35+ Quiet Time Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
There are moments in every day that we need some quiet time. Especially if there are young children in the house. This is one of the reasons we love nap time so much! But what about when they give up their naps? Oh, I remember those days well. I didn’t know how I was going to handle a full day without any down time. Fortunately, you can still have that moment of calm by giving your children quiet time activities. The key is doing a bit of prep work by having these activities ready ahead of time, so there is no waiting involved. In this post I am sharing over 35 different quiet time activities that you can have on hand for your toddlers and preschoolers. Some of these activities can also be portable, meaning you can take them with you. We all know how toddlers hate to wait for anything. Just keep a few quiet time activities in a bag that you can take out when waiting just simply isn’t an option. Make a yellow collage on a sun (free printable.) Create a simple rainbow suncatcher using a paper plate (mess free). Add citrus squeezers with play dough for some extra fine motor development. Have some lavender play dough on hand for an easy, calming activity. Build with Duplo bricks and straws on playdough. Use tongs to transfer pom poms to the matching colored cups. (Busy Toddler) Make your own cardboard loom and invite your children to weave the rainbow. (Days with Grey) Sort cereal by color and make a rainbow necklace. (Lil Scholar University) Match the shapes using clothespins (free printable). Press triangles into playdough and add matchsticks. Use an ice cube tray to sort shapes at the table. (Mess for Less) Drop letters down paper tubes into matching colored bowls. (Happy Toddler Playtime) Glue buttons onto hand-written letters. (No Time for Flashcards) Transfer water into ice cube trays. Drop watercolors onto paper towels. Cut paper tubes for some fun and quiet threading. (The Imagination Tree) Save an empty bottle and collect ribbon scraps. Invite your child to quietly work on strengthening fine motor skills by pushing the ribbon in the bottle. (Hands On As We Grow) Place buttons on lines and curves. (Learning 4 Kids) Work on number recognition and counting skills while adding a certain number of scoops to each ice cream cone. (Fun-a-Day) Clip a certain amount of paperclips to each numbered card. (Lessons Learnt Journal) Twist pipe cleaners into numbers and thread that many beads through them. (The OT Toolbox) Repurpose the frame of a number puzzle and add the correct number of googly eyes. (Play, Teach, Repeat) Provide a bin with lavender-scented rice for some calm sensory play. (The Imagination Tree) Make your own sponge blocks and build towers. (Toddler Approved) Invite your child to be a engineer while building with toothpicks and jelly beans. (Productive Pete)
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