To a Mama, Dad, or Caregiver with little ones at home there is no sweeter word then … NAPTIME — at least in our home. A time to recharge, relax, and get (a little bit of) work done while my little ones rest is a very important part of my day.
But as my Sammy turned into a 3 year old, his nap times started to fade. He no longer seemed tired enough to settle into a full sleep, but certainly still needed a bit of quiet time to recharge to make it through the rest of his busy day. So what do we do? Quiet time activities.
We love them so much that I have written an eBook about them!
Get this eBook for $8 and learn all you need to know about how to get little ones to LOVE quiet time! Plus – a FULL year of educational quiet time activities!
There are so many wonderful ideas for quiet time activities. But for my little 3 year old I had one other requirement. They needed to keep my little one quiet and independent – of course – but they also needed to be mess free.
My little guy tends to get very “into” activities and will explore them in ways not always as I intended. Which can lead to rather large messes. So for unsupervised quiet time activities – we need them to be rather clean.
And so, I bring to you, 54 Mess Free Quiet Time Activities for 3 Year Olds!
(Post contains affiliate links) ***Some of these ideas use small parts. Please use your own judgement and knowledge of your child and supervise when necessary***
1. Exploring Toy Cars. A screwdriver and some plastic cars can keep little ones quietly busy for hours! So much fun and learning to be had with this simple activity!
2. Crafts with Clothespins: A Clothespin Crown. Some pipe cleaners and some clothespins provide lots of fuel for little imaginations.
3. Puzzles: 10 Benefits of Puzzles. Finding puzzles that your 3 year old can do all on their own is a fantastic quiet time activity – check this link for all of the fantastic benefits of puzzles!
4. Make your own Sponge Blocks from Toddler Approved. So simple to make – and loads of quiet fun!
5. Magnet Play from Stickers by The Creative Homemaker
6. Create a Quiet Book by And Next Comes L – if you are crafty, even just a little bit crafty, this guide to making a quiet book by Dyan is fantastic! And complete with SO many ideas for pages!
7 – 14. Quiet Time Boxes by Wildflower Ramblings – I love the idea of putting a few different quiet activities into one box for rest time. Choices are a very good thing for my little guy!
15. Popsicle Stick Photo Puzzles by Mom Endeavors – the possibilities with this one are endless! Popsicle sticks are great for so many activities and crafts.
16. Yarn, Sandpaper, and a Cereal Box Quiet time activities by Modern Parents, Messy Kids. This one is so neat! We have done quite a bit of weaving, so I think my little one would be okay with this independently. And the sandpaper and yarn idea is perfect for little ones who can’t yet weave.
17. Quiet Time Paper City by Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails. As soon as I saw this activity, I wanted to make it with my little guy for his rest time. It is perfect for him (and super simple – so perfect for me too!)
18. Felt Mr Potato Head Play Mat by Lil Kid Things. This one using simple felt is such a great idea!
19. Portable Road – No sew! By And Next Comes L. I love the open ended nature to this quiet time activity for preschoolers!
20 – 41. 20 Quiet Time Clothespin Activities By Lalymom. My little guy loves clothespins – and these are such great quiet time activities!
42. Photo Lacing Cards by Skunkboy. This idea could be done in so many different ways. I like the idea of tracing the outside of a shape – and using photos would make this very meaningful to 3 year olds!
43. Crazy Straws Felt Threading by Powerful Mothering. These straws make great quiet time activities for kids – I love the idea of using felt buttons to practice threading and fine motor skills.
44 – 48. 4 Quiet time activities for 2 and 3 year olds by My Nearest and Dearest. These ideas are fantastic! Painting the doll house with water is a great activity – and I know the laundry one would be a hit with my little guy too!
49. ABC Match with stickers and a roll by Happy Kids Ideas. This activity could be done with so many concepts – or even just as an open ended quiet time activity to decorate a roll with stickers!
50. Tracing Shapes with Pipecleaners by Sugar Aunts. This is a great way to make a tracing activity mess free! And a link to FREE printables thanks to Teach Beside Me!
51. Duplo Building Inspiration by Money Saving Mom. I love the idea of this quiet time activity using Duplo, though it would take a bit of practice for my little guy to actually use this activity independently. I know he would be calling for some support and help – which is a great opportunity to help him learn about perseverance and trying his best, and moving on to come back to the ones that are a bigger challenge.
52. Velcro Dot Craft Sticks by Powerful Mothering. I just love this idea using coloured popsicle sticks and velcro dots!!!
53. Felt Ring Chain by Becoming Mummy. My little guy loves making paper chains (and nature chains too!) He would go crazy for this quiet time activity using felt – and it seems nice and simple to create.
54. Fine Motor Weaving by Coffee Cups and Crayons. My little ones would have a lot of fun with this – and it’s a wonderful way to strengthen little fingers too.
These quiet time activities are practically mess free, almost cost free, and hopefully will free up about an hour or so of a Mama’s time! I always find it helpful to use a visual timer so my little guy know exactly how long he is expected to quietly explore independently. If you have an Ipad there are a few neat apps with visual timers for free to download.
I have been happily surprised with how well my little guy has gotten into the routine of quiet time. I offer an activity, but more often then not he finds his own way to quietly explore the materials, or anything else he has in his room. Extending that all so important naptime age, one quiet time activity at a time!
Too find out ALL you need to know about quiet time – and for a FULL YEAR of quiet time activities – that are educational nonetheless, check out my eBook: A Year of Educational Quiet Bins:
You might also like:
A Year of Educational Quiet Bins
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The one things you can do so your child THRIVES in school
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42 Homemade Musical Instruments
Get Quiet Time anytime, with the amazing idea of Quiet Bins! Find a whole year of educational quiet bin ideas for only $8!
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Leanna @ Alldonemonkey says
July 31, 2014 at 1:49 amWhat a great roundup! Just to clarify, the Popsicle Stick Puzzles (#15) are not actually from my blog. I just did a roundup of quiet time activities and included this (amazing!) idea. The credit for it should go to Mom Endeavors (http://www.momendeavors.com/2011/12/popsicle-stick-photo-puzzles.html). It is a great activity – we have used it quite a bit!
Sarah says
September 18, 2014 at 9:08 pmThank you for clarifying Leanna! Will fix
Theres Just One Mommy says
August 6, 2014 at 3:59 pmWhat an awesome resource of ideas! Quiet time was my favorite part of the day…it gave me a chance to have one-on-one time with each of them while sib was having quiet time.
Pinned!
Liz says
April 17, 2015 at 1:54 pmThanks! This is a great resource. My daughter is about to turn 3 and has put her foot in the ground on no naps. I def need this.
Sarah says
April 18, 2015 at 9:13 pmBoy do I hear you Liz! I have also been sharing my weekly Quiet Boxes here, perhaps they would be helpful as well? https://www.howweelearn.com/quiet-boxes-week-2/ is my most recent, and the original: https://www.howweelearn.com/this-weeks-quiet-boxes/. Good luck with this new phase of life! And thank you for taking the time to comment.
Bec says
August 24, 2016 at 9:30 pmThanks for the ideas, we can always use fresh inspiration in our house. Even better if they are quiet and mess free!
Sarah says
August 26, 2016 at 8:44 pmSO glad you found them helpful Bec – and quiet and mess free is always good!
Danae says
January 22, 2018 at 6:19 pmHey there, Sarah! I’m also a teacher, turned stay-at-home mom, and though I have only one wild boy…my life is still super busy! When my little guy stopped napping, I immediately instilled a quiet time. Your ideas have helped extend the time…which gives me more time to write my books! Thank you! By the way, I shared this blog article on my Facebook author page in order to help my other writer friends with little ones! Thank you again for all the great ideas!
Sarah says
January 29, 2018 at 10:17 amHi Danae, thank you for your message! What genre of books do you write? I am so glad you find my blog helpful. Thank you very much for sharing it with others!
Amy Thiessen says
February 24, 2019 at 6:44 pmSuch a great list- thank you!
Sarah says
March 22, 2019 at 9:38 pmSO glad it is helpful to you Amy!