The children seem to always be so active. They never get tired of running, jumping, dancing, hopping, they are always ready to participate in loud activities like music making, sound creation, clapping, stomping and so on.  It is considered to be good when a child has energy for all of those and happily doing them, however every child in his/her routine needs to have periods of quiet time which doesn’t mean an hour sleep. The quiet time may include a short nap though, but more it has to be a special time during which a child can be left alone with him/herself.              

The classroom therefore has to provide such special area for children too, where they can simply take rest from all the everyday hustle, lie or sit, looking through the books, playing with soft toys. Choose a corner of the classroom that’s away from the door and the busiest play areas.

If the classroom space affords there can be established some kind of lofts, canopies, or netting that’s been hung from  the ceiling, or a small tent, in which kids, who wish to be “hidden” from others for some time, will find their peace and relief in a cozy atmosphere. Place a soft rug on the floor, such things as bean bag chair or few cushions, perhaps a blanket, feeling books, and photos.  Arrange bookshelves and other furniture so that to enclose the corner, leaving a gap for convenient entering of the area.  Provide a few dozen books, including both storybooks and non-fiction. Revolve these books every few weeks, changing them with the books from the library or a main book shelf. Fill your cozy corner with quiet activities to keep your child happily occupied. Add toys that invite creative and imaginary play, such as building blocks, dolls or a toy kitchen. Store up sketchpads, plain sheets of paper and crayons, but eschew messy art supplies such as finger paints and watercolors.

Consider this area to be a place where an angry, upset or a tired child is free to go and stay there for some time. Important that this area shall not be used as a consequence for “time-out” for a reason that in this case children will have not so pleasant association with it.  You may hang the pictures of children showing different emotions, when you come to talk an upset or angry child, you can ask him/her to find his/her emotions in one of the pictures. This method can help both, teacher and child in understanding each other more.

Make sure that this “cozy area” is visible to all the teachers. Teach children some rules which are applied in this area such as one at a time, maintenance of calm aura. Keep on making changes in the area, model it, bring on novelty every day as to maintain it interesting and welcoming for kids. For making the quiet area really work develop relaxation techniques with children ahead of time, stretching or counting to ten, guided imagery, big balloon technique. Place visual reminders of all the techniques in the area itself. You might want to put some nice music or sing a slow relaxing song along with children – they will be happy to participate in this!