Quiet Time Bins

A few years ago, my oldest stopped taking afternoon naps…and there were great sobs and gnashing of teeth…from me. Afternoon nap time is sacred around here, so I had to do something fast. Then, I saw an idea for quiet time bins.

Bam.

My life afternoons were saved.

At the time, my son was in preschool and I had become aware of some things that I totally didn’t teach him. For example, using scissors and learning how to cut (oops, I guess that’s important?!).  So, I figured the quiet time bins would also be a good time to introduce a few things, work on some fine motor skills, and still give him some time for imaginative play.

So, I went out and bought five plastic bins. I figured we would have a bin for Monday through Friday and then on the weekends he could choose whichever bin he wanted. I used mostly items that we already owned (but didn’t necessarily play with often) and then I bought a few things to fill in the sparser bins.

It was awesome. Just like that, nap time for me my other kids was restored to it’s former glory.

Fast forward a few years. My oldest is off to school and I have three little ones at home. Thankfully, they all still take afternoon naps…thank you Jesus. So now, I have changed the way I use the quiet time bins.

When the kids are each quietly reading chapter books in their corners, taking turns sewing their own sweaters, and on their knees dusting baseboards, I don’t need quiet time bins.

But, oh wait… that has NEVER happened.

More realistically,

When my kids have asked me 22 billion times for a snack, have argued for five minutes straight over who had the Paw Patrol toy first, and have turned the walkie talkies on max volume in order to drive their mother crazy press that button that makes the most annoying sound in the world…

THAT

Is when I bust out the quiet time bins.

One for each kid.

I send them to different rooms in the house.

And for a few minutes…it’s quiet-ish.

So, let me give you an idea of what I put in the bins. I included the Amazon links because if you are like me, you would probably give up your left kidney to continue another year of Prime. Just kidding…kinda.

Each bin has a few newer books and a few older books that have been out of our rotation for a while.

Here are some other things in our bins… (Note 3 out of 4 of my kids are boys, hence more boy ideas. However, once on Amazon, scroll down on each item for similar girl items)

–Wow Water Vehicles Coloring Book – My kids love these things. They are so simple and mess free! They are also really great for traveling on long road trips.

–Wood beads and a shoe lace. – I tie a knot on the end of the shoelace and they put the beads on one by one. So simple. So time consuming…in the best possible way!

-Kid Scissors (buy them anywhere) – My oldest LOVED cutting. I just drew shapes and different length lines on a scrap of paper and he would go to town! Literally, he would spend 15 minutes just cutting up a paper like this…

–Magnetic Fishing puzzle – All my kids have loved this puzzle/fishing game. There’s also a tow truck/cars puzzle that is similar.

–Dry Erase Activity Tablet – This is a pretty sweet book with mazes and other numbers and letters activities. Scroll down for more options once on Amazon.

–Dinosaur Stamp Set – All kids are super into stamps right now…

–Vehicles puzzles Set – My kids haven’t loved puzzles until I got this set. 

–Magnetic “Joey” Set – We had this for over a year and my kids never really played with it until I put it in a quiet time bin, now it’s a favorite. There is also a “Julia” and “Maggie” set.

–Lace and Trace Pets – Fine motor skills anyone?

–Jungle Animals – Any small figurines would work, pick some up at your local thrift store!

–Let’s Build – This is the magnetic book we have and they love it but click HERE for a bunch more

–Lego/Duplos set – I put this set in a zip lock bag so they can get to it easier. Obviously, there are a million sets our there.

So those are a few ideas and some things you probably already have! So do you want my opinion? Yes? Oh good.

I would NOT go and buy all of this stuff. If I were you, I would go though your existing toy bins, your existing puzzles, your existing craft supplies, your existing bookshelves, and see what will work. In fact, you don’t even have to run out and get bins. You could totally use plastic bags. Quiet Time Bags. Yes. That sounds great to me.

If after you have gone through all your stuff and you still feel like you need a few things, then put them on a list for your next kids birthday, or get one or two things. But most of us, Do Not Need To Bring More Stuff in our homes. Am I right? Yes, yes I am. 

Alright friends…Go and search for some quiet! Good luck and God speed!

 

(Quiet Time Bin picture created at snappa.io)