Quiet Time Activities

[Epicurean]

I’ve been desperate for some rest in the afternoon while my young toddler takes her afternoon nap, so I give my almost five year old the iPad and she happily watches Netflix in her room for 2 - 2.5 hours everyday.

I really want to change this habit, in part because we are a low screen time family in general (we don’t own a tv) and in part because I can’t properly regulate what she watches while I’m asleep. I activated the parental controls, but there is so much junk on there that she gravitates toward.

I want to replace the movies with audiobooks. But for those of you who do that, do you provide any other activities to do while they listen? I’m just afraid she’ll lose interest in there all by herself. I can’t give her crayons or markers to color with while she listens, because she’s too young to be trusted with them alone. Any other ideas? Or do you think having access to her toys, dolls, blocks, etc. is enough?

Any advice about establishing a great Quiet Time routine is welcome!

[HomeAgain]

A quiet time box helps.  I used to watch a 3yo, and I had to have him be quiet(ish) while the 6yo had a violin lesson.  Each week I packed up special, open-ended toys for him to use that I never took out at other times.  Ever.  They were sacred to this 45min period.  I gave him things like:
-attribute blocks and cards to build on
-a light up sketching board (I forget the name of it, but no ink or pencils)
-a set of cars that could be mixed and matched
-magnetic blocks
-preschool logic games
-BambinoLuk
-felt pieces and a board
-finger puppets/puppets on sticks
-wordless books

Anything that would captivate him a bit so that he looked forward to that time.  I'd rotate the toys out so there there were only 3-4 in there at each time, and try to come up with new ones periodically (like a miniature LiteBrite that was fantastic!)

[Lori D.]

Just me: I could not have trusted DSs at that age to not get into trouble or be injured if I were laying down, and as a result, I would not have been able to relax and nap. So my first thought would be to look for a relative or friend, or hire a mother's helper, to come over for 2 hours 3x/week to watch the pre-schooler and interact. Or consider putting the pre-schooler into a 3-morning a week preschool, and use that time to put your feet up and make that your relaxing time, even if toddler is awake -- then during the toddler's nap, you can do quiet activities with pre-schooler that don't exhaust you.

We kept screens to a minimum when DSs were young too, but I did do about 1 hour/day, and they really enjoyed non-fiction/educational videos a lot. What about a portable DVD player with built in screen, and ONLY allowing educational shows, checked out from the library?

That's wonderful that you do have a pre-schooler who can safely self-entertain (although I don't know as though audiobooks and things to keep hands busy are going to keep the interest of a 4-almost-5-yo every day)... But here are some possible ideas -- and like HomeAgain, these would need to be quiet time ONLY activities, never used at any other time, to help them stay "special" and engaging:

What about setting up a bunch of "busy bags" to rotate through? See the Wayback Machine snapshots of the busy bag activities at the old Paula's Archives website.

Other ideas:
- lacing cards
- set of wooden blocks for building
- sticker books
- Kumon book and blunt scissors
- Geoboard and rubberbands
- Patternblocks and Patternables book
- pipe cleaners ("Chenille stems")
- magic drawing slate, or, scribble slate, or, etch-a-sketch, or, magnetic drawing board
 

Edited November 29, 2018 by Lori D.

[73349]

We started with a half hour at a time (and a color-changing clock to prevent "Am I done yet?") and freshly rotated books/toys nearly every day. If DS, then 4, could stay in his room (except to use the bathroom), stay quiet, and refrain from asking for attention (unless genuinely necessary), every three days he got a small reward. I used stickers on the calendar to keep track of progress.

Gradually I was able to increase the time (eventually to 90 minutes), withdraw the rewards, and decrease the novelty of the available items.

The first year or two, I kept the books and toys in little bins according to theme--farm things in the red bin, ocean things in blue, building/city in gray, etc.--and pulled out one at a time, keeping the rest on a shelf in the (locked) closet. If too many things were available, he scattered them and then didn't know what to do with himself, and found it too overwhelming to pick up.

That said, I could not have napped during that time. He gets his difficulty falling asleep from his mama. At least it's a break, though.

[Noreen Claire]

We start quiet time as soon as the child stops napping. My kids (4, 6, & 9) each have a tablet that I use to set up their audiobooks. I lock the tablet with a password once it's playing. The 4 and 6 year olds are in their rooms, the 9 year old is in the den. The 6yr old has Legos and books, and often brings up pencils & paper if he's working on a project. The 4yr old has a small basket of stuffed toys and another of Lego Duplos. They stay in their rooms from 1-3pm everyday, only coming out for bathroom visits or if their audiobook has finished.

We started when DS9 and DS6 were 5.5 and 2.5., starting with 15 minutes a day and, after a few months, we were up to 2hrs.

I have, not too infrequently, taken a nap on the couch with the youngest boy during quiet time. However, I am light sleeper and would wake up if they called or came down the stairs.

[Melissa in Australia]

I do one hour and twenty minutes nap/rest time with the twins. I put a timer on the ipad and put on a librivox story. I put the ipad up high where they cannot reach it. they play in their room with their toys or looking at their books for the whole time. I do not allow any drawing implements in their room during that time. 

 

I love the rest time. I use the time to help ds15 with his schoolwork. the twins absou.tly need the rest time - they have very high complex needs and the rest time helps them be more regulated for the rest of the day. They are so use to it that they automatically go there as soon as they have finished their lunch.

I would think 2 1/2 hours a bit long

[caedmyn]

I've needed a nap during little ones' naptine for about 5 years.  I did have one child who could entertain herself for long periods of time without supervision and not get into trouble, but the rest of mine have needed a movie to stay quiet and out of trouble...and 2 hours would be waaay too long for them to stay out of trouble even with a movie.  I typically nap for 30-45 minutes.  So my suggestion would be to try taking a shorter nap for a while and try instituting a short quiet time, like 30-45 minutes to start.  If that goes well you could gradually extend it.  If you absolutely cannot manage without a long nap, maybe try for a short quiet time first and set up the tablet with a parental control timer so it's locked while she does the quiet time, and then when it unlocks she can turn on her movies.  

[wendyroo]

20 hours ago, Noreen Claire said:

We start quiet time as soon as the child stops napping. My kids (4, 6, & 9) each have a tablet that I use to set up their audiobooks. I lock the tablet with a password once it's playing. The 4 and 6 year olds are in their rooms, the 9 year old is in the den. The 6yr old has Legos and books, and often brings up pencils & paper if he's working on a project. The 4yr old has a small basket of stuffed toys and another of Lego Duplos. They stay in their rooms from 1-3pm everyday, only coming out for bathroom visits or if their audiobook has finished.

We started when DS9 and DS6 were 5.5 and 2.5., starting with 15 minutes a day and, after a few months, we were up to 2hrs.

I have, not too infrequently, taken a nap on the couch with the youngest boy during quiet time. However, I am light sleeper and would wake up if they called or came down the stairs.

This is very similar to our house.  Rest time is from 1 to 3pm and everyone is either sleeping or entertaining themselves quietly in their rooms.  Once they graduate from napping (normally as older 3 year olds), they have access to books, audio books (including some of me reading their favorite picture books), kids' podcasts, and a small assortment of age-appropriate toys.  They "earn" more toys as they prove to me that they are able to consistently clean up what they have.

I do occasionally nap during rest time, but only with the kids safely locked in their rooms.  All of my boys are non-neurotypical and simply cannot keep themselves safe and out of serious trouble without supervision.  I figure it is a trade off - I maintain hyper vigilance for about 12 hours every day, rarely letting anyone out of my sight, but the only way I can keep that up is by taking a mental break during rest time while they are safely contained.

Wendy