What will keep a 5 year old busy on the plane?

[Kimber1963]

We are taking our very active 5 year old son on a plane soon. Any tips on what activities might keep his interest so that he is not annoying everyone else on the plane? Any ideas appreciated.

 

["Ginger"]

When we decided to drive to Fl. last year I worried that maybe we were crazy. We have a 5 y.o. DD. I took a trip to the Dollar Store before we departed on our long 17 hours journey. Yes, DH drove straight through. I found a beading kit, she made bracelets and necklaces from Va., that's where she woke up we left home at 2:30a.m., all the way to Fl. Maybe you can find something like that to keep your DS busy, Legos maybe. I also packed it in a special tote bag just for her, everything was new so it was like Christmas morning There was coloring books, sticker books, crayons, pencils, stampers, marker, story books and snacks. She was great and we had a really good trip. Don't forget to take plastic zip baggies to store things found on your cruise.

 

[prymsu]

I try to load up on inexpensive little puzzle books, travel games, hand held games and so on. I keep them hidden until we get on the plane. Then i pull out one thing and give it to my son. When the interest wears off, then i pull out another item...This worked really well. We went to China last year and it was a nineteen hour flight and he did better than me!

 

[happydays]

Here is a list of my "bag of tricks" for my little frequent fliers (now ages 6 and 3):

Colorforms - give your child the window seat.

Scotch tape (masking tape works too) - for 2-4 year olds. I just make a rule of "it can go anywhere except anyone's hair". This once kept my then 3 year old daughter completely occupied from Chicago to Seattle!

Travel Etch-a-sketch
Travel Magnadoodle
small pkg of crayons and coloring book
New books they haven't seen yet.
Fruit snacks and other "non-mess" treat items.

No matter what you bring - remember not to take it out all at once in the beginning! Save some of the big guns for later on a long flight.

Also - if you are going to be on a flight that serves a meal, remember to call the airline ahead of time and order a special "kids meal" (I'll never forget the time we got upgraded to first class, and they tried to serve my little ones some sort of spicy shrimp lunch!).

And ... one final piece of unsolicited advice - You are obviously a very nice person to be worried that your child will "annoy" other passengers - but DON'T get too concerned with this. As long as he/she is not kicking someone let him be himself! No matter how good my kids are on our many flights, there is always some Goober in the vicinity who rolls their eyes when the kids come aboard. Ignore them and ENJOY YOURSELVES!

 

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

Crayola has those special markers that only color on their special paper. I didn't have to worry about our kids writing all over the airplane seats or trays. I also bought them age appropriate hand held games (my twins are 4)-Mr. Potato Head and Pooh's Flickering Fireflies. They have travel size magnadoodles. I did the same thing that Ginger did. I packed my kids backpacks and didn't let them open them up until we were on the plane. DS likes Thomas the Tank Engine, so we gave him a new train piece. Also, KB Toys and Toys R Us have travel size games-like Trouble, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Connect Four, etc. I also packed some snacks, coloring books and crayons, new story books from the $1 store. DH took his laptop with some downloaded movies-so the kids got to watch Emperor's New Groove and Tarzan on the plane and while waiting at the port.

 

[Mjasp]

I'm 10 yrs old and my 6 yr old sister LOVES handheld Candy Land even though she doesn't like the board game

Hope I helped.

 

[DisneyDadFaNaTic]

Our DS (who was nearly 3 on his first plane trip) loves music. So we got a cheap $15.00 walkman and bought some Disney tapes with his favorite songs and some books to read or color and he kept himself busy the entire trip. On the flight back, he was singing so loud he was cracking everybody up. He was so excited when we landed that he got everyone in the plane clapping and saying "Yeahhhhhh, we're here".

That is what worked well for us, and we are going to try it again in 33 days!

 

[ErinC]

Happydays: You crack me up!

Last year I took my DD's 5 & 2 , by myself to see my best friend from high school. On the flight back we got delayed sitting on the runway, my 2 year old was getting really mad that we weren't moving, and she started to get restless. She was kicking the seat in front of her, and trying to pull down her tray table( which is not allowed while you are getting ready to take off), she beat on her tray table and was yelling COKE, COKE, COKE. Needless to say I was really getting nervous, as she was starting to go into meltdown. The guy that was sitting in front of her, got up from the window seat and moved to the empty aisle seat. I was embarrassed, but said nothing figuring "I'll never see this guy again". When we arrived back at home, my husband met us, and we proceeded to go down to the baggage claim, I see this same guy again, and he proceeds to shake my husbands hand, and I realize they know each other. (Embarrassment again!!) Turns out my husband went to high school with this guy, and says that he has introduced me to him before. After he walked away I told my DH about the incident on the plane, and he laughed. Now I see the guy all the time around our town, and I finally apologized to him about 6 months later. He laughed too!

Anyway... I did the dollar store thing too. Pull out something new anytime they start to get restless. I even bought a couple of new packs of stickers before the return trip back home, so they would have something new to look at again. Erin

 

[CubFan]

If you are flying on Southwest by any chance, they used to give out activity books and stick on wings (like the pilot wears)--all of the above posts are good ideas--also keep your child chewing (gum if allowed) for the ears! (You probably already knew that!)

 

[Kimber1963]

Thanks everyone for all the terrific ideas. I'll let you know how it goes!!

 

[nedleycan]

We went to Jamaica in December, and our kids (3 and 4 1/2) were losing it on the plane. The nice people in front of us (who had a 2 and 4 yo) turned around and gave us some Playdough. It was fantastic. I would never go on another flight without Playdough. It kept my kids busy for over an hour. Although, it didn't really work for their kids.....

 

[apanos]

I second the vote for play-do. It kept my 2 1/2 year old busy for over an hour. I brought some cookie cutters to use with the play-do. Also, you know all those address labels you always get in the mail? They make great stickers. I bring some of those along too.

 

[dijid]

I have to say I LOVE The scotch tape idea! DS is into stickers and with a carefully supervised ball point pen, she could make her own for hours, I'm sure!

We do a lot of traveling with our kids. Back when Uncle Sam gave us that $600 tax refund, we decided to do our patriotic duty and pump it back into the economy and bought a portable DVD player and some DVDs. It's small and lightweight and has a battery life of 3.5hrs. It has been a lifesaver on some of our 8 hour drives to Grandmas and we use it when we fly as well. If you've got the money to spend, I would highly recommend one!

 

[mkunichi]

A portable DVD player is fun for kids of all ages, whether 5 or 37. And don't forget the auto/air adaptor in case 3.5 hours of fun isn't enough.

 

[abitjaded]

My husband even takes his lap top computer and loads a few computer games for the kids, we have even rented DVDs of movies (some airports have this). I also was against Game Boys, but I finally broke down and went to a game traders store and purchased a couple of Game Boy Color (they are cheap used, since discontinued) and a couple of E rated games. We only allow their use on long trips in the car and planes. If you are a member of AAA you can usually get one of the "invisible" color pen and coloring sets in Disney themes there, a AAA promotion and cheaper than toy stores. I also do the zip lock bag thing, putting each project, Legos, coloring, colorforms and sticky puzzles in separate bags, pulling out one at a time as boredom sets in. Also, never underestimate the entertainment value of a trip to the restroom and a window seat.

Carla

 

[Quackmore]

I know. You can use that tape to tape him to the chair and then tape his mouth shut. Yeah, that's the it!
Only kidding!!! I could not resist.

Seriously, it's not easy but I'm sure he will be fine. Seems like you have alot of good ideas from everybody responding. Good luck!

 

[trishy]

My daughter was 5 when we flew from LAX to Orlando last July. We have the gameboys, walkmans (they don't call it that by the way - the kids just call it "CD Player") The thing that held her attention for the majority of the time was her Leap Pad with Scooby Doo and Monsters, Inc. books. She plugged in her earphones and was entertained almost the entire time! I'll use it again this summer. Good luck (bring gum for the *Ear Popping*)

 

[Rita1965]

Kids love to unwrap things. I did what a lot of the other posters suggested, loaded up on toys that went in a special backpack, and did not let him see the toys before we went. In addition I wrapped each one of the toys in gift wrap, and my son had a great time unwrapping each toy. We were going to Norway, and travelled for 17hrs, so I only let him open one toy every hour.

The consolation is that they grow up and they get better when they are older. My hyper 4 year old son, is now a great 12 year old that entertains himself on the trips, now if we could only do something about his 4 year old little sister....

 

[lespaul55]

I always used the new toys and especially new books trick on my kids. And also gave them special food treats that they did not get at home, granola bars and such. Plus preordering the kid meals are something I've done. Though I had one flight where my kid meals were handed out to other children. We were in the back of the plane and the flight attendant said there were no names on them. That made for a very long flight for some hungry picky kids [mine!]

Then there was one flight that made me realize maybe I'm not such a bad parent after all. I had bought a very expensive sticker book for my son and he was enjoying it on the plane. He had the aisle seat and another little boy kept helping my son do the stickers. This went on a long time, at least an hour, and the little boy was basically just taking over the book so I asked him to go back to his seat. He left but returned quickly. He said "I can't go to my seat cause my mom's sleeping in it." His mom had stretched out over all the seats in her row, leaving no spot for her son. I got the flight attendant to wake her up so her son could sit down in his seat. Pretty amazing!

Leslie

 

[aks22]

When I was young, we moved to Switzerland from the US. My mom would fly home with three very rambunctious kids under age four, several times each year. She would get comments all the time about how well-behaved we were, how calm and quiet. We usually ended up sleeping most of the flight. Her secret? A teaspoon of "the pink stuff" (Benedryl) twenty minutes before departure. Maybe she wasn't mother of the year, but she and the ohters passengers appreciated it and we lived to tell the story.