Quiet time activity suggestions please!

DS doesn't have a nap during the day anymore, but I still try to get him to have some quiet/rest time. Especially at the moment as I'm so tired during the day that I need a break too.

Because DS is so clingy, I don't get a moment without him RIGHT THERE, talking non stop! We have spent the last 6 months getting to the stage where we can have 30 mins of 'minimal communication' aka quiet time, but only with a few things. He flat out will not lie quietly next to me, though often asks to snuggle - it just ends up as a chatty Wriggle-a-thon!

But, what to do? I can put the TV or iPad on, but I'm after some technology-free ideas for reasonably quiet activities. I've had some success with play dough, but not puzzles, drawing, glueing, stickers, felt pictures, blocks, cars, books etc

How does everyone else approach quiet time?

I know you said that books had not been successful but that is what works for DD and I - there are a few books that she knows inside and out and she sits on the bed and will 'read' them to me whilst I try to rest/sleep. Sometimes I manage a little nap and she will still be reading to me - sometimes she goes into her room and plays with her toys and other times she actually falls asleep next to me.

Have you tried a little train set? I am amazed at how intently our DS1 plays with his, even when he was too little to put tracks together he would connect the trains and whizz them around on the floor.

Obviously if he wants to be WITH you, this would require some presence and then gradual moving away over time, but I have found our rest time works really well for us...

What really makes it work, I think, is that it's time limited so she knows that she's not stuck there and there's a clear cue for when it's finished. I just required that she stay on her bed for the duration of a kids music CD - some time between 38 and 55 minutes depending on which CD she chooses (I'm always pleased when she picks the 55 minute one!). At first, she'd just load the bed with books and soft toys and would just 'read' to her toys, chat to them and sing to them. Over time she's become more creative (and i've become more flexible) and started to take ll sorts of stuff with her: a torch, threading, a sticker book, a box of pegs and a bucket, her matchbox cars.... it's actually done wonders for her imagination and independent play as she really has to extend the play with limited resources. When she decided that she wanted to start drawing in bed (and drew on her sheets within 5 mins) I've set up a board on her floor for drawing and she now potters around in and out of her bed. If she's absolutely wrecked, I sometimes find that she's curled up and gone off to sleep which is a bit of a pain as then she's awake late, but she knows her body and seems to only do it if she's sick or has had a massive morning.

It's been a gradual process and has taken a lot of coaching and support, but O.M.G. it's worth it! Firstly, she willingly has down-time every day, which she needs to cope with kinder and generally big days. And secondly, I get a break every day and I am SO much better a parent if I get 40 mins to myself in the middle of the day! I used to use the time to have a cuppa, sit on BB and then do some dishes or make the phone call I needed. Now I time it so everything is done, then the second they go down, I do. 55 min CD today and I had about 45 mins sleep. GOLD.

I totally appreciate that this is easier said than done, but well worth it if you can work toward it. Keeps me (relatively) sane. I honesty intend to keep it up until she goes to school... crossing EVERYTHING that she goes with me on that one!!

tk - DS absolutely loves books, and would have me read to him for hours a day if he could, but has never attempted to 'read' on his own. Now he can articulate himself, he simply says, 'but I don't know HOW to read!' No matter how many times I suggest it and explain that he can make up his own story or just look at the pictures.

Hestia - DS loves his train set, and this does work some of the time...

Santosha - Yes! This is my ideal, and the original goal of quiet time. We started with a picture list of ideas, and a box full of toys that he could play with in his room. We'd talk about what he could do each time? He'd have an album on the ipad that would play for the duration. I started out being in there with him, with the aim that I would eventually be able to leave, but after three months, I still couldn't make it out the door. He'd play with each toy for 1-2 mins, then tell me he was done. And get progressively louder and more insistent if i ignored him or told him to play again. Worse still, if I dared to lie on his bed to try to catch a few zzzz's, as soon as I'd close my eyes, DS would climb on top of me like his own personal playground and say, '1, 2...wake up!' I did nod off once, to be awakened by a balloon being banged on my head and EVERY toy he had strewn on the floor. Crayons turned into 'rip the paper covers into 1000 pieces and strew them on the floor (he was making a 'nest' for his owl friend!). Quiet time is now usually in the lounge as he climbs on me less there. Maybe it's worth another try as I really need some down time and he does too...