Travel toys

[gabsev]

Hello, I would like to get fresh ideas for travel toys to keep my 2.5 year old daughter occupied during a 16 hour flight + layovers. She gets easily bored and switches easily from one activity to another rather quickly. The only thing that keeps her busy for long periods are puzzles, but I'm afraid to take any due to small pieces getting lost. So far we have new coloring books, movies, new books, brainquest, small aquadoodle, Ipod......Thank you

[blizzard_babe]

Sack of randomness: Start collecting tiny little crappy fast-food-like toys (we don't eat fast food but people who do always have too many and are willing to donate). Put them in a bag. Let her pull out one, unwrap it, play with it, put it back in. Also include non-toy items of interest...

On-demand video clips: Download video clips of things she's obsessed with onto the iPod. We have a file on DH's computer that is labeled, "Isaac's Plane Videos," and it's filled with video clips of airplanes taking off and landing, construction equipment working, dogs jumping off docks, animal montages, um... really, whatever he found interesting one day.

Food: Don't underestimate the entertainment power of snacks. Lots of types of random bite-sized food.

Airplane collage: Let her destroy the in-flight magazine and/or skymall magazine. Bring blunt-tip, airplane-safe scissors and cut out things she likes, then use a glue-stick (no liquid glue allowed) to stick 'em to a piece of paper.

[ASusan]

We got a lot of milage out of I Spy books and this Toy Story Look & Find.

[caiesmommy]

I second the I-spy books! Once you find the list of things, you can go back and look for different things. My ds loves them.

[lnitti]

stickers!! especially if she has never used them before.

[kimellett]

When I go to garage sales, the first place I ALWAYS look is the Free box, or the 25 cent box or whatever. There is always at least one useful piece of crap that works wonders on the plane. Sometimes you have to combine, or add a few things, but weekly pill boxes stuffed with pom poms or pennies or beads are fun (and who cares if they fall and are never seen again?), a ziploc of warped (or brand new for that matter!) pipe cleaners, jig saws with a piece or 2 already missing...you get the idea.

Garage sales are also great places to stock up on tons of random stickers--a 2.5 year old probably doesn't need ALL the stickers to be "cutsey". Plain dots, stars, whatever!

Go to the dollar store, or look in the dollar section at Target (in the front of the store). Tons of junk kids find fascinating--and that you'll never have to see again once the flight is over.

Also, of course invest in some nice toys. Etch-a-sketch has been one of our favorites!

Good luck!

[gabsev]

Thank you ladies for the wonderful ideas

[indigosky]

MagnaDoodle lasts us a long time on plane rides.

Also ordering hot chocolate during the beverage service, which we only drink on airplanes. It's hot so it needs to be drunk carefully, with a spoon, or licked off a stirrer (DD's preferred method). And since junk food is pretty rare in our household, it really is a major treat. A cup can last us 30 minutes at least! If you don't know if your airline serves hot chocolate, but you like the idea, you could bring your own packet and ask them for a cup of hot water.

[lyra2007]

Aquadoodle...just make sure you don't fill the pen with water until you clear security. Seriously, TSA confiscated my pen. On the plus side, wet fingers work, too.
Mama is her favorite toy on the airplane--your undivided attention is the biggest treat