As parents of carers of any age children, we can get rather obsessed with entertaining and stimulating the little ones but quiet time is also an important activity to undertake and build into your routine.  It gives you and the children a chance to be peaceful, quiet, thoughtful and relaxed.

Quiet time activities:

• rest, sleep in a dim room
• quiet colouring or drawing
• quiet puzzle
• quiet/classical music and relaxing in a comfy chair
• reading a nice book
• looking through a book alone
• writing practice
• a choice of activities from a craft box/book shelf
• yoga
• lying down with eyes shut and quiet music playing

Why bother with quiet time?

• it gives the carer a few minutes of peace and quiet
• it focuses the child
• it relaxes and regenerates the child's energy
• reduces stress or any tension they may have built up
• gives the child independence if allowed to choose own activity
• builds a well balanced child who has the ability to entertain themselves
• helps with sleep

Tips for a successful Quiet Time

• Don't expect too much too soon.  Start with a quiet 10 minutes rather than a whole hour.
• Use the same place each time so they come to expect it and know it's always the same familiar spot.
• Do it at the same time each day, after lunch, before school run etc. so it becomes part of the routine.
• Make sure they have all they need so won't be calling you. Go to the toilet first, have a sip of drink and provide all the toys/books etc. they will need so they don't come wandering to find you.
• Keep it positive - don't make any suggestion it's a punishment or anything but a treat!  If it doesn't work immediately, don't nag, just quietly explain and keep it happy.
• Explain you'll not be there, but that you'll be next door or down stairs so they are not alarmed if you go.

There is so much TV aimed at children that it's easy to think its okay for little babies and toddlers to watch it all the time.  Much of it is billed as 'educational' so why shouldn't they tune in and watch it as much as they like.

A lot of research has been done on this topic.  It shows that for babies under two, what they see when they watch television is a mass of colours moving about the place.  They do not understand what's actually going on.

Research also shows that cartoons are often full of realistic violence and aggression even when they are animated and that this can make a child more aggressive themselves, making them familiar and unaffected by the idea of violence.

Watching TV can be addictive, the more they watch the more they want to see.  It becomes the easy option to pull up a chair rather than do something more creative or interesting.

Time spent watching TV is not spent being active and doing healthy activities so it's not good for mental or physical well being.

Children that watch lots of TV may become antisocial, may have trouble adjusting to new environments and be less enthusiastic or imaginative when it comes to school.

However it's not all bad.  There are some benefits that television can bring, if watched in moderation.

• It can teach basic skills, numbers, letters, sounds and good behaviour.
• They can see things that are not immediately around them, extending their experience: wild animals, foreign lands, history.
• TV can support other learning and reinforce what they learn at nursery or preschool.
• It does provide a little down time from physcial activity if they are tired, or after a long day at school.

Tips

1. Unless billed specifically for preschoolers, watch programmes or DVD's before you show them to your child as there might be scary or sad bits you wish to keep from your child.
2. Choose age appropriate programmes.
3. Watch with your child so you can talk about the pictures or content together.  Talk about the programmes after.
4. Make rules about the duration and timing of TV watching and keep to it.

If in doubt, just go and do something more interesting outside!