Transitioning away from afternoon nap time was something I used to not feel ready for. Over the years, I really valued the time where both boys were sleeping in the afternoon. When I was still teaching, I used this time to lesson plan, grade, answer emails, and work on paperwork and such. Then, when I left the classroom this past fall and began my doctoral program, that time became essential for working on schoolwork. However, just because I wasn’t ready to give it up didn’t mean that Asher wasn’t ready to be done with naps. At just about 4 years old, he was showing all the signs of no longer needing an afternoon nap. I knew I wanted to transition to some quiet time in his room while Aiden still napped, so that he could further his independence and I could still have some dedicated work time.
The transition from nap time to quiet time has gone mostly well but there certainly have been challenges and things we’ve needed to adapt along the way. I’ve used some Montessori-inspired ideas as I’ve setup and altered this time for him. Here are some of the ways we transitioned away from nap time and implemented quiet time in the afternoons:
Calm Environment
We kept the environment during quiet time calm by keeping some of the things we already had in place. We still kept the lights off in Asher’s room and added a lamp. This lamp fit well on his shelf, was easy enough for him to use independently, and gave a good amount of light for him to work on activities. We also made sure he had a cozy place to sit and work by leaving his rug out and open for him to sit on.
The last thing we did to help keep the environment calm was to continue to turn his sound machine on during quiet time. Asher’s been using the Hatch Rest for about two years now. The features of it are perfect for quiet time. We turn the white noise on and he helps to turn the glow light off on it. Then, we turn its light back on remotely from our phones when quiet time is over. The light and sounds on it can also be programmed and set to turn on/off at certain times. This helps to signal to him that he should mainly be in is room until he sees the light on the Hatch Rest turn back on.
I really feel like these elements made the transition easier in the beginning because they made the environment in his room very similar to how it was at nap time. Having a calm and similar environment are great reminders that it is still a time to be quiet and restful, which is good for everyone!
Montessori-Inspired Activity Shelf
Prior to transitioning to quiet time, Asher did not have a work shelf in his room. The space was limited there and it just always made more sense to have their Montessori-inspired shelf space in our living room. However, when he transitioned from nap time to quiet time, I knew it was time for a little activity shelf in his room. We kept it simple and just moved a small shelf we had in the basement up to Asher’s room. This worked well in a smaller space.
I rotated different materials every couple of weeks. This made it so that he would have both familiar and fresh activities to choose from. It may not be a “picture perfect” setup, but I wanted to create it with things we already had from a budget standpoint and it worked well for him. These are some of the Montessori-inspired activities that he’s enjoyed during quiet time:
Puzzles
–Floor puzzles and wooden jigsaw puzzles are some of his favorites. Asher wasn’t really too interested in puzzles until recently, so for awhile these were what he would do for all of his quiet time. As he became more and more successful and confident with them, I added some more challenging ones with more pieces. I purchased the wooden jigsaw puzzles off of Facebook Marketplace and they didn’t come with boxes. So, I took pictures of the completed puzzles and printed and laminated them for him to use as guides. This helped him to be independent with the puzzles.
Snap Circuits
-He LOVES these but only does them when I am supervising. We started with a beginner set and moved onto a more challenging set after that. They come with guides that show how to make tons of circuits. Such an awesome STEM activity and such a great fit for his interests and curiosities.
Binomial Cube
–This binomial cube was originally out on our main work shelves in the living room. After Asher gained confidence with putting it together, he really enjoyed it. So, when I rotated it off of our mains shelves I moved it into his room for awhile. I’ve also done this with other materials from our main work shelves that he still has interest in and has enough confidence with.
Sticker Books
-Asher goes through periods of interest and disinterest in these. He likes to have them available so they usually stay in his room. The books with multiple stickers that are put together to make a whole image are his current favorites and they also work on some really great skills like visual spatial reasoning and foundational math concepts.
Scissor Skills Book
-He still has a lot of interest in cutting work with his scissors, but I don’t always have the time to put together new and developmentally challenging activities for this. I found this scissor skills book and loved it. It starts out with some basic scissor skills like cutting on different kinds of lines and then moves on to more challenging tasks like cutting out a variety of shapes.
Sensory Activities
-These are also some of Asher’s favorite quiet time activities and ones that he will engage with for a long time. They can get a little messy! Before starting them in his room, we talked together and set up expectations for where he could use the sensory activity and how he would cleanup afterward. Kinetic sand, rice trays, and play dough have all been popular.
Brain Builder Peg Set
-My parents gifted this peg building set to Asher awhile ago and he still always loves when they come back out of storage. It comes with cards that show peg formations to make at a variety of difficulty levels. I like the different card levels because I think it has made this set appropriate and fun over different developmental stages. I choose a handful of the cards to set out for him based on where he’s at with the levels. Another great activity that can be done independently and promotes problem solving!
Clean-Up
Sometimes Asher puts things back on his shelf as he finishes them, and sometimes he doesn’t. That’s just real life as a four year-old. So, when his quiet time in his room is over for the afternoon, I always give him a reminder. I do this by reminding him to check and see if any activities in his room need to be picked up still before he is done with quiet time. Usually he can head back to his room and do this independently and pretty quickly, but sometimes there is a lot to pickup and he is not too enthusiastic about it. In those instances, I offer to help and we pick things up together. I try to talk aloud about what we’re doing as I put things away so he has that modeling for later.
As time has gone on and he’s gotten a little older, I’ve found that I’ve shortened the amount of quiet time that Asher actually spends in his room. Depending on the day and what I have going on, he will spend the rest of quiet time building or playing with toys quietly in the living room, helping me cook dinner or bake, or reading/working on some preschool work together while the other boys still nap. We’ve both enjoyed this one-on-one time together.
When did your babes stop napping? Did you transition over to a “quiet time” too?
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R says
My little one stopped all day naps at 9 months. It was as horrible as it sounds. We didn’t transition to quiet time because, well 9 months. Little one is 4 now and quiet time is something we are still working on (we have serious separation anxiety). Separate room quiet time doesn’t work for us, but quiet activities in the lounge while Mama wears noise cancelling headphones does. The only rules are we don’t run around and we don’t make loud noises. I usually play podcasts or audio books or gentle music. We started with 1 minute and have slowly worked our way up to half an hour. I am hoping to get it to an hour by the end of the year.