Best ways to entertain lo's on an airplane??

[kdescalzi]

Hi there!

Looking for some ideas on how to entertain a 2 and 4 yr old on a long airplane trip. Any tips, advice, games, toys, activities, ideas are very much appreciated.

[amberskyfire]

-Bring Cheerios and a string in a Tupperware bowl and they can string their own necklaces to snack on.

-Download children's stories and audiobooks onto an MP3 player for them to listen to. (They can share the earbuds.)

-magnetic shapes on small cookie trays

-paper/coloring books with flat crayons or crayons in a crayon roll so they can't roll away

-snacks that require an activity such as something that dips into something else (carrots or apples into peanut butter for example)

[kdescalzi]

cheerio necklaces!!   Brilliant!   Thank you for your great suggestions. Please keep them coming! TIA

[Adaline'sMama]

We are flying on Sunday and I logged in to start the same thread Cheerio necklaces are brilliant! We are going to take crayons and paper, a few books, and earbuds so we can watch a movie (the long plane ride has movies you can buy with your debit card). I plan to walk her all over the airport while we wait, so hopefully she'll sleep some of the time. I cant wait to hear more suggestions from mamas who have flown with toddlers!

[LynnS6]

We had one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Magnetic-Hide-Board/dp/B0014E7DIS -- It was heavy, but it was worth it. They had fun opening doors for a while, then I'd take all of the magnets out, and 'hide' one. They'd have to open all the doors until they found the one I'd hidden. Then I'd do it again. All the joys of hide 'n seek without moving around!

The rule of thumb that someone gave me is that you need to have a new 'activity' every 15 minutes for a toddler. Snacks, toys, etc. count. Cheerios necklaces are brilliant. I brought tiny containers of playdough, coloring stuff (though my kids weren't all that into coloring), lacing cards. You can use the cups for the drinks for filling/emptying little things.

[Okapi]

I flew with my DD last summer (she was 2.5 at the time), and the thing that kept her the most occupied was a set of gel window-cling things I got in the $1 section at target. We had four flights (two each way), and she spent 30/45 min of each flight playing with them. Which was good, because she didn't sleep a wink either way. But, she still asks if she can go on another plane, so she definitely enjoyed it!

[mamazee]

We have a travel Aquadoodle thing that's pretty awesome. Really, anything where you can draw and then erase and draw again - less stuff to tote around, no waste created, and they're good for both drawing and playing some games (tic tac toe, dots, etc.)

iPods with music and books on tape. Or just books on tape if the kids are prone to loudly sing along.

Something like play dough can be good if they're likely to work with it kind of all together and not make tons of tiny pieces.

Nothing with small pieces. I didn't think about that one airplane trip and kept searching under seats for stuff.

[midnightwriter]

A 'surprise bag' of things you can find in a thrift store or dollar store--matchbox cars, little superheroes, stretcheable lizards and son on. We flew a lot when my kids were the same age as yours, and those little bags always delighted and occupied them for hours. How long is your flight? I found that on domestic flights of about 4 hours or less, we'd be constantly 'entertained' by first the snacks, then the breakfast, then trays taken away, then the snacks, then the lunch, then the trays taken away, then we'd ask for extra juice etc. It seemed like the flights were full of naturally changing activities. Besides, the kids were given coloring books and crayons, and it seemed special to them as well. Though I initially dreaded them, I generally found the flights pretty easy, even if I was by myself.

[amberskyfire]

We had to go to the doctor's office today and they gave DD (3) a sticker activity where she took stickers off of one sheet and decorated something else with them. I think it was like a bug or something where you stick on wings and eyes and legs to design your own bug. Ross always has tons and tons of sticker activity books where kids can take the stickers from one page and then match them to where they go on the activity pages. Sounds like it would be a good activity so long as your LOs are old enough to know not to stick anything on the plane itself.

[midnightwriter]

Originally Posted by amberskyfire 

We had to go to the doctor's office today and they gave DD (3) a sticker activity where she took stickers off of one sheet and decorated something else with them. I think it was like a bug or something where you stick on wings and eyes and legs to design your own bug. Ross always has tons and tons of sticker activity books where kids can take the stickers from one page and then match them to where they go on the activity pages. Sounds like it would be a good activity so long as your LOs are old enough to know not to stick anything on the plane itself.

YES! Stickers! I forgot stickers!
 

[parsley]

Stickers, stickers and more stickers!!!!

I also buy a few cheap presents (books, toys, stickers, etc...) that she's never seen before and pull them out when she starts to get bored.  That way there are some surprises. 

We're flying on Thurs morning and DD is really looking forward to it.  Ugh!

[sidandspencersmom]

pipecleaners and plastic beads-  they can make bracelets for family/friends.  I put them in a large ziploc bag, and they can put their hands all the way inside the bag to work the beads on the pipecleaners, so they don't roll around or fall on the ground.  My kids also love these.....

http://www.orbfactory.com/Products/Sticky-Mosaics-R-Singles-Sparkling-Line/Train