When your child drops their final nap, it’s time to transition to quiet time. This quiet time post features an awesome assortment of toys, games, puzzles, books, and various supplies to make this transition a success. Building a quiet time activities bin is a big part to starting this next no-naps chapter.
What is quiet time?
Having a quiet time each day for my kids is necessary in our house.
Read more about our quiet time process here, and how I made it a successful time in our post-nap time life.
Part of what makes our quiet time so successful is breaking it into three manageable chunks for time for my kids.
- 1:00-2:00 pm – Play Time (in their rooms)
- 2:00-2:30 pm – Quiet Time Bin (in the family room)
- 2:30-3:00 pm – Screen Time (also in the family room)
This two hour block is so important for my family – it’s important for my big kids to have quiet, independent time. It’s important for me (running a business) and my husband (working from home) to have this brief uninterrupted work time. We need quiet time and we never feel guilty about it.
RELATED: Looking for tips for setting up quiet time? Check out my post with all my quiet time tips!
Why have a quiet time activities bin
After my kids have their independent play time in their rooms, they come downstairs to play with the quiet time bin next.
Although I have our schedule set up for 30 mins with this bin…. my kids regularly spent much more time in these quiet time activities and supplies, and don’t start screen time until well after 2:30.
That’s great!
We set up our house with a predictable order of events, not based on military time. They can flex as they need to.
Having this quiet time activities bin greatly improved the success rate of quiet time at our house. Making this bin for my kids and setting up quiet time into three chunks (rather than one long setting) made all the difference.
Note: You do not need to buy all these items for a solid activities bin. These are ideas. Suggestions. You also don’t need to put out much each day. Have a few options for your kids and rotate as you remember.
Creative-based Quiet Time Activities
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Paint by Stickers
One of the most engaging activities – these “paint by sticker books” come in various themes from dinosaurs to unicorns to seasonal. Kids do need to be able to identify numbers 1-50 to be successful.
Wikki Stix
An absolute all-star product for kids – and perfect for quiet, concentrating play. No mess, nothing loud, this is a quiet time bin dream.
Magic Clay
Air dry clay is an awesome option for kids during their quiet time. Create with this set and let it dry over night.
Jumbo Coloring Pad
These giant color pads are FANTASTIC. They have detail but not too small. The pictures are intricate but not overwhelming. The orientation and size of the book makes them so much better than traditional coloring books.
Mini Sketch Pad
These are everything at our house. Just the right size for kids, spiral bound, and keeps their art in order.
Reusable Paper Dolls
These are NOT paper: they’re the same material as reusable stickers. This set has been a quiet time game changer that I’ve been carrying with me recently. Kids gravitate to this.
Puffy Sticky Set
These reusable puffy stickers are everything quiet time should be. Kids can create, imagine, and concentrate silently on their stickers (then use them again tomorrow).
LED Doodle Board
Couldn’t love these doodle boards more! This is a great, reusable way for kids to create during quiet time.
Lacing Beads
Absolutely love lacing beads for kids. Creative, reusable, math, art, fine motor: it is a gold mine of skills.
Reusable Sticker Pad
Another great sticker option and these are reusable! Each pad comes with scenes/backgrounds that kids can set up and play with over and over.
Magnetic Book
10/10 for this magnetic book from Janod. We love it. Animal body parts for kids to make real animals or imaginary ones. It keeps kids busy.
One-Player Games for Quiet Time
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Spot It!
This game is fantastic for kids (and adults). Kids can play ALONE or quietly with a sibling. Fantastic game to add to your bin.
Smart Farmer
Absolutely love this logic puzzle game for kids. It is fantastic for ages 4+. My kids have been locked into playing with this for years (aka this toy has longevity).
Mosaic Mysteries
This was my husband’s as a kid and my own kids have loved it at grandma’s since age 4. Follow the directions to create the puzzle – even with directions, it’s not easy.
Aqua Rings
Laugh all you want at this suggestion – kids love it. It’s soothing and silent, and exactly perfect for quiet time.
Memory
Who doesn’t love memory? My kids will play this alone or quietly with siblings – it works in our bin!
Math-based Ideas for Quiet Time
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Dominoes
Do you own dominoes? I love having them for kids! They’re a surprisingly simple open-ended toy for kids to build and learn with.
Pattern Blocks
Straight from school days, pattern blocks are math and art mixing in a beautiful way. Kids know exactly how to play with these – and in that play, they do an incredible amount of math learning.
Geoboards
You remember these from grade school right? They are still a vibe. If you’re unfamiliar, these are math boards that come with rubber bands for kids to make geometric shapes.
Books for the Quiet Time Bin
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Big Preschool Workbook
I’ve never been a fan of workbooks but I do love mazes, dot to dots, and the like. Having a giant book full of these fun games is great for quiet time.
Where’s Waldo?
Do your kids own this classic yet? Oh they’re so fun to look through and get lost in. Just as awesome as when we were kids (and such a quiet time activity hero).
National Geographic Kids Books
Please consider adding some large non-fiction books to your quiet time bin. These are not books your child can read but will get lost looking at. We need more of that in learning today – kids stumbling upon new knowledge. This series also has an animal book, space book, and ocean book.
Hidden Pictures
I loved Hidden Pictures when I was a kid – this preschool version by Highlights is so good. With stickers to place on the hidden pictures, it makes it so accessible for little ones.
Smithsonian Books
We have several of these Smithsonian books for kids and they are amazing to flip through – you can’t believe how much kids can discover just by looking at a good non-fiction book. Other books in the series that we love: picturepedia, space, and the human body.
I Spy
Another classic – my kids have been into I-Spy books since they were toddlers. There’s something magical about these pages… There is also a version of I-Spy that uses picture clues which is great for pre-readers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quiet time for kids is the next phase after naps. When a child drops their afternoon nap, replace it with quiet time to maintain having a scheduled time to recharge and reset for both the parent and the child.
The best activities will vary based on the child. I look for something that encourages focus and concentrating. The deeper engagement a child can find in an activity, toy, or book, the better it is for quiet time.
That’s going to vary based on kids and families. I had a bin for my kids with a few options. Every week or so, I’d do a quick rotation – swapping with other items from around the house.
I keep these activities, books, toys separate and only available at quiet time. This keeps them special. It also makes it easy to rotate them in and our every few weeks to stay fresh.
Susie Allison, M. Ed
Owner, Creator
Susie Allison is the creator of Busy Toddler and has more than 2.3 million followers on Instagram. A former teacher and early childhood education advocate, Susie’s parenting book “Busy Toddler’s Guide to Actual Parenting” is available on Amazon.
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Kathy says
As a Grandma caring for our 3 and 4 year old grandkids Monday through Friday, I enjoy looking at your ideas. I have just initiated “Quiet Time” because this Grandma is TIRED (it has been just over a year that I have been caring for them). We do lots of fun activities, but there have been some serious meltdowns recently that I think is due to overstimulation and fatigue. So-quiet time. Keep those ideas coming. I’m really enjoying them.