What do you allow your kids to do during quiet/rest time?

[ChristusG]

This school year I want to begin a daily quiet time. My girls love spending their free moments together and I know that they will beg to have their quiet time together. I'm not sure if I should let them play quietly together in the playroom or if I should separate them and have them look at books or other quiet activities. What do your kids do? Do you separate them?

[flobee76]

:lurk5:

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Our girls sleep together in a loft bed. I draw the curtains in their bedroom and they play quietly with their dolls or magnets, or another small toy, in their bed or they just lay there and whisper. Sometimes they end up taking a nap. :)

[Daisy]

I separate my kids. The whole point of quiet time at my house is to get the kids away from each other so I don't have to police behavior. LOL. I need a *break* from, "Stop tickling me!" "He hit me!" "She called me a baby!"

 

My kids don't necessarily have to be in their rooms but they have to be in separate rooms. They can read, write, draw, do a puzzle, or play quietly with legos or other building toys. No going outside. No talking. No screaming. No bickering. QUIET. :D I normally only make it 45 minutes to an hour long.

 

If they have a problem with that for some reason, I put them to work doing chores. Obviously if they have so much energy that they can't be quiet, then they can fold laundry or wash the baseboards or clean the toilet, right?

[lea1]

We started quiet time each day when the boys gave up their naps. In the beginning, I only allowed books or puzzles and found out quickly that they had to be in separate rooms if we were indeed going to have 'quiet'.

 

Over time we have now evolved to being in the same room, although I am in the room also and they can not see each other very well. They take turns, one on the couch and the other on the floor with two bean bag chairs behind a large chair (it's kind of a fun little hidey hole kind of place). I also allow them to have lots of other kinds of toys, although they have to be quiet toys. They love having the building toys, such as Tinker Toys and Trios. They still look at books and they also enjoy listening to books and music on CD through head phones.

 

I sometimes wonder if I should have stuck with just books and puzzles. Once they learn to read, we may go to just books.

[Starr]

We all went to our own beds with books. Of course some of the beds were also covered with dolls and stuffed animals. :) My dc played quite well together but an hour or so of a break was great for all of us. They started to look forward to it.

[TKDmom]

I decided to re-implement quiet time today. So in my, ahem, vast experience, they have to be separate. ;)

 

But, seriously, the reason quiet time has never worked well for us is that I've never enforced the "stay in your own bed" rule. Today, I let them all sit in one room listening to a book on CD. After about 10 minutes, the fighting started, so I turned off the CD player, sent them to their own beds, and told them they could read or do nothing. It was much quieter after that. My 5yo can't read yet, but he can sit with a pile of picture books and flip through them.

 

I'm looking forward to having quiet time on a daily basis, now.

[aggieamy]

I seperate for quiet time but that's also a necessary thing because too much together time for the girls makes them start fighting. They have bunk beds so they each stay on their bed and talking is forbidden. Most of the time it works - sometimes it doesn't and I have to put one in my bedroom though. Our quiet time lasts about an hour and they are allowed to play with stuffed animals, read, nap, or I can put an audiobook on for them. That's all they are allowed. My niece still isn't fond of it but my step-daughter loves it. She really enjoys quiet time and will request to stay for awhile and listen to more of the book.

[lollie010]

I was just logging on to ask the same question. I have not had a quite time since they outgrew naps. The two olders do everything together. They have NO alone time. I think they both need it and so do I.

 

So I don't even know how to get started.

[Outdoorsy Type]

I put my boys in seperate rooms and make them read or look at books. I might change this year to letting them listen to audiobooks and do puzzles on some days.

[Food4Thought]

I separate mine (not always separate rooms, but always separate beds). They can play with toys as long as they are quiet, and I don't allow anything that requires too much brain power (no legos or k'nex). For DS, I'll often give him a deck of Uno cards or RightStart cards and ask him to organize them - that seems to be the most relaxing thing he can do that will also keep him busy & quiet.

[Nakia]

It totally depends on how our day is going. We don't have a quiet time every single day, but if mommy needs some quiet time, everybody gets quiet time. :D If they have been getting along together that day, they can have their time together, as long as they play quietly. If everyone is grumpy and bickering, everyone goes in a separate room for a while.

[Pretty in Pink]

My kids may either read or nap during quiet time. I allow them to read aloud to one another, if they wish, so long as they keep it down. My oldest retreats to his room with a book, my two middle ones usually do I Spy or Where's Waldo together, and the baby naps.

[Guest Alte Veste Academy]

I have recently reinstated quiet time and we all LOVE it! I separate the kids. As Daisy pointed out, a major reason for quiet time is for everyone to have quiet time, including Mom. As a matter of fact, I have gone hard-core with it, issuing penalty time for interruptions. (Everyone enjoys QT but no one enjoys still being in when everyone else has come out.) :D

 

They read. That is all I allow. DS7 and DD are strong readers and little book addicts like Mom. DS4 is also a book lover so I want to encourage the good habit of taking time for silent reading every day. Shouldn't everyone do it? Plus, half the time, he falls asleep reading (and wouldn't if playing with toys) and that is a good thing too. :)

[FairProspects]

Mine are in separate rooms.

 

They can play with anything in their rooms (Legos, Playmobil, various small noiseless vehicles, Army men) or read/look at books & sleep. They can also listen to audiobooks or instrumental music. Ds #1 has a "craft nightstand" which includes stencils, construction paper, scissors, tape, pencils & crayons. Frequently he draws or builds during quiet time. Ds #2 usually picks audiobook and either falls asleep or sleeps from the get-go, but he is still young.

 

I do allow them to trade off days taking the dog to bed with them, and both they and the dog love it as the dog usually dozes off with them. So cute!!

 

I love our quiet time and would not give it up for the world. I plan on it evolving as they get older to include whatever interests they desire.