Sometimes when you are looking after the kids, you just need some quiet time. Of course, it’s a bonus if you can achieve this without creating lots of mess that you will end up clearing up after. Happily, you can find five tried and tested mess-free quiet time activities you can try with your little ones below.
Building with sponges
You may think that kids need expensive plastic or wooden building blocks to engage in construction play. However, this isn’t the case. Indeed, they can build all sorts of fun things from those slightly rigid kitchen sponges, as they are so light they can support their own weight.
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Cut them into various shapes to make things more fun, or use strips to create a Jenga-style game for a fraction of the price.
Watching videos
One of the best ways to get a little quiet on busy days with the kids is to sit them down and allow them to watch some TV or videos. The problem here is, what do you do when their favorite DVD isn’t hitting the spot, and they complain they are bored?
Well, luckily, there are a wealth of videos online and on social media that are suitable for the little ones. You can even use apps like Vidmate for Android to download them for free beforehand. The benefits of which are that you can make sure that each one is age-appropriate, and also limit your young child’s access to open platforms like YouTube where not all content is child-friendly.
Playdough
Playdough can be so much fun, and there are all sorts of great games your children can play with it. Getting them to make fake food items is often particularly successful, as is making animals, houses, and even models of themselves.
The great thing about playdough is that all you need to do is put down a mat, and it’s a mess-free activity. Just remember to put each color back in the tub separately once your little one is done.
Weaving
Weaving is a great activity for building coordination and fine motor skills. It can also be a lot of fun for kids, as well as soothing and keeping them quiet for ages! To facilitate this activity you will need to provide a rigid grid with holes large enough to feed strips of materials through. Then add lengths of string, ribbon, pipe cleaners, and fabric and show your child the different ways they can be woven together.
You may even wish to add beads as they get older, for more challenge and interest.
Match the spot
This last one is genius because not only is it fun, and super quiet, but it’s almost free as well. All you will need is an inner roll from some kitchen towels and some small round stickers. Then write out the alphabet once on the role, mixing up the order and placement of the letters. Then write the alphabet out on the stickers and have the kids match them up!