Audiobook and coloring hour: a calm reset

01What you need

• A library card and your library's free audiobook app on a phone or tabletFree
• A small speaker, or the phone's own speakerHave
• Coloring pages or blank paper, two stacks: one for you, one for themHave
• Crayons, colored pencils or markersHave
• A blanket and pillows, if you're on the floorHave

Where: A table or a blanket on the floor, a lamp, and the phone or speaker somewhere you can hear it but not see the screen.

02Steps

1. Borrow the book

   DadFive minutes, before you call them over. Open your library's free audiobook app, sign in with your library card, and find a book that's available now. Picture-book collections and short chapter books work well for a first hour. Download it so it plays without buffering.

2. Set up two spots

   DadPut out two stacks of coloring pages and one shared box of crayons, side by side. If you don't have pages, draw a few big outlines for them: a house, a rocket, a dog. Turn the big light off and a lamp on.

3. Put the screen away

   TogetherStart the book, then turn the phone face down or slide it out of sight. Say, "No screens to look at. We just listen and color." If they want to choose, give them two books to pick from before you start.

4. Color with them

   TogetherYou color too, for real. Don't hover or fix their page. Kids who see a parent reading are more likely to pick up a book, and sitting in with the story yourself works the same way. If they want to color a scene from the story, go with it.

5. Pause once to talk

   TogetherHalfway through, pause the book for two minutes. Ask, "What do you think happens next?" or "Who's your favorite so far?" Then press play and keep going.

6. Hang the pages

   KidWhen the hour or the chapter ends, they pick one page each, yours and theirs, to tape on the fridge. Write the book's title on the back so you remember where you left off.

03If it stalls

• If they keep asking to see the screen, put the phone in another room and use a speaker connected by Bluetooth, or a library CD if your library still lends them.
• If coloring isn't their thing, swap in play dough, LEGO or a puzzle. Hands busy, ears on the story.
• If the book you want has a waitlist, place a hold and pick something available now. Short story collections usually are.
• If they get wiggly, it's fine to stop at a chapter break and pick it up tomorrow.

04Variations

05Sources

• Free library audiobooks. The Library of Congress says many public libraries offer free audiobooks and e-books to library card holders, often through services such as OverDrive and Libby, and suggests contacting your local library to learn more. Library of Congress Checked Oct 15, 2026
• Model reading, library cards, reading nook. The AAP says kids who see a parent reading are more likely to read themselves, that most communities offer free library access with e-book loans, that all kinds of reading count, and suggests making a cozy reading spot at home. American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org) Checked Oct 15, 2026
• Small parts. The AAP's toy-buying guide advises making sure toys and parts are larger than a young child's mouth to prevent choking, and reading toy labels for the ages a toy is safe for. American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org) Checked Oct 15, 2026

Where the idea came from: a suggestion in a r/StayAtHomeDaddit thread, put in our own words. The facts above come from the sources listed, not the thread.