Alternate Quiet Time Activities for Preschoolers Who Refuse to Nap

Many state regulations require daycare centers and preschools to offer a two hour chunk of time daily for naps/rest. Unfortunately this does not accommodate all children. Sure, downtime is important for all children of preschool age, but not all children require additional sleep in the form of daily naps. So what are you to do if you are the parent of a child who refuses to nap, but must follow the guidelines for rest time at his daycare?

Many times children that do not nap find themselves in trouble day after day during this block of rest time. Fortunately, just about all daycare and preschool centers will be happy to accommodate a child for alternate quiet/rest time activities. If you have a preschooler that refuses to take a nap, but must endure a stretch of naptime at his daycare, try these ideas for alternate quiet time activities to keep behavior issues at bay.

Listening Center. A great quiet time activity for a preschooler to engage in during rest time is using a listening center. Children can listen to music or a story on CD at a listening center without disturbing the other children during quiet time.

Coloring. Coloring is a great quiet time activity for preschool children who no longer take a nap. Coloring can be done quietly and independently away from the other children.

Reading. Of course most preschoolers are not really going to be reading, but providing books to look through during quiet time is a great way to keep children occupied and quiet. This allows the children to wind down without being forced to simply lay awake for a long period of time.

Texture Play. Preschoolers really use their sense of touch and enjoy feeling different textures. Texture play is a great quiet time activity and alternative to nap time. Just provide the child with many different textured fabrics---velvet, silk, sequins, etc and let him explore these textures quietly and independently.

Sorting Activities. While sorting activities may take some brain power, they are excellent quiet time activities for children because they require the child to be still and quiet. Sorting activities can be anything from having children place the appropriate number of pom-poms in egg carton sections to placing like-colored fabric swatches in groups.

Parents with active, zealous children often find themselves at odds with preschool teachers and daycare workers when their child refuses to nap and stay quiet during daily nap time. To help combat this problem, suggest these alternate quiet time activities for your child. Any child can lay quietly for a time (20 minutes is sufficient) but children who have not fallen asleep after this time should be offered an alternate quiet time activity. Hopefully these options will help make the daycare experience more positive for the child and also for Mom and Dad.