Fav Travel toys for airplanes

[chimommy]

Packing plane toys for my kids… so far I have small puzzle packs, coloring packs, wiki sticks, playdoh, and leap pad/ iPads. anyone have other things they like to keep their kids busy on the planes? Mine are 3 and 5.

Thanks!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I would suggest leaving the playdough at home. Not only does it make a mess, it is sometimes not allowed through security. The rest of your list looks fine.

 

[mamabellefortwo]

Boogie board. Lightweight and does not take up space- has variety of uses such as drawing writing playing hang man etc - it's basically a small lightweight etch-n-sketch with a stylus. Can be used during takeoff and landing.

 

[BecBennett]

Boogie board? I think the boogie board that I'm picturing is a lot larger than the one you're talking about...

 

[PrincessInOz]

Boogie board? I think the boogie board that I'm picturing is a lot larger than the one you're talking about...

American Boogie Board.

Australian Boogie Board.

My work here is done!

 

[Gracie09]

I would suggest leaving the playdough at home. Not only does it make a mess, it is sometimes not allowed through security. The rest of your list looks fine.

Yup. No play dough (it looks like a type of explosive.) I would add color forms if you can find them, especially if your kids like stickers. They can stick to the windows and stuff without causing any damage and are easy to clean up.

 

[Habbott]

How long is your flight? Ours will be just at 2.5 hours this time. Last flight I brought a few things. The big hits were a toy version of our exact plane and the iPad. But the reality of it was that he sat and chatted non stop at 3.5, and I can't imagine it being too different at 4.5. He also cuddled his pluto stuffed animal. He also enjoyed lifting up the window over and over and looking out.

If you have layovers of any length, definitely make sure you have entertainment for that.

 

[leahlefler]

Colorforms are always a big hit - we also found books with magnets that could be placed in different places to create pictures. I always hit up the Dollar Tree for inexpensive travel items, too. My kids liked the Color Wonder books at 3 and 5, too - especially the ones with the "metallic" pages or "glitter" pages. My kids also loved the lift-the-flap style books at those ages - we had one with over 100 lift-the-flaps and it kept them entertained for a long time!

I'm in the US and I think of boogie boards as the surfing boards, too - hadn't seen the magna-doodle type toy with a stylus before!

 

[Hezzy04]

We have a couple books that come with sets of magnets/reusable stickers that we use to keep my kids distracted. They had some of the magnet type at Walmart by the school/office supplies, and they are perfect sized for traveling! We have a Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First one...so they are even Disney themed!

I also like to bring a mini etch-a-sketch. I saw and plan to buy a little reusable book that I saw while shopping the other day. It comes with a little pen that you can fill with water, and you color with the water over the page and it "magically" colors it in. Just looked them up...they are called "Melissa and Doug Water Wow!"

 

[jll2800]

We have a few different travel magnet sets that my 5yo loves. We got our first set when he was 3.5, this Marvel one: http://www.amazon.com/MAGNETIC-FUN-...qid=1420992763&sr=8-2&keywords=marvel+magnets

Honestly this STILL gets tons of play! We've since gotten 2 other non-branded sets (fire tricks and pirates), and while they're not quite as popular as the Marvel one he does still use them. They're nice and flat and have a lot of play value if your kid likes imaginative play (action figures, etc). I don't know if you have girls or boys (we have all boys in my house!), but I bet there are sets that are more appealing to girls as well.

My 5yo also likes activity books, specifically mazes and beginning math activities. So we have a bunch of books we bring with on trips, to dinners, etc. For my son, a small baggie full of action figures also does a good job keeping him entertained.

Personally I wouldn't bring puzzles. My kid drops stuff a lot, and I know 2 seconds after the puzzle came out, pieces would already be missing. Maybe your kids are much more careful than mine though!

 

[Lupeix]

All I need is the iPad. One movie and a couple of good Apps.
The Disney Junior Appisodes are great for that age. They are interactive episodes of Disney Junior. The App comes with a free one from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, DS loves Jake, but those you have to pay for, so I only bought him two.
We also have a drawing app that's great and DS enjoys a lot. It is basically a blank piece of paper and he can use his finger as a crayon and switch the colors around/erase,etc. Just like bringing paper and crayons but without the extra hassle. I think it's called "Drawing"

And don't forget plenty of snacks!

 

[tink9702]

Your list is pretty good other than no play-doh & add TONS of snacks!!! On our trip the kids basically ate snacks and played on the i-pad. snacks were especially important when we were descending. DS's ears hurt with the pressure change and he couldn't figure out how to swallow so giving him a snack made a huge difference.

 

[katie111]

I usually just download a new movie or 2 to the Ipad/kindles and my kids are good for the plane ride. Just be sure to have good headphones for them, my kids hate the earbuds. My kids have been sitting together since the youngest was about 2 (with me across the aisle) and I rarely hear a peep out of any of them unless they have to go to the bathroom. I think cars or action figures are good in case you get stuck on the tarmac for awhile and they've already announced no electronic devices. For years I was packing a backpack full of stuff and they rarely used any of it. Before we had Ipads my oldest kids did like using those workbooks with puzzles, mazes, letter writing etc in them.

 

[chris31997]

Make a stop after security for a bottle of water that you can keep with you.

Snacks, snacks, movies, games(electronic), non elctronic things like cars, pipe cleaners, legos books. Pillow and headphones that fit your kiddos.

Someone else suggested wrapping small new toys and giving the new toys to the kiddos through out the flight to open. Something to keep hands busy.

 

[pixiemama91]

Boogie Boards are great! My DD(5) loves hers. I usually pack a deck of cards for playing gold fish or slap jack. The leappad/ipad with maybe a couple of movies and maybe some small figurines. I also like the brain quest games. Maybe some of the activity pads with the invisible ink or some coloring books and crayons.

 

[maxiesmom]

Make sure if you pack anything that makes noise, that your kids are happy using headphones, or will play with it with the volume off. You don't want a child with a game it loves, angry because they can't hear anything and refusing to wear headphones. The airlines require headphones on anything with sound.

 

[Pesky]

Yep ditto the headphones. Kidzgear or something like that on Amazon has fairly comfy ones for kids at a reasonable price. We've had ours for years and they are still great. Stickers, post-it notes (good for drawing plus the sticky aspect), crayons (triangle ones are good for the younger so they don't roll everywhere) and a hand puppet or two for the kids to play with. I also bring a water bottle for each that they fill up after security and loads of snacks, especially fruit. Also, bring some books -- a fav, a new one, a sticker one and a coloring one. I would sort everything ahead of time into different ziploc bags so that will help you find what you are looking for easily. I also had some small cars but you have to watch the rolling feature there.