I got a message on my last post from Tina about "Quiet Time" at our house and thought I would make a post of it. It's always a daily struggle: Isaac stopped taking naps when he turned 4, but I still need some down time in the house to get things done while his brother and sister sleep. I have a couple of things I do that I will share, but this post is more about getting ideas from other moms about things that have worked for them. So, if you're a mom and you have any sort of ideas for keeping kids occupied for sanity sake, then PLEASE comment them here! Maybe we can come up with enough ideas to keep us all smiling when 1pm comes around!
Here are some things that have worked for Isaac and I:
- I set up a craft table in the basement about 2 years ago and stock it with all different art supplies. Isaac will go down there and mess around with all of it and will sometimes come up with some really cute stuff. (art table includes: colored pencils, crayons, markers, scrapbooking scissors, watercolors, dot paints, construction paper, coloring books, colored popsicle sticks, glue sticks, etc)
- Isaac loves puzzles, so I have quite a few. He will take the box downstairs and do as many as possible. I also have a stopwatch that he will use to see if he can beat his time the second time around. (makes a puzzle last longer) We are up to 100 piece puzzles, which is nice, because those take a lot longer.
- I will keep any sort of catalogs that are semi-kiddie (mindware, oriental trading, etc) and have him take a marker and circle certain things. i.e. everything that is for a boy, everything that is red, everything that daddy would like. I also have him circle things that he finds interesting and that he might like to try one day. (one word of caution: sometimes he gets so excited about what he sees that he will have to show me every couple of seconds, so this will backfire every once in awhile)
- Instead of just giving him markers and some paper, sometimes I will give him something larger.... posterboard, large piece of cardboard, table paper, etc. I will have him create a whole scene- our family in space, his friends at a farm, Jesus being born, etc. This takes him a lot longer than just coloring one paper and he gets very into it!
- I haven't tried this one yet, but LOVE the idea. I want to get him a "Quiet Time Journal" that he makes entries in every day. He gets one page to do anything he wants on- color, write his name, glue pictures on, etc. I love the idea most because it is a contained way of keeping some of his best stuff around, and it doesn't have to end up on my fridge!
2 comments:
These are GREAT ideas. I only have one that naps now. Quiet time around here is well...pretty much non-existent! So when bedtime arrives...I'm DEFINETLY ready for some quiet time. I think I'm going to use your journal idea. that would work PERFECT for my older 2...writing practice and then mason can color, and/or glue things on there. I've tried the puzzles. but my boys hate them. pieces just end up all over the place. Mya enjoys them...but she is easy to entertain. lol. she would have quiet time all day if i wanted her to! :) I'll see if i can find some neat ideas though and share them as i find them. i'm on a hunt for them now too! :) i think we need some "quiet time" in my house! :)
I LOVE the journal idea. I have just the sketchbook I've hung onto since CBC for him to use. It's funny, my rest time repertoire looks very much like yours. I think I'm going to go through your blog soon & gather all the other ideas I've seen & maybe haven't done that I could use. I seem to remember a ziploc bag something or other for drs visits.
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