After a packed morning of homeschooling and a hectic lunch, our family settles down for our read aloud hour. I love snuggling on the couch and sharing a beautiful story with my children. It is one of the few times during the day where I get to just site and enjoy my little ones. They get lots of hugs, kisses, squeezes, and words of love during that special time! After reading together, we all head to different areas of the house to have our family quiet time.
My oldest reads through his required booklist (classics, living history and science literature) at this time. The younger two nap, but what does the non-napping, non-reading child do?
I think many people give up the idea of having some quiet space in their day after their child gives up a nap, but I know this time is important for both my children and me.
If you have never done quiet time, but are considering it, I would suggest starting with a 15 minute interval and working up until you reach your quiet time goal. Our quiet time lasts approximately an hour.
Just be firm and let your child know they do not have to nap, but they do need to stay in their room (or a specific area) until you come to get them.
Besides letting your preschooler know your expectations, it is great to have some activities they can use independently to keep themselves occupied. Here is a list of our favorites!
Preschool Quiet Time Activities and Tools
Audio books
- The Complete Adventures of Curious George My kids get a tickle out of the original Curious George series and have loved the audio version.
- The Caboose Who Got Loose Any books by Bill Peet are winners, but this is the only one I have been able to find on audio.
- Winnie-the-Pooh is a classic! Sometimes I think it is hard for a young child to follow the dry humor, but Pooh is still a deeply loved bear in our home.
- Virginia Lee Burton is one of my favorite children’s authors. Her simple drawings and stories are timeless. Her books that come with accompanying CD include The Little House, Katy and the Big Snow, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.
Music
Beethoven’s Wig Series If you haven’t been introduced to the Beethoven’s Wig Series, you are in for a real treat! Our whole family gets a kick out of the hilarious lyrics set to classical tunes. I’m amazed at the amount of classical music and composers I have become familiar with through these CDs. We have Sing-along Symphonies (#1), More SIng-Along Symphonies (#2), and Many More Sing-Along Symphonies (#3) and they are all winners. The others are on our Christmas wish list!
- Philadelphia Chicken I wasn’t sure what I thought of this off-the-wall music when I first heard it, but it has become a new favorite for the kids. If your preschooler has a sense of humor, this book/CD set is for him!
- Hidden in my Heart This CD has scripture set to soothing lullaby music. I think the music is beautiful and will help fill up your little one’s heart with God’s Word.
Activities
Puzzles Alphabet, number, color, shape puzzles are a great way to keep your little one occupied during quiet hour. I keep quite a few around so they never get bored with the same puzzle. I often pick them up at garage sales for less than a dollar.
- Lauri Primer Pack We have had this set for over five years. It is a great value, the kids love it, and it hold up well. There are lacing activities, building links, mini puzzles, and an alphabet puzzle. It also travels well!
- Water Wow! The pens in these sets fill with water and your child “colors” the images in the notebook. The great thing is after the image dries, the color disappears and your child can use it again-no mess!Crayola Color Wonder These markers don’t draw on anything except for the Crayola Color Wonder paper. Great for drawing without supervision!
- Simple Busy Bags I love simple busy bags. While I have never done a busy bag trade, I have heard they are a great way to get a variety of busy bags without too much work. Otherwise, these can be quite time consuming to prepare.
- Mazes This is such a simple and fun way for little ones to develop some fine motor skills. We print off 20 at a time from KrazyDad’s maze page. I 3-hole punch them and place them in a binder with a pencil.
Where do I keep all this stuff?
I simply put a tub of all these activities along with a stack of puzzles in my preschooler’s room closet. On his bookshelf is his CD player with a case of CDs. I just pull out a few activities before quiet time and lay them out on the floor or put them in another tub. After quiet time is over, we work together to pick up.
If you want to get all fancy-smanshy, check out these super organized quiet time boxes from Teaching Mama.
Take it a step further:
I got Creative Family Times several years ago and it is such a great resource for parents. The basic gist of the book is taking time to create “tapes” for your child to listen to during their quiet time. These recordings are your voice reading their favorite books, reciting poetry, catechism questions, singing the ABC’s, counting, etc. Such a great way to use those quiet times for good!
(Psst! These are great things to give or receive at Christmas!)
(*This post contains affiliate links)
Great ideas Elizabeth! My family definitely needs some help in this area.
Thanks, Laura! I personally would not know what I would do without our quiet time every afternoon!