keeping 5 year old busy on plane

[NewEnglandCamper]

Anyone have any suggestions for keeping my 5 year old busy on a plane?

His DS is lost! So this isn't a solution. Thinking of what to put on my carry-on.

 

[Tara]

What sorts of things does he like? My son loves a blank notebook and a pencil - he'll draw for hours on end. He also likes to play Go Fish, so I often bring a deck of cards. He also would let us ask him questions from those Brain Quest card decks for hours on end!

Other ideas: coloring books, sticker books, Mad Libs, a few action figures, A SNACK!, magnetic games like travel checkers, movie or games played on a laptop...

 

[debster812]

DS is 12, but he was 5 when he took his 1st flight. We LUCKED out, in that we were on the last SWA flight out of PVD to MCO. There were 18 passengers on the plane. Just 18. The flight attendants made a huge fuss over all the kids.

What worked really great for us at that age was Color Wonder markers and paper. The markers only work on the special paper. No mess, no fuss, no muss. Also a big baggie of pipe cleaners, and I also put several handfuls of Lego in a ziploc bag as well. Plus some snacks, a couple of books, and you're good to go.

I'd actually get a smallish backpack, and let him have his own carry on. DS has been carrying his own stuff since he was about that age, and I think it helps. Even a very small wheeled backpack would be perfect.

 

[laughinplace199]

Crayola Color Wonder, coloring books & crayons, those magnet sets where you make your own scenes, action figures, books, snacks.

 

[dvcdisney]

I would go with:

books they can read and books you read to them
work books/activity books (tracing letters are great, also counting ones are fun)
deck of cards (surprisingly amuses them for hours)
sticker books

don't forget to bring pencils, crayons and blank pages

 

[GEM]

I have a five year old boy, too, and here are the things he loves to do on planes. He doesn't have any electronic games and we don't take the portable DVD player on planes, but he manages to stay busy and happy.

-Listening to audio books on his MP3 player. We try to download a few new ones for him to listen to before each trip. Some of his favorites to listen to lately have been "The Remarkable Journey of Edward Tulane", "Peter Pan", any of the "Magic Treehouse" books, and the 'Binnucula" books. This keeps his quiet for pretty much the whole flight and in the airport.

-Like somebody else said, he loves drawing and writing in notebooks. We always have a spiral notebook and colored pencils with us. He hates coloring books...always has...but LOVES his notebook. He also loves stickers, so I try to have a few new packages of those for him to use in his notebook.

-I try to take a few special snacks...things he doesn't get very often at home....gummy fruit snacks, M&Ms, etc. Since they're a special treat, that helps keep him really happy!

Honestly, that's about all it takes for him.

 

[PoohsFan1]

We go to the $1 store and pick up travel crayons, coloring books, work books for their grade level, sticker books, note books. Both my DDs have a backpack that they carry as their carry-on so they can put there things in there. All that keeps them busy for hours. However, I do like the deck of cards idea and the magnetic story boards...I will have to remember that for our next trip.

 

[disneyfor3]

I've been picking things up for an upcoming long plane ride for my son. I picked up the little lego Power Miner packs at Target for $2.99. Last time we flew I bought the little Lego Racer sets to put together. I also got a pack of the Star Wars game packs where you put together the little planes.

 

[MmmmDisney.]

I have a 9 and a 6 year old. They color, draw and since we fly JetBlue they watch TV and snack. My DD was 4 on her first flight so I brought a small blanket and pillow (that could fit into my carry on) and she got comfy and watched TV and looked at books.

 

[Tiggs14]

We have two boys ages 4 and 5. We took a portable DVD player with a flip book full of movies for each of them. The movies were new ones they'd never seen before. This kept them busy and entertained for the 2.5 hour flight.

In their carry on's I had also packed a sticker book, a work book and a coloring book. They worked on their sticker books while we waited for our return flight home. The rest of the stuff was never used.

 

[prncess674]

Is your DS currently in school and missing any classes? Plane time could be a good time to catch up on any assignments/homework. You can also ask the teacher about any enrichment activities that would be beneficial.

 

[SSRFred]

Color Wonder is great. We make sure the kids don't do any at home for a while before a plane trip so it keeps their interest.

Play doh is also great, especially with accessories for them to make different things.

Also, travel games are a big hit. Sorry and Guess Who are the current favorites.

 

[backyardponder]

A few years ago we took our 5 year old (and her parents) to WDW via plane. In addition to books, etc. listed above, she brought her princess doll. She made sure the princess doll saw everything out the window!

 

[la_la]

My DD loves Happy Meal toys. She'll seriously play with those a lot longer than she will any other kind of toy. Maybe run by your local fast food place and pick up a couple to surprise him with on the plane??

Sounds like some great ideas on this thread though!

 

[twinsplusone]

We took everything that mentioned and they really only used the paper and pencil. They (8, 6, 6)wrote notes back and forth. Waiting in the airport went pretty quick. It was their first flight so we walked around and our airport had a little play area where they were the only kids and they just goofed around in there.

I was thinking about getting Bendaroos for the next trip.

 

[mckinley]

I always have gotten my dd disney items, such as stickers, paper, pens, activity books, etc.

 

[rie'smom]

These are links to coloring pages, mazes,crosswords,etc. Many are Disney themed. I make copies of these for every trip. My 15 year old daughter and her friends love them. They say it gets them in the "kid" mood for our trip.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=429399

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=226819

 

[buzz5985]

My DS loved word search puzzles when he was young, even before he could read.