How We Do Quiet Time

The Benefits of Quiet Time

I’ve read about the benefits of quiet time for kids, which include: mindfulness, peace, building confidence and independence, increasing creativity, and allowing the brain to function better. For us, it is something that works, and maybe this post will help you to implement it in your family, too!

Noah kept up his naps for what feels like forever compared to Georgia. He didn’t nap every day at the end, but he didn’t stop napping completely until he was 4.5 years old. Gigi, on the other hand, needed to give up naps at around 2.5. Giving up naps allowed her to sleep better at night and she seemed to function well without them.

Why Do We Have Quiet Time?

My kids get really overwhelmed from school, activities, play dates, and the more we have going on, the more they need a little “break”. So, to replace naps, we have quiet time. We don’t do it every day, but I try. In our house, the kids’ rooms are separated by a jack and jill bathroom, so for quiet time they are allowed to use one or both of their bedrooms. They can move between the rooms to either play together or separately. Basically, as long as they are playing nicely (and quietly), I let them choose how and what they play.

How Long is Quiet Time?

Quiet time can last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on:

how tired they seem/how busy the day is
whether I have specific things to get done
how well it goes (if they are arguing and I have to mediate constantly, there’s no point)

Quiet Time Timers

I found an amazing timer on amazon that shows the kids how much time is left. They LOVE it and are often asking me if they can set it for longer. I’ll link the timer here in case you’re looking for something similar. The only rule about the timer is that they don’t mess around with it and wait for it to go off on its on. To date, that hasn’t been a problem.

We also purchased a set of timers that have different intervals, which we use for all kinds of things around the house and the kids can choose the right interval for the activity we are doing. They don’t even have to be quiet-time related! The 2-minute timer is often used when they are brushing their teeth. Sometimes I set the 10-minute timer to encourage them to finish dinner in order to have enough time for dessert. Sometimes we’ll set the 5 minute timer and tidy up as much of their rooms as we can in those 5 minutes. I’ll link that set right here for those who want to check it out.

What Do They Do?

There are any number of things the kids can choose to do. We have a few, select, small toys that we keep in their closets. Figurines, some toy cars, blocks, magnetic alphabet, a couple of dolls with hair brushes, stuffed animals, some colouring supplies, and, of course, books. I know that having toys in the bedroom doesn’t work for everyone. Noah and Georgia don’t jump out of bed at night to play with their toys – they only really use them at quiet time – so it works for us. We don’t have anything in there that is battery operated, makes noise, has flashing lights, plays music, etc. Quiet time needs to be quiet, of course!

What Do I Do?

I stay upstairs in case they need me. I usually tidy up, do laundry, clean the bathrooms, do some work on the computer, etc. Lately I’ve been working on the baby’s nursery if I have time! I’ll run downstairs if I need to run something up or down the stairs, or I’ll grab them a snack, but I just stay nearby in case they start to argue or they need my help with something.

How to Implement Quiet Time

Start out with little steps! Give them 10 minutes alone with a book to start and see how that goes. Move it up to 15 or 20 after a few days. Eventually you can give them a puzzle or some other quiet activity if it works for your kids.

I don’t recommend starting with free play time as it is hard for most kids to play quietly and understand how quiet time is different from regular play if you start out just letting them do what they want with toys and siblings in the room with them. It can be distracting. My kids have been doing this for a long time and they know what my boundaries are. They miraculously play quietly and respectfully together. They use their imaginations, they read books together, they have picnics with their stuffed animals, and when the timer goes off they usually don’t want it to end.

I hope this post is helpful to you and that it gives you some ideas for how to implement quiet time for your kids. Every kid needs a little bit of a break, and so does every Mom! If it works for you, I think you’ll enjoy having it as a part of your routine.