We keep few toys in our kids' bedrooms. My daughter plays school/daycare. She spends the entire hour putting all of her stuffed animals to bed, feeding them, etc.

With my son, we had a simple toddler toy train in his room, or he would color, look at books, or otherwise use his imagination.

Occasionally we'll let them take something up for quiet time but never anything that might require parental assistance, so no Lego's, magnatiles etc.

Anonymous wrote:DS is increasingly resistant to taking an afternoon nap at home, so I'd like to institute a quiet/independent time instead.

Suggestions for good toys/activities to keep a 3yo engaged? I'm trying to avoid lots of "come help me mommy!!" requests.

Thanks for any ideas! I need the rest time even if he doesn't...

Do you object to movies or tv shows?

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I think I was trying to make "quiet time" different from regular playtime so it would be appealing (and would keep DS engaged and in his room). But maybe it doesn't need to be unique in terms of what toys etc and flexibility /
letting him choose might help.

Appreciate the suggestions here if activities that are (ideally) independent and not messy.

To reply to one of the PPs, I would LOVE if he still decided to nap sometimes.

I make sure that there were special toys, books and coloring books that stayed in the bedroom just for quiet time. Because that's the only time they're used, there's no incentive to come out early.

OP here. I think I was trying to make "quiet time" different from regular playtime so it would be appealing (and would keep DS engaged and in his room). But maybe it doesn't need to be unique in terms of what toys etc and flexibility /
letting him choose might help.

Appreciate the suggestions here if activities that are (ideally) independent and not messy.

To reply to one of the PPs, I would LOVE if he still decided to nap sometimes.

My daughter is 4.5. From 2.5 to basically 4 she did quiet time in her room with books and dolls. I honestly think she didn't know she could come out? Lately she comes out of her room, but she has to do independent things. A lot of times she paints or "washes dishes." If I really really need a nap or need her to stay in her room for some reason, I bribe her with a lollipop.

Anonymous wrote:PP, what app or service are you using to get and play the audiobooks/stories?

We use Sparkle Stories. https://www.sparklestories.com. You can play from the app and the website. It has a subscription fee tho, $15/month. It's really great stories with great lessons. There are really cheap Bluetooth speakers on Amazon for like $15.

PP, what app or service are you using to get and play the audiobooks/stories?

I play stories from my phone on a Bluetooth speaker. It gives him something to listen to and the stories are very chill and calming which helps him relax and sometimes even falls asleep to them. We do sparkle stories. Started at 3.5 and still doing it at 5.

At that age, I told my DD she was allowed to look through books in bed and/or play with her stuffed animals. 9/10 times I would find her asleep with a half open book next to her. If that's not your goal, I would say any quiet activity in his room is fine - dolls/playsets/etc...whatever, as long as he cleans it up before he comes downstairs. <--That's our rule for 6 and 8 year olds now. They're also allowed to play together because they've both completely outgrown naps.

Thanks, I like these ideas! Including the passes, reward, and set check-ins. Definitely planning to get a visual timer.

Books are tough for us because he always wants me to read to him. Maybe I should look for some wordless ones.

We let our kid pick as long as it’s quiet and keep it to an hour

Anonymous wrote:DS is increasingly resistant to taking an afternoon nap at home, so I'd like to institute a quiet/independent time instead.

Suggestions for good toys/activities to keep a 3yo engaged? I'm trying to avoid lots of "come help me mommy!!" requests.

Thanks for any ideas! I need the rest time even if he doesn't...

Books, puzzles, stuffed animals, dolls, paper/coloring books and crayons

The idea is to have plenty of quiet activities that he can rotate at will. "Close your eyes, close your mouth, and lie still. I'll come check on you in 5 minutes. If you're still awake, you may get up and play quietly until your clock says XYZ (on a sticky note beneath the time) or changes color." I check back somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes later.

Once the child is not falling asleep more than once in two weeks, I stop trying to get them to sleep and just let them play, but it's the same time range that they've always had.

Books only! My kids are teens now, they are voracious readers and we only allowed books for 1+ hour of QT all through preschool and K.

Start with a shorter period of time to build up to success.

Use one of those nap timers that you can make it turn green after X minutes. When the clock turns green, quiet time is over.

Slowly increase the amount of time. I wouldn't expect too much at this age. Maybe 45 min at the most?

Give him 2 "passes" at the beginning of quiet time, and if he needs you he has to use a pass to leave his room.

Every time he's successful at "quiet time" (i.e. stays in his room until the green light comes on unless he uses a pass), he gets a reward.

In our house the reward is their only video time of the day, which is highly motivating for my kids. It also serves to stretch out my down time which I like.

DS is increasingly resistant to taking an afternoon nap at home, so I'd like to institute a quiet/independent time instead.

Suggestions for good toys/activities to keep a 3yo engaged? I'm trying to avoid lots of "come help me mommy!!" requests.

Thanks for any ideas! I need the rest time even if he doesn't...