My oldest daughter, Raylee, stopped napping at what I felt was an early age. Or maybe it was just that I wasn’t ready to give up that precious nap time — also known as my “me” time. So when she stopped sleeping during nap time, we slowly transitioned it to more of a quiet time.
At first, she would just lay in bed talking or singing to herself. Then, I let her choose one book to read … then three books, until one day it became apparent that this girl wasn’t going to sleep during the day anymore and she needed more options to keep herself entertained in her room by herself. I reached out via Instagram, asking my followers for ideas. One person taught me about quiet time bins. The rest is history.
How We Do Quiet Time
I began gathering items to fill three bins. I shopped my own house first, looking for toys Raylee enjoys but doesn’t play with often — toys and activities she would be able to play with by herself. Then I searched Amazon and Target for other ideas. Slowly, over time, I began to fill the bins with things I would collect. Once each bin had several items, we started this new routine.
Each day Raylee is allowed to choose one bin from the top of her closet. Each bin is a 20 quart Sterilite storage container with a lid. I used construction paper to mark each bin — 1, 2, or 3 — with different colored paper.
I set the bin down in her room, open it up, and pull a few things out. Our quiet time rules are that she must stay in her room — we actually put a door knob child proof cover on her door to ensure she won’t be leaving the room. (This helped with her constantly coming out to ask me a question or check on me or tell me something, etc. I don’t need her coming out to find me eating ice cream!) She also must stay quiet — no yelling or screaming — since her baby sister is in the next room actually napping. I also put her potty chair in the room with her. I put a large bath towel underneath it, just in case. I put a little toilet paper in there too. The last rule is she must go potty on the potty and keep her underwear dry. If she poops, which she seems to do quite often, she has to yell for mommy to come wipe her. That’s the only time she’s allowed to yell. It took a little bit to get the potty rules down, but she has been doing great with it. We started keeping her in a pull up, and then switched to her underwear.
Our Quiet Time Bin Contents
Bin #1
- A reusable sticker book we got as a gift awhile back. I found this in the house, realized it had been forgotten about, and tucked it into the bin!
- Nina Ballerina Dress up Doll from Melissa and Doug — She got this for her birthday this year, and I knew it would make a great addition to this quiet time bin. She loves that it’s a ballerina!
- Crayola Color Wonder Mess Free Coloring Pages — We love these coloring pages and markers so much. In this bin, she has the Disney Princess set. Once all the pages have been colored, I’ll switch it out for something else or another theme of coloring pages. The best part about this activity is I don’t have to worry about her marking all over her clothes, furniture, or her body. It only marks on the paper it’s meant for. Genius!
- These rainbow counting bears have been a hit around here. You can count, sort, match, line them up — the options are endless. Our set comes with cups and tongs. It doesn’t look like they sell the one we have anymore, but this option from Gleeporte is similar. I wanted to add this to our quiet time bins because the bears are small enough that I don’t want this played with while Ruthi is around. This guarantees they are put away before Ruthi gets up from her nap.
- I got these Find and Match Eggs for Raylee’s birthday, specifically to add to her quiet time bins. She enjoys finding the matches and sticking them back in the carton. It can also help kiddos learn shapes and colors.
- I found these colored car lacing felt toys at the Target dollar spot! Here are some similar options on Amazon.
- Raylee used to play with this Melissa and Doug Make-a-Face booklet in the car, which is how a lot of the stickers got lost. So I moved it to her quiet time bin so she could still enjoy it with the stickers she has left. I love that Amazon sells them in a 3-pack, which would be perfect so you can put one in each bin!
- Lastly, there are two puzzles in this bin that we already had at home.
Bin #2
- We already had this Melissa and Doug magnetic dress up set at home. It had been tucked away and kind of forgotten about, so I added it to the bin to be played with more. I don’t see the exact one we have for sale anymore, but I love this new one that comes with outfits for a doctor, astronaut, fireman, and more.
- This Melissa and Doug Shape Sorting Clock was a gift from when Raylee was only one, so we’ve had it and played with it quite often. Now that she can play with it all by herself, I added it to the bin. She can learn colors, numbers, and shapes with this toy.
- The little Minnie Mouse puzzle was something she got for her birthday this year. When people asked, I told them I was on the look out for quiet time toys and activities! Raylee can mix and match Minnie’s head, chest, and legs to make them match or to mix them all up. She was very excited about this when she got it, and still plays with it every time she picks this bin. They don’t sell this exact one anymore, but here’s something similar if you’ve got a Minnie Mouse fan.
- This dry erase board that comes with traceable letters and magnets was another Target dollar spot find. I was hesitant to add this to the quiet time bin because of the dry erase marker. It has only been a problem two times — once when Raylee drew all over her feet, and once when she marked on her bed. But she has since learned that we only draw on the board. I don’t think it will be a problem again. I definitely don’t recommend this if you don’t think your toddler can handle a dry erase marker.
- The Melissa and Doug Water WOW books are fantastic simply because you can use them over and over and all it takes is water. You can get packs of three on Amazon and stick one in each bin! Just remember to fill the pen with water before quiet time begins and empty it at the end, or be like me and just leave water in there. What’s it going to hurt?
- A great way to teach kids hand eye coordination is through activities like these lacing beads from none other than Melissa and Doug (gosh, I’m sensing a theme here). I love how big and colorful the beads are. Raylee likes to pretend she is making necklaces.
- Finally, I threw in a puzzle that we already had. This farm cube puzzle is something I would like to add to this bin at some point.
Bin #3
- This sticker book is not reusable; however, it has more than 1,000 stickers in it so I’m sure it will last.
- I threw this puzzle in that we already had at home.
- This little LeapFrog Scribble and Write Tablet has been a big hit with Raylee for over a year now. It teaches kids how to follow directions and trace letters, as well as what sound each letter makes. She can play with this by herself and it usually keeps her entertained for quite some time, so it’s a great quiet time activity.
- Raylee got this magnetic play set for her birthday this year. It has a couple papers with different scenes on them and a bunch of different magnets you can place all over the scenes. I don’t think they sell this one anymore, but here’s a Curious George set that looks like the same thing. This is another toy that I wanted to keep in the quiet time bins because I wouldn’t want Ruthi to find any of these small magnets and eat them/choke on them.
- Here’s another lacing set that comes with Bible-themed cards and yarn. It came from Oriental Trading.
- Here’s another Water WOW book. I just love these things.
- Squigz is a toy she got for her birthday this year. These little dudes easily suction together and pop apart. You can make all kinds of things with them. They also stick to furniture, windows, the bathtub, even your forehead!
Aside from the bins, I also rotate a few other toys into the room. These might be toys that don’t fit in the bins or that you normally keep in a closet or up on a shelf that the child might forget about it, but could play with on their own. The whole point is that these toys and bins aren’t being played with every day, so they feel new and will keep the child entertained longer.
Some of the toys I rotate in are:
- Train Set — This isn’t the exact one we have, but I’m surprised how much Raylee enjoys playing with train sets. I love that this set has a bridge and a storage box.
- Mental Blox — We got this as a gift. It comes with different colored, patterned, and shaped blocks. Cards are included that show different examples of what to build and then kids can try to replicate it. It boosts analytical thinking.
- Picasso Tiles — Raylee can build tall towers and even a rocket ship by herself with these magnetic tiles. We have built elaborate castles and robots together. This is way more than building, there is so much creativity and imagination involved.
- Reusable Sticker Book — I pull these bad boys out any time I need Raylee to entertain herself for awhile, so sometimes I will put one in her room for quiet time too. She loves the dress up one. I’d like to get her the princess castle one too.
- Lovevery Block Set — I love how versatile and simple this set is with 20+ learning and development activities. Plus, it comes in a wooden storage box that can convert into a pull car — how cool is that?
There are also three other things that are always in Raylee’s room and she plays with often — quiet time or not. That’s her giant collection of stuffed animals, her small collection of Barbies, and her bookshelf full of children’s books. I love coming into Raylee’s room at the end of quiet time and seeing her sitting in a pile of books “reading.” If you need some book ideas, I’ve got a post on the 35 Best Children’s Books for Toddlers.
So there you have it, that’s how we do quiet time around here. Do you have a toddler that has stopped napping? How do you handle quiet time?