Quiet Time Activities – Afternoon Rotation Stations
It has happened. Nap time is over for one or more of your children. What do you do now? Quiet time activities are a MUST in my house, especially during the long summer days when the kids are around each other A LOT.
That’s why I officially started “Afternoon Rotation Stations” this year. The phrase “quiet time” always evokes a negative reaction with my kiddos. But “Afternoon Rotation Stations” {a.k.a. quiet time in disguise} somehow sounds more fun, doesn’t it? It did for my kids and that’s all that mattered!
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Quiet Time Activities {Afternoon Rotation Stations}
The concept of quiet time has probably been around since the beginning of motherhood. My grandmother has told me stories of how the entire neighborhood of kids would have quiet time from 2-4 every afternoon. Wow!
Why has it been around so long? Out of necessity, I believe. Yes, I love my children. Yes, they love each other. But when you’re with someone {or lots of someone’s} 24/7, it’s nice to have a little break. Personally, I enjoy the break from “Mommy, mommy, mommy” 500 times in a row.
But as kids grow out of nap time, it can be tempting to just plow through the afternoon. And by 4:30pm, you might just be ready to pull your hair out. That’s why quiet time activities are important. And yes, my nearly 11 year old participates in quiet time activities, too!
So how do Afternoon Rotation Stations work?
This is how we do it {and there’s plenty of ways to adjust and modify these for your family with the other templates and cards in the free pack}.
Personally, I have fixed afternoon stations, but each rotation provides wiggle room {read about this below}. I slipped our activity chart into our reusable dry erase pockets {these are new for me and I have LOVED them!!} so that I can write the 4 kids’ names on the right hand side with dry erase marker. Each day, they begin at a different station and rotate through all 4 in 30-minute increments. This hangs on our refrigerator.
A “wiggle room” example: downstairs play happens in our schoolroom. We have a huge IKEA shelf {HIGHLY recommend!} full of bins with toys and learning activities. They can pick any of them. There are also tons of books in the schoolroom and other learning tools. Or they can choose to play playdough and bring it to the kitchen table. Sometimes, I have some one-on-one time with a child.
In the free pack are 24 pre-made quiet time activity cards and 12 you can use for DIY cards. You are welcome to switch the activities out every day, but I honestly like the predictability that more fixed activities provide. This way, I don’t have to remind everyone where they need to go next each day. They already know the pattern.
There’s also several different templates for charts: 1 child {3 activities}, 1 child {4 activities}, 3 children rotation, and 4 children rotation.
Expectations for Quiet Time Activities
For these quiet time activities to be successful, I think it’s vitally important to share your expectations for each activity before you release your kids into quiet time. My 3 simple expectations are:
- Play quietly.
- Play in your area until the timer goes off.
- Clean up your area before you move to the next station.
You also may need more explicit expectations for specific activities, like dot markers so you don’t find your child dotting the walls, herself, and the floor. And, of course, always consider the age and development of your child before leaving him/her unattended with toys that have small parts.
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