Quiet toy ideas

[khrys]

I'm looking for any ideas for quiet toys for places like church for 4 yo ds. He does not want to draw, color, do puzzles, or look at books, which covers most of the suggestions that I have found online. Is there anything else?

[crl]

wiki sticks
snacks
trains (may or may not be quiet depending on the child)

My kid never went for playing quietly in church, either. I've been thinking maybe he's old enough to try again.

Good luck,
Catherine

[LynnS6]

Our ds was very hard to entertain in church because he hated fine motor stuff. Mostly, he went to the nursery between 3 and 5 because there just wasn't much he could/would do.

A few suggestions:


Etch-a-sketch

Finger puppets or stuffed animals

Soft vehicles? (Note, this would not have worked with my son because he's incapable of driving cars/trains/buses without the accompanying motor noises! I have a distinct memory of watching him load 'garbage' into the pews during church one day when he was about 3. He was playing garbage truck driver, and was pretty quiet, but still had to make those sounds.)

Colorforms or stickers
Colorful cards (like flashcards only more interesting) to look at - they have animals, etc.
I SPY books
Lacing cards

Foam puzzle/travel sets?

You might look for 'travel toys', I did a quick amazon search and came up with a few things that would interest my kids:
Curious George Playset
Magnet Vehicles
Tangle Toy (OK, that's not a travel toy, but we've got a small one and my dd loves it.)

[leighi123]

I-spy bags

[tinyblackdot]

lacing beads?


How old is he?

[lifeguard]

pipe cleaners, lacing cards, plastic canvas, prepurchased craft kits, large beads.

[jojojojojo]

At my wedding I had magna-doodles for the flower girls and ring bearer, all 4 years old. They did well.

[limabean]

My friend's MIL makes all her grandkids a "quiet book" kind of like this one:

http://www.learningfromatoz.com/my-quiet-book.html

They're SO cute, and keep the LOs entertained for quite a while!

[Mama2Bug]

magnet board play set
learn-to-dress doll (A pirate, even!)
magnetic hair guy
take-along felt board
felt book (Some of these are religious, which might be good for church, I guess.)
finger puppets

[4evermom]

How about a little box with loose little lego pieces? Not whisper quiet (I know rummaging in a big bin can be loud) but better than something that beeps and maybe more appealing (my ds didn't like most "quiet" activities like coloring or lacing, either). Maybe if they were in the right kind of container where they didn't have to get dumped out. Oh, a padded zippered lunchbag could be perfect! Not as noisy as a plastic box.

[4evermom]

Maze books? My ds liked maze books. He didn't even trace through them with a pencil, just his finger or eyes.

[valsblondies]

etch-a-sketch

[JustVanessa]

A wooden train set?
A set of little people for imaginative play?

[sapphire_chan]

Encourage the church to include more hymns, particularly exuberant ones?

[funkymamajoy]

When I was little, I had a couple of felt books with felt shapes (like a felt board but in book form) for church.

[Princess ConsuelaB]

Ticklebee http://www.backtobasicstoys.com/item/productid/2568