Does your toddler still enjoy an afternoon nap? Afternoon naps are wonderful, giving you and your toddler some well-needed rest from all of that energy they’ve been using throughout the day. Unfortunately, those naps won’t last forever and eventually, your toddler will grow out of their need for an afternoon doze.
However, that doesn’t mean that the quiet time you both enjoy, and need has to be replaced with noisy, energy-filled activities. Quiet-time activities can help to occupy young children whilst building their skills and giving you a little time to relax.
Try these quiet-time activities to help get you started:
- Colouring – An obvious one to begin with, but never underestimate the power pencils, colourful crayons and a sheet of paper (or colouring book) can have, especially when it comes to occupying your toddler. Encourage little ones to experiment with different colours and watch as they create their first works of art, whilst also building those fine motor skills!
- Music/Audio – Select some soft and gentle background music for your child to listen to or try out a new children’s audiobook. Your child will love the soft lulling rhythms of the music and they may even discover a new favourite story.
- Jigsaws/Puzzles – Puzzles are a fantastic quiet-time activity for toddlers. Whether it’s a jigsaw, shape matching or something similar, puzzles are a great way to engage a toddler’s brain whilst helping to develop concentration and fine motor skills.
- Magnets – Alphabet or number magnets work particularly well for this activity as they’ll also help your children learn to start recognising different letter and number shapes. Simply use a metal surface like a flat baking tray and let your child move around the different magnets.
- Collage – To make this activity easier, gather some pre-cut-out shapes and images from magazines and save them for future use. Then, give your toddler the shapes/photos, a glue stick, stickers, pom poms or tissue paper and allow them to create their own colourful collage.
What are your favourite toddler quiet-time activities? Share them with us in the comments!