what kind of toys to take on the plane?

[MagicPrincess]

we've never flown with our DD- who will turn 2 this week. What kind of toys do you recommend that we take on the plane to keep her busy???

Books
Crayons/coloring books
????

I know whatever I do take- it will be something new- like a little present!!!

thanks!

 

[HeatherAnne]

We took our 2 year old to WDW last March. It was his first plane ride. I made a "Mickey" goody bag for him filled with presents, snacks and stuff to do. As a matter of fact we leave this Thursday to WDW and I am preparing a goody bag now - this year it will be a "Buzz Lightyear" bag.

I found that stickers and sticker books kept him VERY busy most of the plane ride. Any type of sticker book - especially his favorite characters like Blue Clue's, Elmo and Buzz lightyear. I also had sugarfree candy - gummie bears and lollipops were a big hit. The Crayola "mess free" Color Wonder books are great too. We also had a travel size Magna Doodle that kept him busy too.

We also decided to give him some Motrin before we left - just in case his ears hurt. Make sure you use a "dye free" brand. Our peditrician told us the dye can sometimes cause hyperactivity - especially when using Benadryl.

Good Luck and Have fun! If you have anymore questions please don't hesitate to ask.

HeatherAnne

 

[CEDmom]

Here are some thing we took When we flew with DD at that age:

Crayola color wonder set (If you don't know about these they are great because the markers only work on the special color wonder paper so no worries about getting markers on clothes etc.)

Small packets of Crayola model magic (not as messy as play dough)

Stickers and paper to decorate

Lacing shapes (cardboard shapes with holes punched out to lace through a shoe lace)

Storybooks with stickers

Magnet book (storybook with magnet pieces)

Post-it note paper & crayons

Plain storybooks

I got most of these things at Wal-Mart and Target. We didn't give her everything at once but would pull a new item out when she got restless. We also made sure to save some new things for the trip home. Have a fun trip .

 

[MagicPrincess]

great ideas!!!

 

[jeefers]

The easiest/cheapest toys to bring on the plane are kids meals toys from fast food places. McDonalds is good because they have toddler toys. I order a kids meal for lunch for myself (while I'm at work and my son's at daycare) and stockpile the toys. Then on the plane,start pulling them out when my son -2yrs old- has several new toys to play with.

 

[maciec]

I agree with the other posts, but I would like to add one .... LeapPad. My dd loves hers! The last time that we flew she was 2.5 yoa. Leap worked great for us as well as washable markers and coloring books.

 

[MagicPrincess]

I just found the markers and magic paper that someone mentioned on this thread. How cool! that is a great idea!

I was thinking about a LeapPad, too! Is it too noisy to take on the plane- will it bug the people around us?

Thanks!!!

 

[Sandy Feet]

I checked my daughter's Leappad and I think it has a place for earphones, necessary as Leappad could be a bit annoying for other passengers.

Just an idea -
On another trip I saw a lady across the aisle doing beadwork using a piece of felt to keep the beads from rolling away. I use this idea at home for my daughter now and it might work on the tray table in the plane to slow down the toys too.

 

[HappyMommy2]

We recently took a 6-hour flight with DS 23 months and DS 35 months. It took a lot of entertaining but they did just fine! We brought most of the things the other posters mentioned. The Color Wonder markers and paper were a hit, as well as a Wiggles Colorforms kit I found at Target for $3.
We took a few snacks that the kids are never allowed to have at home (Pez, chewy fruit snacks, etc.) and those occupied quite a bit of time (of course we supervised closely as these are chokable!). The best thing, though, was the soft drink served by the flight attendant--our kids rarely have soda at home so we told them they could have soda on the plane and the novelty of that was exciting to them. It was brought in a cup with a lid and straw and that kept both kids happy and busy for quite a while.

Have a great trip. Hopefully your DD will take a nice nap in her carseat on the plane--my DS almost always does! Something about that nice engine hum.

 

[becka]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have been trying to come up with some ideas for DS and I LOVE the idea about the Color Wonders. I was going to take just regular crayons but I had some concerns about our ability to keep his "creativeness" contained to paper.

 

[tw1nsmom]

If you bring crayons try to bring the washable kind. They do really wipe off surfaces easily. Another thing I've been told about (haven't tried it on a trip yet) was to bring pipe cleaners for the children to bend into shapes. My kids love to play with them at home (either beading them or shaping them) so I think it would be a neat activity for travel.

 

[JenDaveBrendan]

Toys R Us sells travel pouches of play-doh (in a zip up bag). They also have travel size magna-doodles. I also got my son (who is 3 and 1/2) a travel hungry hippos game and a travel fishing game. Have fun!

 

[CaseyJr]

This is perhaps a little different, but it was fun to make and DS enjoyed it (this was 5 or 6 yrs. ago, as DS is now 8):

I made a booklet for DS. Basically, it was a story book of "trip rules" but had fun, informational things for him. I had Disney's Print Artist, or Magic Artist Studio, or something like that -- graphics software. I made the booklet in story sequence from the time we left home that first morning until we were at WDW (we flew). It was quite simple -- I wasn't trying to be an author. It wtarted with: "Phillip will wake up. Mr. Moon will be out. Phillip, Mommy and Daddy will drive to the airport. We will ride in an airplane. Phillip gets to ride in his car seat. The pilot will turn on a special light that says Phillip can't get out of his seat. May not kick the back of the seat [in front of you], etc." Then for once we were at WDW, things like: "Phillip will ride in buses. Mickey Mouse Magic will keep Phillip safe from dark places or loud noises. Donald Duck says to drink lots of water. Goofy says to let Mommy and Daddy put sunscreen on you." Stuff like that. Each sentence was a page, and I did some sort of Disney character graphic appropriate to the sentence. I laminated the pages and held them together with book rings. Now it's a keepsake for him and he still pulls it out and looks at it.

 

[debbiedana]

Just packed DD4's 'plane entertainment' bag for Thursday morning:

travel size magna doodle
magnet board - folds up and has clothes, hair for girls on board
stickers and new sticker book
plain notebooks and pencils
2 thin new books
magic ink book
A couple new activity books with stickers, mazes, etc.

We have a 2-1/2 hour direct flight so that will be more than enough for her. We are also leaving very early (like 5am from our house), so she'll be tired enough to just sit on my lap in the airport instead of needing to be entertained. If she does get bored in the airport, she likes to walk around and look at everything going on, taking moving walkways, getting a snack from McDonald's, etc.

 

[cajunmommy]

As with most toddlers, sometimes the simplest items are the most fascinating (think wrapping paper & boxes instead of the present inside). So, where am I going with this.... masking tape.

A roll of the stuff kept my 3yo busy for a while during our last car trip to Disney. He stuck it to his car seat, his clothes, etc., and it became part of his "artwork" as he used it to decorate his color sheets. An added plus - I used it to secure plain sheets of paper to a hard-cover book so he had an instant desk for coloring.

Granted, not as much fun as stickers, but inexpensive and non-permanent!

New travel-sized magnadoodles are on the list for our upcoming trip this year. Both boys have worn out their current ones that are kept in the car for our daily commutes.

 

[the4moores]

Something that I am going to use on our next trip is a calculator. My daughters are 5 and 3 but I have a calculator with large buttons that they enjoy playing with. They can use it like a cash register for play or my older one enjoys doing school type things... what number comes after 53, what number comes before 25 etc. My youngest just likes pushing the buttons and it's not loud!

 

[debbiedana]

Great idea with the calculator! My mom just bought a really big one with big #'s and a big display at Dollar Tree. Can't beat the price, and it would be perfect to throw in DD's bag.

 

[Twigs]

I don't know if they still make them, but whenever we took a plane or car trip I always took the colorforms books along. They are flat and don't take up much room, we had the Disney themed ones and it kept them busy for a long time. Other things as mentioned above that worked great were the sticker books and travel magnadoodles, also the travel memory game. When DS's were old enough, I also took a sheet of paper and put rows of dots on it, made lots of copies so they could play the game where you put your initial in each box you make, not sure what it is called, we always called it the dot game.

 

[theboysmom]

Your son may be a little young but this works well for us. My husband never leaves home without his Notebook computer. We take 1 or 2 DVD's or software that our 6 and 2 year old like as well as headsets and it keeps them occupied. This has also worked out well in hotel rooms.

 

[topgumm]

I have been flying with my kids since they were 6 mos. old and the ideas on this thread are great. I thought I would add a few.

I am not sure if they have this everywhere yet but Color Wonder just came out with a mess free "finger paint" for the road! It is really cool.

It takes time but I actually wrap each gift/ toy or food to get the most out of each new item.

Books on tape are also really good. Polly pocket for girls who are older. I take many of the things I bring out of their packaging and rewrap to save space. I also put small pieces in a ziploc for future storage during the trip.

Window clings are fun if you have a window seat. Also think "out of the box", like a package of colored dots. You can get them anywhere in the office supply section. We had great fun putting them on body parts and counting and sorting them. (Really Cheap!)

"I Spy" books are fun from Scholastic, buy them and save for trips. They also have small 3-D puzzles that make animals, dinosaurs, and even airplanes. Once they are put together the kids can make up stories.(store in a ziploc)

I also buy the candy you Never buy for them like ring pops or that dip stuff. It is really special when they don't get it very often.

ALWAYS ask the flight attendant to see if they can visit the cockpit-take a picture! Many times my husband, who is a pilot, carries around plastic wings for kids, it never hurts to ask. They also sometimes have special kid magazines. Just be really NICE to the flight attendants, they are your "door" to cool things!

No, I am not a flight attendant! I just know it pays to be on their good side while flying with kids.

I could go on and on, but I will restrain myself. Hope it gives some new ideas.