
A mystery item found under the couch? Let’s maybe investigate first.
The big idea behind tiny treasures
The next time your child fills a pocket, hides a toy, stashes a note, or carries a tiny collection from room to room, you may be watching more than a cute habit.
You may be watching pattern play.
You may be watching problem-solving.
You may be watching a child test space, memory, control, and imagination.
And yes, you may also be watching a child put a cracker somewhere a cracker was never meant to go.
Childhood is like that.
At It Helps To Play, we believe the best toys make room for the way children already love to play. Not every treasure needs a treasure chest. Sometimes it just needs a soft friend with a big pocket mouth.
Stuff it. Stash it. Snuggle it.
That’s pocket power.