With nap time a thing of the past I don’t get the chance to just sit in silence for any period of time these days. I spend my entire day talking, sometimes holding a few conversations at once, and sometimes even with the same child. Who knew that children could talk quite so much? And who knew that talking could be quite so exhausting? I imagine it would help if I didn’t have to repeat everything 30 times, but still! I am sure I didn’t talk like my two do…
A few weeks ago while I was completely frazzled, I decided I needed to introduce a few minutes of “quiet time” (read that as “silence”) into every day. Time for me to stare blankly at the wall, preferably with a cup of tea in my hand, and not have to find another answer to “why?” – just for five minutes.
Obviously I could just give them some paint or play dough and they’d be sorted for hours. But I wouldn’t be able to sit in peace while worrying about the mess that would definitely result. I needed some new activities! Activities that wouldn’t descend into arguments after 30s, activities that wouldn’t end a minute in, activities that required little to no supervision from me (and absolutely no intervention), and activities that didn’t require me to actually buy anything! A lot to ask? Maybe! But here are some of the things that have worked so far:
Threading – literally anything that we have available, e.g. pasta onto string, bits of plastic straw that I picked up from Hobbycraft on a whim and then realised I had no idea what to do with onto string, beads onto pipe cleaners, cheerios onto uncooked spaghetti (stuck to the floor with a lump of play dough) – I found that the more bizarre the items, the more interested they were, and the longer they remained engaged (i.e. silent).
Sorting – again, literally anything (buttons, beads, pompoms, bits of random straw as above, into sizes, colours, shapes etc – I let them choose how they want to sort). Sometimes I add tweezers (great for practising coordination and fine motor skills, and for strengthening hand muscles), or a spoon – this makes it harder and, therefore, last longer.
Stickers – stickers are always a hit, but those with individual backing are a pain as they take forever to clean up afterwards. The best are those that come on a single sheet. We have loads of sheets of colourful circles hanging around from a craft that they just didn’t enjoy earlier in the summer. I just hung a couple of large sheets of paper up and let them stick…
Bubble wrap – I gave them some, and then I left – I challenged them to pop every bubble on their sheet, and it kept them entertained for, well, minutes. But it was a few silent minutes (bar the sound of bubble popping) and that is all that matters. Disclaimer – my children are now old enough not to suffocate themselves (or each other) with a sheet of bubble wrap, but if you are worried, you could cut really small strips, or avoid this one altogether for now.
Chores – because my children love to “help”. I am very aware that many chores are unsuitable for young children, and most are unsuitable for quiet (silent) time as they require an element of supervision. I sometimes leave A “washing up” for a few minutes while I go off and do something else, and there is always considerably more to clean up on my return than before she started. However, there are some things that they can do that are mildly helpful. I am not saying that the chores actually get done (unless I am very very lucky), but they are a good introduction, and they don’t leave any real mess:
Matching socks game – we have a lot of socks between the four of us. They need matching. I can’t be bothered. We call it the “matching socks game”, and anything with the word game in it must be fun. Right?! They love it.
Hanging washing on the clothes horse – If I am really desperate I also ask them to hang the washing on the clothes horse. Sometimes I even get them to add pegs too (again, this is great for those fine motor skills). Granted, I normally end up doing it all again, but I’d have had to do it anyway!
Alternatively, I just give them an empty cardboard box:
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Oh my god I think you are an actual genius! What brilliant ideas to keep them busy but also keep them from being sat in front of a screen! This is definitely an activity to be pinned – that being said I’ll have to wait for mine to be a little older for some of these as choking and suffocation remain a bit of a factor lol! Thanks for sharing this at #familyfun. Hope to see you again next week xx
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Hehe thank you 🙂
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Love these ideas, Lucas loves putting things from one place to another then back again so definitely be doing the sorting when he’s older x #familyfun
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It is amazing how much they love sorting and moving objects isn’t it?!
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My youngest loves helping with the laundry but unfortunately her idea of hanging washing is putting the pants on her head and hiding the socks around the house so I might skip this one, the other ideas are great though!
#FamilyFun
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Hehe! Thank you! Oh no, that must be so annoying!
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I love this, what fantastic ideas! I hear you on the cardboard boxes tho, they are magic! x #sharingthebloglove
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Thank you! They are aren’t they?!
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Oh my gosh, ‘the matching socks game’ – you are a genius! That is one of my most hated tasks of the week – isn’t it funny what they find amusing! Going to try the spaghetti and the cheerios this afternoon I think, we have both already! Thanks so much for joining us again at #SharingtheBlogLove
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Thank you! I hope it worked! I love activities that involve using things that we already have in – I do not believe in spending any money as children are so unpredictable. I am very lucky that my children enjoying matching socks! .
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Oh boxes… thank goodness for Amazon! I love the idea of sock sorting too. My daughter is six and she might catch on to the chores being chores but she still loves stickers!
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I am not looking forward to the day that I can no longer bribe mine with stickers! Boxes are magic – all the toys they have and often the only thing they want to play with is an empty box!
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I like the matching sock game, mine would have hours of sock matching fun with all of the odd pairs in our house!
#PicknMix
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Hehe, yes mine love it, thankfully. I hate matching socks!
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These are brilliant ideas! love the matching socks one the most as I hate sorting socks out. I refuse to do my other halfs because he never ever wears matching socks and then they never get washed as pairs and I have given up completely! Thanks for linking up to #FamilyFun
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Me too. I am glad my children enjoy it. I am just thankful that my husband loves brightly coloured patterned socks – my dad used to make me match his socks when I was little and his socks were all various shades of navy blue and black. He would know if the shades were not matched properly and wouldn’t wear them :-S
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Some great ideas here for a much needed five minutes peace!!! #TheList
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Thank you! I hope they work for you 🙂
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some lovely ideas there that I have never even thought about #picnmix
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Thank you! It is amazing what you can do if you are a little bit desperate!
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Great ideas. My quiet time involves giving them their iPads, bad mummy! x #picknmix
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Oh so does mine! But I can never relax properly knowing they’re on my phone – although they can work it better than me things often get moved around or deleted if I am not keeping a close eye!
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You have some awesome ideas. Unfortunately my little chap can’t manage to do things without assistance and insists on directing both sides of the conversation so I may have to just but wine! #KCACOLS
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Thank you! 🙂
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Making matching socks a game is soooooo genius!!! I absolutely hate matching socks and I feel like I’m doing it all of the time, so now that my son is getting older, it’s going to be a game I’ll keep in mind haha. I really like the threading idea too, what a great little activity for motor skills. Thanks so much for sharing! ❤ #KCACOLS
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Thank you! Yes threading is so good for their fine motor skills! I agree, sock matching is the worst – I hope it is successful for you 🙂
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threading is great, my littles love that one. Great idea to use cheerios 🙂
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Thank you! Yes threading is great isn’t it – I am so glad my boy can finally do it independently!
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So many cold cups of previously microwaved tea around here. Must try for some time! #KCACOLS
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Hehe same here – or 5-times microwaved to the point you no longer want it! I hope they work for you!
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Wow so many awesome idea’s! I’ll definitely be borrowing a few for my girls 🙂 #SharingtheBlogLove
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Thank you! I hope they work for you 🙂
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These are brilliant ideas. If they are free they are more than welcome to play match the socks here lol.
#KCACOLS
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Hehe I am sure they would!
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Of the above I have never done matching socks…I need to do that one! haha
Stickers is a huuuge favourite here.
#kcacols
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Stickers are wonderful aren’t they! Except the ones with individual backs – sometimes I could do without them and their mess 🙂
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Oh no, not the end of nap time! My youngest still naps and I am not looking forward to when it goes. Until now I have always had Alice to entertain while Holly is napping and we have quiet games that we play together. But, I love these ideas of getting them to do something so that I can have a rest. Totally trying these out. Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove x
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I know, I didn’t want it to end either, but bedtime becomes so late if they have even 5 minutes! Thank you! I hope some of them work for you 🙂
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Some of these are brilliant. My youngest is just starting to cut her nap out for most of the week. I’ve been trying to think of ways of getting 5 mins peace to cope. The repeating things 30 times does get exhausting! The sorting one in an egg pot will be coming out tomorrow is suspect!
#KCACOLS
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It is so exhausting – I never realised how exhausting talking could be! I hope some of these work for you so that you get 5 minutes too!
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I love these ideas! Threading and stickers are my favorite ones and who doesn’t love a cardboard box?? Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next Sunday
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Thank you!
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Ha I love it! Some really good ideas here for keeping mini people amused. Thanks for linking up to #Picknmix
Stevie x
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Thank you 🙂
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I found it exhausting when mine gave up naps – that hour in the day is so needed! #picknmix
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I know it really is isn’t it?!
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