Activities for Toddler on Airplane

[mad hatter fan]

Most fast food places have milk and your airport probably has some of those. Also all of the airports I have been in have some shops with magazines, candy, bottled water, etc. I remember getting milk at some of these. If you need to keep it cold for later, you can bring an insulated bag with frozen grapes through security. They can work like an icepack for a while.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Good idea about frozen grapes. I hadn't thought of that.

I am also trying to come up with some smaller toys to pack in my checked bag for him to have at the hotel. I want things that won't take up tons of space in my bag. Hmm...

 

[TinkPirateMom]

Magnets on a smaller dollar store cookie sheet can be fun. You can make your own magnets if you can't find any large enough to not be considered bite size.

Etsy has some felt play mats that would be fun or you could make your own.

Bristle blocks could be entertaining, not to actually build things at that age of course but they are sensory stimulating.

 

[AZMermaid]

I will have to check out that app. Though he's not really into 'screens' at all.

Unfortunately he has some swallowing issues so a lot of those kinds of snacks he can't eat. It does make snack time (and meals) a bit tricky for us.

I've never heard of shelf stable milk. I'll look into that. Our airport doesn't have a Starbucks though (lame.)

They have this milk at my local grocery store (Safeway/ Vons). I think the brand is Horizon. It is in little red boxes.

We have always bought milk inside security. When we flew to CA last March, the deli was out of white milk, so my kids (3.5 and just 2 at the time) got chocolate milk. I was thinking, "oh man, now the door is open," but I said "Oh Chocolate Milk is just a special treat for the airport. How fun!" Flash forward like 6 months to our next flight, my son, now a new 4, says "Yay! We are flying so we can have Chocolate milk at the airport!" So, for now, he never asks for chocolate milk because he knows it's an airport treat, ha ha! It totally worked in my favor!

I always over pack for in room toys. My kids both are very entertained by the novelty of the hotel room. My son's trip to DL when he was 13 months.... I swear his favorite thing was playing with the curtain in the hotel room. Now they are a little older and I let them pack their own small backpacks with toys (and I sneak a few in there). But they really only need their sleep buddies, a couple books, 2-3 cars, and 2-3 figurines. My kids LOVED the ones they sell at DL that look like bath toys. They are sold in a circle shaped packaging. They are way too stiff to really be bath toys, but we had the Mickey set, the Pooh set and the Princess set at one time. They are large and easy for toddlers to hold and manipulate. My daughter loves figurines and "people" so she always loved these. My son is more of a "mover" so he liked these, but really loved his cars the best. They sell these at the store outside Small World, probably in the baby shop on Main St too. I know you said he like Pooh, so I might get that in the first day or two and then he would have them for the hotel!

 

[RebeccaW23]

Just found this and saw some good ideas! Read the comments too.

http://therulesofmotherhood.com/2013/12/16/16-ideas-keeping-small-children-busy-airplane/#more-498

 

[ClaraOswald]

I can't seem to find those apps on my phone so they must just be for apple. I don't have an iphone or ipad or anything.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Just found this and saw some good ideas! Read the comments too.

http://therulesofmotherhood.com/2013/12/16/16-ideas-keeping-small-children-busy-airplane/#more-498

That lady's kids are clearly nothing like my kid..haha! An hour doing one activity? That would never happen in my world.

And you wouldn't catch me bringing a million little beads and whatnot on a plane (even if they weren't a choking hazard.) I have a kid who likes to dump stuff out. I am not picking all that up...ha!

And toothpicks? Is this lady high?

 

[Crisi83]

I didn't read all the suggestions, but we did a 10 hour trip to Germany at 17 months, plus we travel a lot anyways, so here is what worked for me -

• Favorite stuffed animal of course
• At B&N they have busy books that have suction cup plastic figures (Mickey, Doc, Jake..) Those are great for sticking on the book they come with or on anything plastic.
• Pipe cleaners - you can "bead" them with cheerios, bend them, make bracelets, etc. I was slightly worried mine might miss use them, scratch her self, but we had no such problems.
• Honestly, mine wasn't big on coloring yet either - but she looooved stickers.
• Tablet. She has her own tablet and watched hours of Mickey Mouse and Fisher Price makes a bunch of apps for Android that are great. Even at 17 months, she had her tablet all figured out and it was our best friend on that trip. She could listen to her music, watch her shows, she got way more screen time then normal, but it was worth it, especially as jet lag set in...
• Plastic slinky.
• Rubber duckies (or any small plastic toy your kid likes, mine is in love with rubber duckies...)
• Books
• I also brought shelf stable milk. If you use a cup with a straw for water or anything, remove straw part before take off, air pressure changes will very likely make it leak.

You're smart to get him his own seat.... So far I always fall for the "its cheaper" and she sits on my lap, which is both less safe and more work for mommy. We've still got three trips planned before she turns two and has to/gets to have her own seat. Then we may be traveling less...

 

[firecracker725]

I have three children who have been flying since they were each 7 weeks old. They are now 6, 3 1/2, and 18 months. In fact, we *just* got back from a transatlantic visit that had us on three airplanes each way. The departing flights were flying with the sun and 2, 10, and 1.5 hours respectively and involved a 6 hour layover between the 2nd and 3rd legs during our normal sleeping hours. The returning flights were 1.5, 7 (red eye), and 1 hours.

Anyway...all that is to say that I have more than a fair amount of traveling experience with three very different small children.

We don't take very many toys, because hauling them through security with all the other stuff children require is just too much trouble. We pick one soft toy, a few small books (look into Indestructables), and an iPad/iPhone loaded with a few episodes that they adore. Don't underestimate the power of Peek-a-boo and Pat-a-cake to keep little ones entertained with no materials.

I've never been lucky enough to be aboard a plane that served milk, so I bring along a cooler bag with milk already poured into sippy cups. I've had shelf-stable milk both go through security unscathed and confiscated, but all they ask me to do to the already poured is to taste it or test it.

Oh...and make very sure your child has a bone dry diaper before boarding. Change him/her about 30 minutes after take-off. This is also a *fun* and time consuming adventure aboard the plane. I don't know what it is about cabin pressure that can make diapers fail, but it happens to us all the time. Bring about twice as many diapers as you think you'll need.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Great tips!

Those industructables sound a bit like this 'magazine' we subscribe to for him called Hello! It's from Highlights magazine but it's for ages 0-2. They are small and he can chew on them but they aren't cardboard or paper or whatever. Plus they are light. So we're bringing a whole stack of them. I took them out of 'rotation' at home so hopefully they'll seem new again to him.

I am actually thinking about bringing overnight diapers for the flights, in case there's turbulence or something and we're stuck in our seats.

Will the air pressure mess up a sippy cup that has one of those rubbery kind of tops? That's the only kind he knows how to use.

 

[firecracker725]

Great tips! Those industructables sound a bit like this 'magazine' we subscribe to for him called Hello! It's from Highlights magazine but it's for ages 0-2. They are small and he can chew on them but they aren't cardboard or paper or whatever. Plus they are light. So we're bringing a whole stack of them. I took them out of 'rotation' at home so hopefully they'll seem new again to him. I am actually thinking about bringing overnight diapers for the flights, in case there's turbulence or something and we're stuck in our seats. Will the air pressure mess up a sippy cup that has one of those rubbery kind of tops? That's the only kind he knows how to use.

The Nuby cups? Nah. I've never had a problem with my cups until this past return trip. The cups here in Europe are crap, so we bought some new ones in the US...munchkins with hard spouts. They leaked on my first flight's takeoff, so I just vented it after that. We only traveled with milk for the first flight and did juice from the beverage service after.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

I had a ton of busy bags last time I flew with the kids. I had a 10month old and 3 year old, with connecting flights and long layovers...on my own. Phew that was a long trip.

Some of our busy bags -
Large beads and pipe cleaners. (I used large foam beads)
Felt busy boards - make a cupcake and make a monster.
Lacing boards from M&D brand
Color sorting tray
Small puzzles (wooden, from dollar store)
Small bag of cars and simple felt "road map"
Felt sandwich making kit.


On the felt busy boards - I cut a piece of cardboard the size to fit in our baggies, and then covered it in felt. I then cut out all the pieces for each kit (look on Pinterest for pattern ideas). The pieces then stick to the felt board as the build the monster/cupcake/etc. And it all fits back in the bag.

The car/map bag - I got a piece of green felt and sewed a simple road shape on to it from grey felt. It can be folded up to put in the bag.

Other ideas - felt doll dress-ups on the same boards, cakes instead of cupcakes, making scenes (castle, forest, ocean).

It took a week or two of working on these after bed time but it was SO WORTH IT, not only for that trip, but for any time after. I can pull these out at home or away and get 5 minutes to myself or with limited scripting from my little guy.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

For coloring at that young age - try the crayola "my first" selection - they have fat color wonder markers that look like animals and other fun things. Easier to hold at that age.

Sorry several of my suggestions were for older toddlers - I didn't read the OP closely enough! (Kids distracting me...sigh...can't they see I'm reading?). But I hope they help someone.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

I was actually considering putting strips of fabric into a small wipes container because he may enjoy doing that. But then I didn't think I'd want to have to pick it all up...haha.

Tie them together like a magician trick.

 

[ClaraOswald]

The Nuby cups? Nah. I've never had a problem with my cups until this past return trip. The cups here in Europe are crap, so we bought some new ones in the US...munchkins with hard spouts. They leaked on my first flight's takeoff, so I just vented it after that. We only traveled with milk for the first flight and did juice from the beverage service after.

Yep, those are the ones.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I had a ton of busy bags last time I flew with the kids. I had a 10month old and 3 year old, with connecting flights and long layovers...on my own. Phew that was a long trip.

Some of our busy bags -
Large beads and pipe cleaners. (I used large foam beads)
Felt busy boards - make a cupcake and make a monster.
Lacing boards from M&D brand
Color sorting tray
Small puzzles (wooden, from dollar store)
Small bag of cars and simple felt "road map"
Felt sandwich making kit.


On the felt busy boards - I cut a piece of cardboard the size to fit in our baggies, and then covered it in felt. I then cut out all the pieces for each kit (look on Pinterest for pattern ideas). The pieces then stick to the felt board as the build the monster/cupcake/etc. And it all fits back in the bag.

The car/map bag - I got a piece of green felt and sewed a simple road shape on to it from grey felt. It can be folded up to put in the bag.

Other ideas - felt doll dress-ups on the same boards, cakes instead of cupcakes, making scenes (castle, forest, ocean).

It took a week or two of working on these after bed time but it was SO WORTH IT, not only for that trip, but for any time after. I can pull these out at home or away and get 5 minutes to myself or with limited scripting from my little guy.

How large are the foam beads and where did you get them?

He's not really into imaginative play yet. But maybe just some large shapes to stick on a felt board would interest him.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

How large are the foam beads and where did you get them? He's not really into imaginative play yet. But maybe just some large shapes to stick on a felt board would interest him.

I got them at hobby lobby I think. They have a variety of shapes and sizes in the large container I got. I took only the largest beads...they were about the around of a half dollar? We had stars, hearts, circles, etc. He loved that activity.

What I have learned with two kids going through the "eat everything stage" - just be ready to dig whatever it is out of their mouth. By the time a child can easily eat table food, they generally know not to swallow non food items, even if they put them in their mouth. Obviously I watch both my kids with possible choking hazards, but they have never actually attempted to eat anything. They just want to suck on it I guess. We didn't have issues with the beads, and my now 16 month old plays with them too. We just have a few that are slobbered on. Lol. My oldest son (4) has sensory issues and still chews on stuff, so chewed on issues are common around here.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Some small things I'm not worried about him 'eating' them, per se. It's more that I'm worried about him accidentally inhaling something when taking a breath. That's why I won't give him something like those craft pom poms. If he inhales one, it would be pretty tricky to get that out of him. Especially on an airplane. I know the odds are slim, but it's just not worth the risk to me.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

Some small things I'm not worried about him 'eating' them, per se. It's more that I'm worried about him accidentally inhaling something when taking a breath. That's why I won't give him something like those craft pom poms. If he inhales one, it would be pretty tricky to get that out of him. Especially on an airplane. I know the odds are slim, but it's just not worth the risk to me.

That makes sense. These are not big enough to inhale - I think they would have trouble swallowing them in general. You could also look at the lacing sets made by companies like Melissa and Doug too - big beads. In that travel tray they should stay in place on the tray. Our travel tray has a ledge on it, pretty sure it is the same one.

 

[malloriewillms]

My 2.5 yr old has flowen twice he slept all four times. But I bring applesauce pouches for takeoff and landing and those work. He loves sitting by window and looking out. I also bring my iPad.