sleep and rest time with pre-school HELP

[izziwizzi]

Hi everyone
I have recently moved centres and have the preschool children, these children have the choice or whether on not they wish to sleep at rest time. I find this time very stressful as do other members of staff in our room. Our room is small and we very often have 10 or so of our group not sleeping out of the 22-23 in the class. At the moment We try to divide the room with furniture and give non sleepers puzzles and books but it is very difficult managing this part of the day. The non sleepers get bored very quickly with the books and other activities and then there are behavioural issues which disturb the sleepers. I do understand their frustration they are bored and want to play but we also of course have to clean the tables floors, toilets etc at this time so we cant put activities on the tables and the children must stay on thier 'quiet time' mats whilst floors are wet.
I am fairly new to childcare I have moved over from school (another story) and would really appreciate any advice....what works for you? My director has suggested that I have a group inside and one out...sounds great but then we often have weather issues.......and As for getting paperwork done at rest time like the other age groups forget it!!!!!!

[JacksonBrowne]

I have the same issue! we are a new centre with only 12 kids at the moment - 11 kids who dont sleep. Rest time is a nightmare. We can pat the 2 year old off to sleep but she's the only one who sleeps - Ive been trying to get a routine in place - lunch, make beds, choose a book put it on your bed, shoes under bed, toilet then quiet group storytime, then rest ... all the while Enya is crooning, lights are off, blinds closed.... 10 minutes later 11 kids all chatting, jumping off their beds swapping books getting games, me telling kids to rest, stay on beds balblabal ... there is one and a half hours sheduled for rest time! and as one staff member goes to lunch that leaves one staff member on the floor to cope with the mess!

[LindyT]

Maybe it is time to 'take it" (It being the sleep issue) to the children.
Explain to them that Enya needs to have a sleep.
Ask them: How can we let Enya have her sleep and keep the you non sleepers happy?
You will be amazed at how resourceful and respectful they can be.

[kessie]

I like Lindy's idea and would give that a try. I too, find this the painful part of the day. Sometimes it works to put the non sleepers all together so not to disturb the sleepers and at other times it works to distribute the sleepers between the bouncy ones as they then have no one to talk and play with so they drop off. However some that sleep one day don't necessarily sleep the next so this isn't always a plan. Sometimes it pays to relect on the room and make changes such as ours were having lunch inside and then going to their bed when they finished. The room was chaotic and noisy with the slow eaters keeping the noise levels up so we now eat outside and the children come inside as they finish lunch to quiet music and they sit on their bed with a book waiting for the others. If they stop and have a quiet chat to a friend on the way or even sit on a bed together and look at a book this is a nice sharing time for them as long as it is quiet. This is working slightly better for us.

[catchmeifucan]

Ok for non - sleepers during rest time I think you should make them a workbook that they can do during that time. There is only so long a child can sit and "read" a book without getting noisy with their friends.

In the workbook you can add many different activities such as colouring pages, writing, counting etc. Give a workbook to each child with a small pack of pencils each and they complete on their beds during rest time.

You can even use the Printables available in this site! I usually print out some worksheets from here:

1) Colouring pages

2) Numbers Worksheets - like counting numbers, writing and colouring numbers, etc..

3) Alphabet Worksheets - tracing, writing, colouring alphabet, flashcards etc..

Just an idea!