Quiet Time for Little Kids

The Days of Napping are Over. Now What?

Why Quiet Time?

I will forever be a champion of quiet time. It has helped us break up our day into kind of “blocks”. The time Before Quiet Time, which is roughly after breakfast to after lunch; Quiet Time; and After Quiet Time, which goes from as soon as quiet time is over to dinner time. Quiet Time is beneficial for us all. I get some “me time”, which is when I work on all blog posts and social media. This is the time the two youngest still nap, while Little Miss (3.5 years) and Big Man (5.5 years) have their separate time apart to kind of reset for the rest of the day.

The Set-Up.

I try my hardest to arrange everyone to have quiet time at the same time. The oldest two can be more flexible, so as soon as The Baby needs to take his second nap (anywhere between 11:30-2), that is when we have quiet time. Little Man struggles to stay awake until his only nap, so frequently I put him down for a nap first. Then go and get The Baby and put him down for a nap. Then go and get our bedroom ready for Little Miss. She has quiet time on our bed since we only have three bedrooms. Once she is settled in her room, I help Big Man get ready for his quiet time in the living room.

Stories in Quiet Time

Both Big Man and Little Miss get to listen to audio stories and do an activity. We have three different ways we listen to audio stories, and we rotate it around. The first is an old iPhone that we keep locked and is used as just a podcast player and plays kids podcasts that we have purposely put on the phone. The second is a vintage cassette player with a variety of Your Story Hour cassettes. Your Story Hour is an old Christian radio show that is a fully scripted and acted show that dramatizes Bible stories. The kids love it. Lastly, we also have a Storybutton. The Storybutton has a variety of original stories and kids podcasts that they can listen to.

Activities to Do in Quiet Time

The kids get to do a variety of activities in quiet time while they listen to their stories. Big Man does Legos, draws in a doodle book like this one, does puzzles, or play dough. Little Miss, back in our bedroom, has a small box of her own legos, coloring books, reusable stickers, and a few stuffed animals.

Ending Quiet Time

Quiet time usually lasts for about 1.5 hours on average. If we end up having a very late quiet time, I make sure Little Man never is napping after 3:30 pm because it will affect his evening bed time. After quiet time, everyone is usually refreshed to see each other again and are excited for a snack. I am very hopeful we can continue to have a quiet time routine for a long time. The kids enjoy it, and it is helpful for me as well.

Do your kids have quiet time? If so, would love to hear what they do!

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