Quiet Times Revisited - Exciting Playtimes Ahead!

For a while now, our quiet times have become more of a chore for my little three year old daughter, rather than a delight. Because she shares a room with her brother, it is more difficult to just send her to her bedroom to have "quiet solo playtime" in the afternoons the way it used to be when Wesley wasn't napping in her room.

We have trudged along, trying different creative ways to have quiet times by staying in a spot with quiet toys and books:

• On a blanket in the living room
• On the couch
• In the corner with a comfy children's chair
• On mommy and daddy's bed

I stumbled along another woman's blog and she was sharing a terrific idea from an article on Above Rubies. This woman at http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2009/03/quiet-time-bins.html writes about her children's quiet times and what she has put together for them. This sounds like such an amazing idea that I put together special bags for my daughter.

I tried to include mostly toys or activities that she can't do when her brother is awake and getting into her stuff.

• Tangrams
• Beads
• Coloring Books & Crayons
• Floor Puzzle
• Doctor's Kit & Dolls
• Paper Dolls and doll house
• Wooden Doll with magnet clothes
• Blank pads & pencil crayons
• Small "Little People" sets

I divided the activites up into five bags, one for each day of the week. She helped me decorate the labels on each. Maybe we will learn the days of the week while we're at this.


My hope is that this will encourage her to play with some toys that she has but often get mixed up with everything else in the house! It is difficult to play doctor when half of your kit is someplace and the other half is lost somewhere else!