Half term - how much solo playing time?

[Hattych]

For only children around ages 5-7 how much solo playing time would you give them each day? Sometimes I feel mean but growing up with siblings I only ever played by myself!

I'm also curious as to what others would say for this - DC is not good at playing alone AT ALL and I don't know how much to push it (as someone who values alone time).

My son is 7 and it varies quite a bit. Some days he will play on his own for a good chunk of the morning/afternoon, although I am there alongside him so he chatters to me.

I do try to make sure we do something together every day e.g. baking, trip to the park, cinema etc. He also plays with his friend from down the road a lot.

I obviously wouldn't leave him playing all day by himself but I do think it's good for kids to be able to amuse themselves a bit.

My daughter is 8, but since the first lockdown she has played on her own in her bedroom for a couple of hours at a time. She listens to audio stories on a website called Libravox and is quite happy. She always knows she’s welcome to come and do something with me and we always go out together once a day and I’ll go up and read to her. We usually meet up with friends or she goes to friends house on a couple of mornings.