All children in my care during nap time must lay down and have quiet time. No exceptions. While the older ones (5/6 yr olds) do not have to actually sleep, they do have to lay down and be quiet and not disturb others. If they don't cooperate, they will be removed from the room and given a nice kitchen chair to sit in. This is my time to eat lunch, clean up the lunch mess, work on activities for the next days, get daycare laundry done, clean up daily messes, etc. I have tried the "letting the 6 yr old stay up and sit in the kitchen and color or other so called quiet activity", and it just doesn't work. So, there are no exceptions here. Everyone lays down. As a provider who works from 6:30 to 5:30 each day, I totally understand how important this little bit of quiet time is for us to wind down from the day, catch up on work, etc.

Now if it is school age kids, I would maybe let them take turns bringing a video, or suggest they bring a book or hand game to play. Something where they can sit quietly and do their activitity during naptime. If a school age child did not cooperate I would probably give them a spot to sit and reflect on as to why they are sitting there in a chair. Since I don't know what ages you are actually referring to, it is hard to give an answer. There is no reason even a school age child needs to be on the go all day long.

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