Need boredom busters for 2-year old

[Disney Panda]

Hi,

Anyone have any suggestions of toys or activities to bring along to entertain my 2-year old DS on the flight and in lines? Yesterday I saw a little take along Thomas train set on Amazon so that's a possibility. Leapster might be a bit too old for him yet. Any help is appreciated!

 

[frannn]

DD3 has been to WDW once a year. I have scoured these boards for suggestions in the past. We have brought travel colorforms in her favorite characters, color wonder kits (markers only write on the special paper), fruit snacks and other treats, board books, paint & water books (with paints already attached), bubbles, light up stuff for night time, my first leappad, any smaller versions of toys/games (one year we had travel sized see n'says), disney doll with disney outfits. You name it, we bought it. Everything worked for a limited amount of time. I also give DD (per her Dr) a shot of decongestant before boarding the plane, to help her ears from clogging, and relax her (sometimes it makes her hyper, so use with caution). We flew Jetblue and Delta Song on our last few trips, but found their free in flight programming did not amuse her. This year, we will probably bring a portable dvd player with a few favorite and new dvds.

 

[lpbm4]

We did a 13hr drive to Pennsylvania last spring and here's what we did:
Color Wonders--perfect b/c they can't get marker all over themselves or the seats!!!
Take-A-Long MagnaDoodle--this was *GREAT*!! You can find them just about anywhere.
Portable DVD player--easier in a car, don't know how it would work on a plane.
Crocodile Dentist--this is a great game, I bought a travel one at KB Toys.
Disposable camera--great fun for him to take pics of his trip. It's always fun to see the pics afterwards.
I always keep our "collection" of Happy Meal toys in our car for the kids to play with.

Hope those helped a little!

 

[MayMom]

Here are some suggestions that I found in the past on these boards...I am in the same boat with you (DD2).

Color wonder finger paints (they are clear until the finger touches the paper)
pipe cleaners (to build things)
stickers (he can take them off and put on paper himself)
colorforms travel kits

Do a search of this board and the Disney tips board - you'll get ;lots of good ideas! Have a magical trip!

 

[scouthawkk]

Portable DVD player w/ headphones. Get him use to the headphones ahead of time, and make sure the battery is charged. If you have a direct flight from Pa, the flight shouldn't be too long, and a full lengh Disney movie may be just the right thing. Or even a couple of DVDs of his favorite shows. You may have to change the movie mid way, but at least he'll have something familiar to look at. We have used small things of playdough. There are some out there that have "tools" attached (we have ones that make flowers, teddy bear forms, french fries and that kind of thing). Window clings that he can use to decorate the window, and can be removed when you get off. A couple of new toys that he can unwrap once in the air. Snacks stuff he likes to eat, including any drinks/juices. If your DS is learning letters, colors or shapes, either get, or make some flash cards with some stuff on them and play a learning game. That was a hit with us. We made a fun game of it, and DS had extra special attention, rather than being bored sitting in a big plane. You can even laminate (and double side) the cards ans put a hole in one of the corners and use a metal ring to hold them all together. That way you can pull them out while in a line if need be.

If you have a layover anywhere, bring a couple of baloons you can blow up while waiting for your connection. Find an uncrowed area where he can bat it around a bit. My DS loved that! And when it is time to get on the plane, either find another family with a little one to pass it off to, or make a small hole in it, deflate it, and put it in the trash. This allowed my DS to blow off some steam and get some activity before having to get back on another plane. Saved our sanity a bit, too!

One of the things DS loved while waiting in line was squirting us with one of those fan misters we bought at MK. He thought that was funny (of course, we exagerated a bit in our reactions to make him laugh). Also loved fanning us with the small battery operated fans. Bubbles seem best for while waiting for parades or fireworks to begin. In line they can annoy others around you, especially if they begin to pop on other people. For in line, you could get one of those kalidoscope type things. You know, one of those things with the little colored pieces inside that form different shapes when you look up at light and slowly spin it around. Also, a view master. There are so many different disks for them these days, even 3-D ones. And little carry cases to keep the disks safe. You can have him count things, or describe some of the objects (shapes, colors...) he sees. Not only would that kill some time, it is also a useful learning tool. He'll think it is a big game, only you will know differently (and the many other adults around you of course).

 

[loveswdw]

...take along Thomas train set

Just beware that little train pieces or little cars drop really easily under seats and behind them. We brought a few Thomas pieces for our TT fanatic and he was really good at dropping them then Mommy trying to fetch them

We brought a portable DVD player. That keeps him pretty occupied. Plus we "drug" him up! I know that sounds awful but a small dose of Benadryl really helped. He slept most of the flight (its only 2 hours) and when he woke up he wasn't drowsy and in a good mood. Not all kids react this way but ours did. The flight attendant commented on how good he was on the flight home.

 

[Diana Lyn]

We burned a 3 hour DVD of Playhouse Disney and brought along the portable DVD player. It was just like they were watching their regular shows on TV. That kept my 2 year old and 1 year old occupied for most of our 2 1/2 hour flight.

Aquadoodle makes a small Thomas coloring mat. It's great because there's just that one pen, you fill it with water, and you are good to go.

I also brought along a couple of their favorite books, the favorited stuffed animals and lots and lots of snacks.

 

[In Luv with Disney]

I agree, the portable DVD player would be great for the plane ride! If that's too expensive, have you considered a Video Now Jr. for him? It is LIKE a DVD player and plays actual shows that you can buy (Sponge Bob, Dora, Clifford, Thomas, etc.) We now bring it on every trip. My son is 4! He also LOVES Leapster and that can keep him occupied for hours. You 2 yo might be too young for that yet. What about My First Leap Pad??

I also agree on the Thomas Take along Aqua Doodle sheets. I got these at Walmart for DS for Christmas and they are great!

 

[skuttle]

We drove to WDW in December with our 2 1/2 year old DS. The drive is about 10-12 hours. On the way there, we didn't have to use the DVD player, but we did use it almost every night in our room and on the drive home we used it. The night before we left, we let DS stay up as late as he wanted and then we were up at 4am, so he was pretty tired and slept off and on most of the drive to WDW.

He really enjoyed playing with the colorforms set we bought him. I also bought him a Thomas book that's magnetic and comes with about 9 magnetic trains/helicopters/etc. He loved playing with that book. I brought a lot of other toys with us, but those were the only ones he really played with.

As for waiting in line, he did fine. We made sure not to get into lines that would take too long. We never had a problem and didn't need anything special to occupy him.

 

[lovesdumbo]

I've had good luck with snacks, coloring books, flash cards, pipe cleaners, story books, stickers and magnetic play sets. My DD LOVED Mr Potato Head magnetic playset when she was 2.

Here's a link to one site that has Mr Potato Head Just do a search-there are several others too.

 

[nicdanh]

Travel Water Doodle
Travel Potato Head

These worked great!

 

[Disney Panda]

Thanks to all for the great suggestions!

 

[2poohbears]

I have 2 1/2 y/o twins...we drove 12 hours to WDW in JAN. I bought several small toys that I didn't allow them to see beforehand - this way they were all "new" to them. They loved the books (I found some cute board books at Target for @ $6 each) and I also found some cute play flip phones by Parents Magazine (at Target) which they played with for like 2 hours straight! They also enjoyed stickers and those small Aquadoodle travel sheets...I got those at WalMart (we bought Pooh bear and Sesame Street themes).