My son has recently started moving away from needing a mid-day nap but I do think he needs some down time during the day so we have moved to “rest time”. He can nap, he can rest – whatever he feels like that day (and YES he does actually nap if he feels like it!). Part of this agreement is that he can take a few quiet toys/books into bed with him and play very quietly. BUT he started taking the same few books into bed and then getting a bit bored half way through. So I decided to make quiet bags, there are 4 bags and they each have different activities in it. He can choose whatever bag he wants as long as it isn’t the same one as the day before.
The bags are a mix between a few new things and toys/books he already had. The main goal is to find toys to inspire his imagination and independent play. Books with lots of colourful pictures, magnet boards, figurines etc. After a few months, switch up some of the books and toys for other ones around the house to keep the bags fresh.
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What did I include in the Quiet Bag?
Construction Bag:
I grabbed some of the construction essentials: a Melissa & Doug digger and the toy construction materials and some baby links (I drew some simple patterns for him to practice patterns by putting them together!). I also included a Melissa and Doug construction puzzle and a construction magnet playboard. I love these for quiet time, there are a few dozen magnets with a big foldout playboard. I grabbed a few construction/truck books to flip through (I change these out every few months)
Safari Bag:
Exploring and using his imagination to find animals is a favourite activity! I included a Zoo Animals magnet playboard, some little animal toys (like these but from dollarama), a water wow book (these are GREAT!) a stuffie and a few zoo books
Train Bag
My son is super into trains so I grabbed a few of his more interactive train books:
- One that reads what’s on the page to start learning some words,
- One that folds open to expand to a train
- The Thomas character encyclopedia, etc).
- Thomas the Train magnet imagination book (as you can see I absolutely love magnet books!)
No train bag would be complete without a train and a few cargo cars!
Pet Bag:
This bag is so interactive! A little Melissa and Doug vet kit and some little stuffed animals to groom and care for. A Pet shop magnet board because come on they are like the perfect quiet activity! Lace-up animals (Can you tell I love Melissa & Doug products?!) to practice some fine motor skills and of course some books (like this fun grocery store book!) to spark the imagination!
How to make the quiet bags
You can use any tote bag you want but I absolutely am obsessed with my Cricut so any excuse to use it I do. When Cricut was having their last sale I picked up some of their infusible ink tote bags and some transfer sheets to make the bags. I decided to use Infusible ink instead of Iron-On vinyl because I figure the bags are probably going to get super beat up with the toys going in and out and I want them to last through both kids.
Haven’t used infusible ink? Check out our post on our first impressions while using Cricut’s Infusible Ink.
Do you use rest time bags with your kids? If you do, what is your favourite thing to add to it? I have found that once I accepted that my son was no longer napping and moved towards a quiet time/rest time we were all so much happier during that time. He was able to choose what he wanted to do and because the bags are so different it kept everything fresh.
Happy resting!
Jo
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