We live in a world today that is constantly on the move.
Running children here and there, shuffling schedules and multi-tasking more than ever! 
We get so accustomed to this way of living that we forget how to just BE.
Quiet time for kids is very important!
We all talk about what we’d do if we had an empty schedule, no plans, can you imagine? Well, this is hard to come by. Not at all impossible though. You have to pick a date and time, put it on your schedule and plan for it. Make quiet time just as important as you would any other appointment.
Quiet time, down time, me time, margarita time….whatever you want to call it, just do!
It is so beneficial for you and your kiddos. Everybody need a reset once in awhile. Quiet time for kids can be a variety of things, but they must UNPLUG. It is impossible to relax if cell phones are chirping, the TV is on and the stereo is blaring. As I am known to say in my house when I have had enough of the noise, “shut it down!”
When you have down time on the schedule, you won’t have to be the scary mommy. Everybody will know in advance and hopefully, the start of quiet time won’t involve any stressful outbursts.
Quiet time for children doesn’t have to be perfectly quiet and it doesn’t have to be alone.
Depending on the age of people involved, it will differ. Babies and toddlers may play with blocks or legos, which can be noisy. You may start an art project. Your kids might play a board game or build a fort! I love to play in my garden, dig in the dirt.
A lot of us just want to read a good book, if we have the time.
If your kids aren’t used to quiet time, it may be a challenge for them at first. If they haven’t had time in the past for much reading, they might not know what to read during down time. This can make what is supposed to be relaxing, a stressor instead.
Have a good assortment of popular books for kids on hand.
Take a trip to the bookstore or library and stock up. For toddlers, keep board books on a shelf they can easily reach. It is fun for them to get their own books! Quiet time for babies and toddlers is important for brain development. Everything is new to them.
Overstimulation makes it difficult for them to process what is going on. It is much harder for them to learn when they are forced to focus on multiple things. This rings true for teens and adults alike.
The ability to focus and concentrate is altered when we are pulled in several directions.
When you learn how to truly focus on one task, such as reading, you can focus better on other tasks. Overall, your children’s concentration and focusing will improve, when they have more downtime.
Our brain is a muscle, it needs exercise too. Sitting down with a good book is relaxing. You have a chance to regenerate and unwind. For just a little bit, you can forget about some of the worries. You can also use this time to reflect on things.
Think about the positive things you are blessed with. All of this can greatly improve your outlook and level of happiness.
DISCLAIMER!! Your kid may be more creative!
Reading is known to make kids more creative, it gets their little brains excited! Reading makes you more curious, curiosity leads to creativity.
Frequently after my kids read a good book, they are inspired to make something. This may involve a giant fort like in the Magic Treehouse or making potions from Harry Potter. We go through a lot of food coloring and random ingredients with some of the creations.
My daughter and her friends have played Warrior Cats outside many times. They go on scavenger hunts like they are in The Hunger Games. A few years ago, my daughter had an epic Harry Potter birthday.
I even once started writing poetry, because I was so inspired by some poetry I had read. I was terrible, but that’s not the point.
Reading can build confidence in children and self-esteem too!
The Little Engine that Could….see? Even books for babies instill confidence and independence! Books from Giraffes Can’t Dance, to The Hunger Games are all about overcoming obstacles. Both my kids loved the book Holes and Wonder, very inspirational books for tweens.
One of my favorite books is The Glass Castle. This is a true story about an amazing woman, with more challenges growing up than I could ever imagine. Percy Jackson, the underdog who becomes the hero!
Inspirational books for all levels of reading are everywhere you turn!
I hope I inspired you to take on this challenge! Carve out some quiet time this week, put it on your crazy schedule! Give your family plenty of notice, and fill up your bookshelves.
Have fun with it, and enjoy the peacefulness. Hope you have an awesome week!
Read on my friends, Kris 🙂
Hello, and thanks for sharing. Where in live in the Bahamas there is a saying that goes like this, “read to succeed” This is good for children during those quiet times when they can open a good educational book and feed their minds something that will help them along the way. Your post is awesome. Thanks again for sharing.
Hi, I love the saying “read to succeed”! It is so true! Quiet time is such a great thing, the more you try to do, the more you crave it. Hope you get some quiet time yourself this week. thanks so much for the comment, Kris 🙂
This is so true. Thank you for reminding us that everybody needs his or her own me-time. I need one and my kid needs one as well. I inject this into our daily schedule as much as possible. I like what you shared that the ability to concentrate is altered when we are pulled in several directions. I have learned that it’s important to keep my mind on one thing at a time. It’s when we divide our focus that worry sets in. Again, thank you for sharing your experience and practical knowledge when it comes to raising kids and managing home life.
HI, thanks so much for reading our post! Sounds like we have similar thoughts on dividing our time and how focus is affected. With kids, we get pulled all around and sometimes it is hard to not feel constantly rushed. Hope you get some of that down time this week, thanks again, Kris 🙂
I have always treasured my alone time, even as a kid I would sneak off into the woods near my home just be alone for a while.
Alone time is very important for us even as kids, today kids spend too much time on the computer and social media which is fine, but they do need to find other alone time things to do as well.
It seems girls when young read much more than boys, at least when I was a boy that was how it was. The simplest things doing alone can provide so many benefits, just taking a ride on your bike is something kids should do more often just to spend some time outdoors.
Hi there, great to hear about how you found alone time as a child. I agree that it would be nice to see more kids enjoying the benefits of quiet time with a good book. I truly think it helps all of us re-center and gain focus. Thank you for reading our post. Hope you have a great week and get some quiet time for yourself too! Kris:)
These are some creative ideas on spending time with your family. I’m interested in trying this with my niece and nephew. They are so into the social media, it would be nice to see them hang out with family more! Thank you very much for your article, I think it will help a lot.
Hi, yes social media is the biggest obstacle. Once you start adding quiet time to your day, it will become a norm and less of a fight with the kids. thanks so much, have a good day.
I so agree that quiet time is important for everyone. I find that we have more energy when we “unplug” and are not constantly surrounded by screens. I took my toddler to the library this morning. He LOVES going there and is just filled with awe at the massive amounts of books to choose from. You are right when you say that quiet time doesn’t always have to be “quiet.” As the toddler section in our library is pretty chatty and active! Even still, it is a different pace and a calmer atmosphere than other outings. In our house we read many times throughout the day and always before bed. I am so happy that he loves books. Do you have any advice for how to encourage his love of reading as he gets older?
Sounds like you are doing great. I would just keep on reading as much as you can. Kids tend to imitate what their parents do. It’s pretty funny, even though my kids are tween/teenage, if I sit down and read a book out loud, they will still come sit and listen.
Love, love, love this! I love how you say downtime does not have to be quiet time. And that you specifically say to get some board books and have them on a lower shelf so that it’s easier for toddlers to reach them because it’s fun for them to choose their own books. And that you specifically name several books for several different age groups… Sometimes people really want to implement change in their schedules, but they can be overwhelmed without direction. I think you gave just enough direction here! And this concept is so important. Thanks for spreading the word!
Thank you so much for your comment, I appreciate it.
Hello Kris,
I totally agree that quiet time is a must for everyone. I also feel we must push other quiet activities that do not include electronics. My grandchildren, who lived with me, were always wanting their mom’s or my tablet or smartphone to play games. When the not quite two year old started down the same path, I had a talk with their mom. I hate to say it but sometimes parents use electronics as passive babysitters. This is not good for the child. When I was in charge they knew grandma’s quiet time meant looking at books, coloring, or playing blocks quietly. I also read to the youngest and set some soft music on for her nap. Thank you for this article.
Dianne
We have had some similar issues when kids come over to play with our kids. Some of these kids are on a screen way too much. They just assume that we will let them play games the whole time they are over. You know what though if we have activities such as a craft, or other art project planned, they will forget all about the tablet and really get into the project. There is still hope! Thanks for your comment.
I think quite time is really important and it is also important kids to be more creative and I will definitely suggest reading more to my little cousin. I just hope that he likes the book which you recommend. Because he gets bored so easily.
Yes, the key is to start as early as possible, then the kids will know books from an early age. Thank you for your comment, I appreciate it.
These are excellent ways to open up time for yourself while also knowing your kids are benefiting from a learning experience older long time. I believe these times of self-expression and Imagination are opening up a kid sense of self when they work alone. I also think this is the side benefit if you will if not the main benefit for our time to have that margarita.
I agree, you definitely want to have that margarita when you can enjoy it! It’s super important for kids to use their imagination. Thanks for your comment!
It is true that we all benefit from quiet time for kids. Quiet time can be educational if kids are given assignments to do. It can be things that they enjoy doing like coloring a book are reading a story. I used to let my kids read a short story and write a paragraph about it on their own.
To get kids interested in reading you have to give them books on things that interest them. if they love football let them read about football or about their favorite game.
Have you any suggestion on how to give Quiet Time activity to a Hyperactive child?
For a Hyperactive child, I would definitely let them play outside. Take them to the park, and let them burn some extra energy. I believe this is important for all kids, to get outside and play. You can also give them things to fidget with, whether it’s chew gum, or give them a stress ball. I have also heard of yoga classes for kids, that may be a great therapeutic option. Thank you for your comment, I appreciate it.
Hi Kris, thank you for this reminder.
I totally agree, everyone needs quiet time, even kids, babies and toddlers.
We live in a world where technology is fast advancing and we have access to almost all major events that are happening all around the world through social media and children are either on their electronic gadgets or hooked to the TV screen. It would be nice to stay away from all these even for just a couple of hours daily. Parents can take their kids to the park for a morning walk or picnic. They can also choose to stay home to read books, do some arts and crafts or spend time in the kitchen to cook or bake.
Yes, so many kids spend a lot of time on screens these days, so whatever we as parents can do to engage them in other areas, that is wonderful. I am a big advocate of letting kids explore their creative side, doing messy art projects or what have you. Thank you for your comment.
I don’t have children, but I do believe parents should encourage their children to spend a quiet time and read books as much as possible. Our daily lives, both kids, and adults are faster, more stress, crazier than ever! Although the internet gives us a lot of information, I believe reading books will add more benefits than just getting information. As you said, books will give us more room for creativity and imagination than the internet or digital world is offering. We will learn a variety of vocabularies and phrases from books. I still love reading books although it starts getting less due to the internet (I guess for the convenient sake). More kids are into computers so that it may be getting hard, but if parents can keep their children from computers or phones once in a while and get them sit down and read books, I think if it will benefit their children in the long run.
I agree, our kids didn’t watch TV until they were about 3 years old. We kept them occupied with other activities. This gives them a chance to let the creative juices flow. Even as teenagers, our kids are doing art projects or other activities to keep themselves occupied. Of course, they do have screen time as well, but we really try to limit that.
Its getting tougher and tougher for kids (and adults) to get quality quiet time in modern world built with overstimulation.
We lucky our 3 year old son loves to read, so he gets probably too much quiet time. His twin sister doesn’t like to read at all but get her chill time with art or playing in the garden digging holes.
Great read and thanks for sharing.
Yes, whether it’s digging holes in the garden, or whatever it might be down time is so great for kids to have. Art is a great option as well. This time allows the kids to be creative and disconnect from media. Thanks for your comment.
When I was a kid I had a lot of quiet time, as a result today I am very creative I can write really good poems, and even started writing a book which in others opinion is really good. It is important for kids to get quiet time that they will also carry into adulthood to cope with stress!
I completely agree, and I really appreciate your comment. Thank you!