If your child has given up naps this list of activities is great way to transition to quiet time!

Busy Mom’s Favorites {Quiet Time Activities for Kids}

I remember when my first son was really small and I would look forward to his naptime so that I could have a break and grab a shower.  I remember the joy that I felt when he finally settled into 2 naps a day: the glorious 2 hour nap in the morning and the wonderful hour nap right before dinner.  I also remember the terror and fear that struck my heart when he switched to one nap a day and then the disappointment when he stopped napping altogether.

When boy #2 arrived it was the same roller coaster of emotions. When he started showing signs of giving up naps I knew that I needed to find something that would let me have a few moments during the day to regain my sanity and something that would help my boys get the rest and downtime they needed. Quiet time activities were the answer!

If your child has given up naps this list of activities is great way to transition to quiet time!

Quiet Time Activities for Your Non-Napping Children

When my boys stopped napping I knew that they still needed time to rest during the day even if they didn’t need to sleep. I came up with a list of things that they could do in their rooms quietly for an hour while I had some time to get some work done or occasionally get some rest myself.

Audiobooks are our favorite quiet time activity. My boys love listening to the stories and the thing that I love is that I can tell them to listen to X number of chapters or the whole thing before they get up or come out of their room. This keeps them from coming out or yelling down the hall every 5 minutes “Is it time to get up yet?”.  Here are some of our favorite audiobooks:

Other activities that work well for quiet time:

Making the Transition to Quiet Time

My boys usually listen to an audiobook in their beds for about and hour and then get up and play quietly in their room for another hour. It took some time to get to this point. If your children are really young or new to quiet time you may need to start in smaller increments and work your way up to your desired amount of time. Use a timer so that you child won’t have to ask you every minute if quiet time is over. Also make sure that everyone has had lunch and some time to run around and burn off some energy before starting quiet time.

Here are a few other tips to help you get started:

  • A baby gate is a helpful for little ones so that they don’t leave their room.  It gives them a safe, structured place to play.
  • Be consistent: if you are going to transition to quiet time, stick to it. Don’t allow your children to argue or negotiate with you.
  • Rotate activities so that your children don’t get bored. Have things that only come out during quiet time or maybe have a  scheduled rotation.

Do you have any favorite activities or tips to add to this list? What do your non nappers do?

signature_latoya

This entry was posted in Heidi's Favorite Things, MomStrong Parenting and tagged , on by .

About LaToya Edwards

LaToya is a recovering perfectionist and control freak that loves old movies, good books and strawberry Hagen Daas ice cream. She traded in a law degree to homeschool her children and be home full-time to serve her family. Through trials of divorce, depression, death and more she has learned how to find joy in motherhood and God’s purpose and plan in broken circumstances. As a certified life coach it is LaToya’s desire to encourage and equip other women to do the same. You can keep up with LaToya on her blog.

9 thoughts on “Busy Mom’s Favorites {Quiet Time Activities for Kids}

  1. Noelle

    Going through this right now and your ideas are awesome, I just put a bunch of those audio books on hold at the library and will start giving this a try tomorrow! My 5 year old drives me nuts with, “is it time? Is it time? Every 5 minutes! Thanks for the great ideas!

    Reply
  2. Amy Simon

    I turn on the sleep option on his click radio. It plays the radio for an hour and then turns off. My 3 year old knows that when the radio turns off he can get out.

    Reply
  3. Jennifer

    ADVENTURES IN ODYSSEY!!! (Yes, sorry for yelling). My mom used these for quiet times back when they came in cassette tape versions, and when my 3rd was born, I desperately pulled out a set in hopes of getting a much-needed nap while the baby was sleeping. I stuck a tape in for my then 4- and 6-year-old boys and they were hooked. It wasn’t long before they were eager for “Odyssey time”, and my oldest is now such a huge fan (and collector) that he has done some internship-type work FOR Focus on the Family and the Adventures in Odyssey team!

    I tell every new homeschooler I meet about the necessity for quiet time. It’s been an absolute must in our house for over 11 years, but I didn’t *really* get how much I needed it until my husband started working from home this past spring. Even HE doesn’t get to disrupt mom’s quiet time!!! My kids are now 17, 15, 11 and 9, and we still do quiet time every day after lunch!

    Reply
  4. Dani Grate

    I highly recommend My Tot Clock. You can set it for a designated amount of time and hit the nap time button. It is blue during rest time and then turns yellow after the designated amount of time. It stops the “can I come out yet?” problems. We also use it to avoid early morning wake up calls. Has a time out button as well as many other features.

    Reply
  5. Jen

    What age would you say they’d get into audio books or Odyssey? My boys are 4.5 and almost 3. ( and a 5 mo old!) They love books and I’d say the older is pretty mature for his age in this regard….

    Reply
    1. LaToya Edwards Post author

      My boys were about that same age when we started listening to AIO. I would say start with the early ones because there are some adult/serious themes as the characters have gotten older.

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Jen Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *