Toys to entertain 18-month-old on the plane?!

[wrldpossibility]

Help! This is actually for a non-Disney trip in a few weeks, but it will be a similar travel day to when we do go to Disney in December. We will fly from Oregon to Nantucket, so from West Coast to East Coast, in a day that will start at 4am PST and end after 7pm EST. Whew. It'll be interesting! I have lots of workbooks, movies, and games packed for my older children, but am really stumped on what to take for a high energy (aren't they all?) 18-month-old.

Crayons and paper only provide about 2 minutes of entertainment (30 seconds of drawing followed by 90 seconds of throwing and/or eating crayons until they're taken away ). We are packing a few board books, but he really doesn't find them very interesting yet. Snacks, of course, and we're hoping for a long nap. What else is there? Playdough will get everywhere, as will blocks or big beads (what he enjoys at home). Any ideas? I don't think he'd "get" those cool magnetic boards with themes yet. We are packing a few Wiggles movies, but honestly I don't know how long they'll hold his attention. He has his own seat and will be in his car seat. Help me!

 

[traci]

stickers! get a bunch. you can stick 50 of them all over his clothes and arms and he'll have fun picking them off!

99cent matchbox cars - still in packages. get a few. it will be neat because they are still "new." plus he can play with them in the hotel room later.

wrap little (cheap) presents (like stickers and cars). sometimes opening a *surprise* can be just as fun as what's inside.

a couple of dum-dum suckers. sweet and the sucking may help with ears.

magna-doodle. if you don't already have one, get one and don't let him have it till you are on the plane.

go to dollar general store and buy 10 *surprises* my little ones can be entertained by a new sponge, a plastic spoon...you get the point. plus they are only a $1. be sure to wrap them in your prettiest Christmas wrapping paper!

whatever you get, don't let him see any of it until you are stuck on that plane. novelty wears off fast and the newer the better!

good~luck! i have flown with my 1 and 2 year old six times already...once by myself with them so i understand what you are going through!!

 

[Hoosier Mom]

Great suggestions. I wasn't too sure my 18 month old would care for a magnidoodle. Maybe I should pick one up.

I want to get enough stickers so that we have some to play with while waiting on our table service meals. I got those stick on placemats so maybe he can stick stickers on those.

I read somewhere about getting a roll of scotch tape. Some Mom tried this and it entertained her child for quite a while. Whatever works.

Hey, maybe instead of Christmas wrapping paper, I can find mickey mouse wrapping paper. I may have some pooh paper somewhere.

 

[traci]

we actually bought the magna-doodle for our 2 year old, but our 16 month old is the one who really loves it. and it's not MESSY!!!!!

 

[frndofpooh]

The magnadoodle is a great idea. I know you said he's not big on board books, but if you can find the William Accosi's Button Book he might like that. It is a board book with lots of oversized buttons attached with ribbons on the spine. Each page has a spot for a certain number of buttons and the child fits them into the spots (starts at 1 and goes to 10). My son loved it at that age because it kept his fingers busy! The strings and buttons are really securely attached so few worries choking-wise.

Also, pack a few pipe cleaners. He or you can bend them, shape them, twist them around crayons, whatever. My DS can usually get 10-15 minutes out of some pipecleaners - whatever works!

How about stories on CD or cassette tapes? That worked for my older son at that age - as long as the stories were not too long. You might even be able to get Disney ones! . Good luck!

 

[kaw1218]

I know this probably sounds awful, but when I took my dd3 and her 10 month old sister on our first flight, we had washable markers(crayola ones). I gave one to the baby and she started to draw on her arms instead of the paper. I let her.(sorry )We were on a 2 1/2 hour flight and it kept her busy for about 45 minutes. It seemed to work because she was 'trying' to sneak it past us! She was colorful by the time we got off the plane and it took about 25 minutes in the pool to come off, but well worth it! hint: baby wipes took the marker off the tray on the plane ( she only put one small mark on it though before she found herself to be a much better canvas!)

I love the scotch tape idea! ( but try a small piece on your child before you leave, my oldest dd used to freak when tape was stuck to her)

 

[JoyG]

My toddler loves his VideoNow player. It keeps him quiet in the airport waiting for the plane too.

 

[phins_jazy]

love these ideas! youngest dd will be 19 months when we fly in two weeks. I've got a question though. Can you get through security with wrapped presents? I thought I had heard that you couldn't do that? I'd hate to wrap them all up and have a security guard unwrap them all.

 

[liamandcaili]

love these ideas! youngest dd will be 19 months when we fly in two weeks. I've got a question though. Can you get through security with wrapped presents? I thought I had heard that you couldn't do that? I'd hate to wrap them all up and have a security guard unwrap them all.

I haven't heard that. You should be able to take wrapped presents through to the plane because all carry-on luggage is X-rayed. It won't matter if it is wrapped, because they will be able to see inside the wrapping. If there was anything questionable, they might unwrap it, but otherwise, I don't think there would be a problem.

As for other good toys, finger-puppets. My mom used to fly with my younger brother all the time, and she brought all these finger puppets, and they would keep him entertained for hours.

 

[traci]

i flew last week with the babies and my mom had put a wrapped present in my backpack for the kids. it wasn't touched by security

 

[loveswdw]

My advice is to skip the Matchbox cars or anything really small. My DS had more fun rolling them off the tray onto the floor and watching Mommy try to get the cars from under the seat, behind our seats, etc. I told my DH that we won't be bringing any small cars or trains on the upcoming trip.

We use DVDs mostly. Keeps him pretty entertained. We did buy a travel Magnadoodle last time. Didn't really pay too much attention at the time (he might more now). We only have a 2 hour flight and he sleeps through most of it (Benadryl works wonders and our little one doesn't wake up groggy--he's ready to go!). I'd probably pull my hair out if we had a longer flight.

Thought about buying the special Crayola markers and paper for this trip. They are the ones that only work on the special paper. They won't write anywhere else but the special paper. I wonder if they have coloring books made from that yet? I'll have to check at the store.

 

[brymolmom]

My advice is to skip the Matchbox cars or anything really small. My DS had more fun rolling them off the tray onto the floor and watching Mommy try to get the cars from under the seat, behind our seats, etc. I told my DH that we won't be bringing any small cars or trains on the upcoming trip.

We use DVDs mostly. Keeps him pretty entertained. We did buy a travel Magnadoodle last time. Didn't really pay too much attention at the time (he might more now). We only have a 2 hour flight and he sleeps through most of it (Benadryl works wonders and our little one doesn't wake up groggy--he's ready to go!). I'd probably pull my hair out if we had a longer flight.

Thought about buying the special Crayola markers and paper for this trip. They are the ones that only work on the special paper. They won't write anywhere else but the special paper. I wonder if they have coloring books made from that yet? I'll have to check at the store.

Yes - COLOR WONDER has markers and paper and coloring books that only write on those books. Word of caution though - in coloring books my ds likes to color the 'sky' (ie: any white part that is above whatever is in the picture) - and he got very frustrated because with the color wonder pictures- it only will 'take' inside the pictures - so you can't color outside of it. Also - they now have color wonder FINGER PAINTS - we will be trying these on my plane trip in Sept. My girlfriend just used them on a flight and said it was mess-free and distracted her kids for awhile.

One other tidbit for those with little ones too little for finger painting...try a dollar store picture album and put any old pictures of the family that you have tucked away in a shoebox. When dd was 13 months - we went on a plane and this worked well. She loved pointing to everyone and making sounds.

 

[loveswdw]

Yes - COLOR WONDER has markers and paper and coloring books that only write on those books. Word of caution though - in coloring books my ds likes to color the 'sky' (ie: any white part that is above whatever is in the picture) - and he got very frustrated because with the color wonder pictures- it only will 'take' inside the pictures - so you can't color outside of it.

Thanks for the heads up. I don't think I'll have to worry about DS and the "sky". He just scribbles everywhere right now! I'll definitely keep that in mind though. He probably will want to know why it works inside the picture but not outside.

 

[Barak's Disney]

We purchased some mini aquadoodle pads for our trip and my kiddos were totally fascinated with them. They write with water, so it isn't messy at all.

 

[mommyof2boys]

Great suggestions. I wasn't too sure my 18 month old would care for a magnidoodle. Maybe I should pick one up.

I want to get enough stickers so that we have some to play with while waiting on our table service meals. I got those stick on placemats so maybe he can stick stickers on those.

I read somewhere about getting a roll of scotch tape. Some Mom tried this and it entertained her child for quite a while. Whatever works.

Hey, maybe instead of Christmas wrapping paper, I can find mickey mouse wrapping paper. I may have some pooh paper somewhere.

What are stick on placemats? I will be in the same boat as you, traveling in Dec with my DS. He will be 18 months by then and I was looking for interesting ways to keep him busy.

 

[DJSMOM]

Hello, I have a now 3 1/2 year old. I live in PA and my family lives in NC, so since he was tiny, we have traveled the 7 hours by car,or 2 hours by plane to see them. His Videonow Jr has been a godsend. Each movie is only the same length as a Blues Clues or Wiggles episode so it 's not as long. Great for his short attention span. He loves the Crayola Color Wonder markers that someone else referred to. Last trip, we had a Batman book and it was definitely a hit. Magnadoodle makes a travel size toy also. He loves Aquadoodle at home. I bought the packs of cards that are used with a Aquadoodle pen and the colors come out. Once they dry, the color goes away and you can reuse them. I like this better than Color Wonder because they are reusable. Color Wonder can be ex*****ve. I buy the new cards and coloring books and give him things one at a time. He doesn't know what's next and usually each new thing keeps attention for a good bit. I used all of things from the time DJ was the age of you little one. Also...only other thing I can suggest is...lots of snacks and lots of patience!

 

[DJSMOM]

Does anyone know why in my previous post I type expensive and the *** actually post?

 

[bartleby1]

Does anyone know why in my previous post I type expensive and the *** actually post?

LOL! My guess is that you transposed the "s" and the "i", thereby spelling out a forbidden word.

BTW, my kids love those aquadoodle mats too. They are GREAT for travel since they only have one pen and no cap to worry about. My one year old can't replace caps on markers yet. Even my 6 yr old loves the aquadoodle mini-mats.

 

[fakereadhed]

One word...candy. Sorry, not actually a toy. I have a very active ds. I really watch his diet carefully and try to make every calorie nutritious. He hardly ever gets sweets. If I give him a sucker, we are good for at least 20 min. of peace. Also, for some reason he love the PBS character Caillou. He doesn't like tv, but loves those videos, and would watch them constantly if I let him. My DS does not really care for toys of any kind. He would rather run, jump, and dig in some dirt.

 

[Hoosier Mom]

Mommyof2boys:

The placemats are by Neat Solutions. They are disposable and they stick to the table. I read about them here on the DIS. I think I got them at Target. They have Spongebob on them, but I think there were Dora ones too. They are 20 to a pack. I've not used them before. But I thought they'd be a good thing to stick some stickers on to occupy ds at our table service meals. Hopefully he doesn't rip it right off the table.

I'm planning to put meal baggies together before I go so I can just throw them in our tote bag each day. Here's what I'm putting in them:

Disposable placemat
Disposable large pooh bib (also found these at Target)
disposable spoon
some individual wet ones
a page full of stickers
Shout wipe