quiet time activities

10 Peaceful Quiet Time Activities

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There’s something eternal about the question of what activities children can do during quiet time.

Some children easily find quiet time activities to occupy themselves. Other kids need help to find things to do.

So here are some ideas to give your children during quiet time.

1. Reading

Children can read books during quiet time. Simply leave a book basket next to the quiet time area for the children to browse through.

It’s the perfect opportunity to expand on history or science studies.

You can also toss in some art and geography books for children. National Geographic is always fun to look through. Don’t forget to have some entertaining literature or comic books for your child to read.

2. Quiet Play As Peaceful Quiet Time Activities

Children enjoy playing with Legos, small toy animals, cars, or dolls quietly during quiet time. And giving your child a bed tray to play on really helps.

My little boy can play for hours on his bed if he has a flat surface to play on.

Other kids enjoy quiet tea parties with their stuffed animals or simply curl up and quietly chat with their favorite toy.

Quiet play is a wonderful quiet time activity.

3. Bed Making

Bed making is one of my daughter’s favorite activities. She loves taking the time to tidy and straighten her sheets.

Dolls and stuffed monkeys are carefully arranged.

Bed making keeps her happily occupied for quite a while before she begins to play quietly with her dolls.

4. Audio Books

It’s the perfect time to give your child audiobooks or music cd’s to listen to.

It’s the perfect opportunity to expand your child’s exposure to classic children’s books or various styles of music.

You can also turn on Story of the World and have your children learning history during quiet time.

5. Write

My children often write poetry or short stories during quiet time. And after quiet time, they run up to share their latest creation.

Other children keep a journal to write in during the quiet time. It’s an excellent way to journal events and to remember the joys of today.

And some children start writing during quiet time and never stop. Their stories have grown from 10-20 pages in length to full-length novels.

6. Puzzles

Puzzles are a wonderful quiet time activity for kids. Kids will happily spend hours solving puzzles.

And they can give hours of fun particularly in combination with audiobooks or music.

You can give easy puzzles that children can easily finish in a day. Or you can give harder puzzles that will take your children days to complete.

Either way, your children will love this peaceful quiet time activity.

7. Artwork

Many children enjoy drawing or coloring as their quiet time activities.

You can hand over chalk pastels and a sketchbook. Or simply stick to crayons and a coloring book.

Pull out an art instruction book like How to Draw 101 Animals and let the kids go.

And remember to hang their artwork on the refrigerator when they’re done.

8. Schoolwork.

My older children tend to finish their schoolwork during quiet time.

The house is quiet leaving a prime opportunity to study without younger siblings disturbing their peace. And it’s amazing how much work they can complete in a quiet house.

They’ll read their history lessons, answer science questions, or take a math test.

Schoolwork is the perfect quiet time activity for older kids.

9. Time with the Family Pet

Have your child curl up and pet the family dog or cat during quiet time.

Hand your children brushes so they can gently groom their beloved pet during quiet time.

here’s much to be said for simply relaxing and enjoying time with your pet during quiet time.

10. Sleep

My preschoolers don’t usually nap, but sometimes they curl up under their blankets and fall asleep in the peace of the quiet house.

There’s nothing like a midday nap to revive a child for the afternoon activities.

The best part of quiet time activities is that there’s an activity that’s a good fit for every child in the house.

For instance, the youngest children can sleep while the oldest children complete their schoolwork.

And you can enjoy a few quiet minutes reading your favorite book without being disturbed.

What are some quiet time activities that work in your house?

peaceful quiet time activities

18 Comments

  1. Great ideas for quiet time!
    Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!

  2. These are great suggestions. My oldest loves to do artwork during quiet time. And often my youngest likes to sit by our big window and watch outside. She looks at the birds, the trees, the clouds…I love to sit and watch her as she sit there thinking and staring.

    1. There’s so much to be seen outside! I spent many happy hours as a child watching the world. It’s a great quiet time activity.

  3. I love your ideas! My children are older and don’t have quiet time any more, but I know lots of folks who have younger children and who need QT. I’ll pass your ideas along to my sister and her children. 🙂 Thanks for linking up with us at Hip Homeschool Moms!

  4. This is a great list of ideas. The one I always am reminded of when I read blogs, but never remember to actually do is set up an audio book for my son. I know he would enjoy that! Right now he reads for an hour and then can play quietly for another half hour or so. I think he would enjoy an audio book during the play portion. My 3yo daughter still naps, but I’m sure she will be one to draw the hour away once she doesn’t need her nap anymore =) Thanks for the great ideas!

    1. Many children love audiobooks! My mom purchased a Fisher-price tape player for us to take to bed with us. We could curl up and listen to books to our hearts content during quiet time and bedtime. 🙂

  5. My daughter is in 4th grade and we still have a daily quiet time and I think it’s one of our favorite times of the day. She likes to color or draw while she listens to audio books or, right now, Adventures in Odyssey is her favorite thing to listen to.

  6. These are great ideas for quiet time during the day. I haven’t thought about adding music when the children work with puzzles. It would be interesting to see if it improves their concentration and allows them to complete the puzzles more successfully. Thanks for the great ideas.

  7. Reading! And more reading!

    Bed-making is not a quiet time activity for my girl! That’s sweet that your daughter enjoys it. 🙂

  8. We are transitioning to quiet time (from naps). So far my son has been content with Lego and books, but I think I’ll need to expand soon. Thanks for the ideas. I found you on #thoughtful spot!

  9. Love the kids’ quiet time! Great ideas. My daughter can spend a lot of time making her bed – getting all those blankets and animals just right too. My older kids love puzzles with lots of pieces.

  10. My little ones still take naps, but I often think of what we will do for quiet time once they transition out of naps. Some great ideas here, thanks for sharing! 🙂

  11. These are wonderful ideas! Quiet time is such an important part of my day. We all need a bit of a break from each other and time to rest. 🙂

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