When my daughter gave up her afternoon nap I truly thought my life might be ending. I enjoy my kids, but the constant 6 am until very crabby 7 pm with three year old twins was too much.
I missed my hour to read a book.
I missed time to work on this blog without interruption.
I missed my quiet.
Truthfully though, it wasn’t just me that suffered. By the end of a day without naps all three of us were yelling at each other or stomping off into different corners. We all needed a break from each other. We needed a plan.
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Enter Quiet Time.
I would be the first to admit that Quiet Time is absolutely not the quiet oasis of nap time, but it is better than nothing. It does mean that I get less interrupted quiet than the rest of the day and I’m grateful for it every day no matter how long it lasts.
Also Read: When Does the Easy Part of Parenting Begin?
Unfortunately, a lot of standard quiet time toys did not appeal to my daughter.
She didn’t like puzzles.
She didn’t like fine motor toys or manipulates.
She hated coloring.
She got easily bored with stickers.
I could go on, but the point is I had to think outside the box a little.
Two things she did love were books and dramatic play. I combined those and started creating little book inspired bags for her to play with and it worked! Far fewer interruptions. Far less whining about whether quiet time was over.
I have already shared our Pete the Cat activity, but today I’m sharing her all-time favorite.
What Shall We Do With the Boo Hoo Baby Story Basket
The main reason this worked so well with her is that she adores this story. It has a baby and lots of cute little animals. The repetative text also make it one of those easily remembered books once you’ve listened to it a few hundred times.
What Shall We Do With the Boo Hoo Baby by Cressida Cowell is a funny story about a baby that won’t stop crying and the sweet animals that try to cheer it up by doing all the little things we do for babies. It is a great book that I highly recommend for the 2-5 crowd regardless of whether this activity sounds like fun. It is particularly wonderful for kids who have a new sibling.
For this activity, you will need:
*The Book (Order Online)
*Finger Puppets or Small Little Animals (one for each role in the book)
*Ziploc Bag or Basket for Pieces
Before the activity will work for Quiet Time you will need to:
1. Read the story several times so your child is familiar with the basic plot. Bonus points if you have them say the refrain with you.
2. Practice some story re-enacting together with finger puppets. You can use this book or another story but they need to have a basic understanding of what to do once they’re on their own.
That’s it. Once my daughter learned how to tell a story with puppets she was hooked. She would tell this story several times and then she would start making up her own stories.
After Quiet Time, she was happy and eager to share her stories and I was rested and happy to listen. Win – win.
