Toddler Airplane Activities
20 Items you MUST Pack to Entertain a Toddler on a Plane (and Keep Your Sanity).
Oh, the joys of flying with a toddler (said no. one. ever.) That is, until now.
I’m going to give you the Pro Tips to make this as good an experience as humanly possible with our temperamental, difficult to keep still, little critters we call our children.
1. Activity Books
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coloring books
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sticker books
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magic marker books
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those really cool scratch with the wooden stick onto black paper and it ends up rainbow-colored books
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dry erase books (bring a small rag to clean it back off with)
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Water pen reusable books – we like Water Wow by Melissa & Doug
2. Snacks
This can look like anything. I won’t begin to tell YOU what your kid likes best for snacks, that’s your department. What is their go-to at home or when you are out? Fruit snacks, granola bars, goldfish crackers, whatever. Just think about what isn’t too sticky, messy or needs refrigeration if it is a long flight. Of course, you could bring a mini cooler, but I prefer to pack light. Whether the snacks are sticky or not, I always bring a small package of wet-ones wipes.
3. Lollipops
What is Carla thinking here? I don’t want to bring sugary snacks!
Here’s the deal. Adults and older kids know to yawn, chew gum, or otherwise clear Airplane ear with the change in altitude when a plane lifts off, and sometimes when it lands. The change in air pressure can make it uncomfortable on the Eustachian tubes. However, babies and small children don’t have this ability and they need a little assistance.
Sucking helps, but once we get past the age or development where an infant is breastfeeding, taking a bottle or a pacifier for these transitions, what do we do? I’ve experienced the attempts to get a toddler to chew gum on a plane, only to have them swallow it in the excitement.
This is where lollipops are amazing. Especially, if you don’t give them to your kiddo often, they are completely enthralled in it (tends to keep them quiet too-BONUS!).
Therefore, get them that yummy lollipop (buy 2 so you have one for the flight home), and wait until the plane is ACTUALLY lifting off (I made that mistake before too), and hand them the treat they so desire. Ear pain – gone! Just might need to remind them to suck on it if they start complaining of ear pain. It hardly works if it is just sitting in their cheek.
4. Flashcards
The dollar store is going to be your friend for much of this post.
Nearly every dollar store has a section with learning flashcards. Teaching your tot colors and shapes? I’ve got a cute Mickey Mouse set for $1 found at our local dollar store.
Kiddo ready for letters or even sight words? Easy to find a package of those as well. Use this time to distract your little one. with a bit of fun learning. As parents, we always have these goals we intend to do, but rarely find the time to trap them and work on it. So now is the time.
5. Stickers
Again, no reason to get fancy with this one, I’m sure you have a bunch of stickers tossed in bins around the house, or if organized, they are in your craft bins. Grab them, or head to the dollar store or Target and pack some in your carry-on. Make sure to have something to put them on – blank paper, a coloring book they’ve discarded, a blank notebook.
PRO TIP: Old magazines are particularly fun for this activity. Reese and I have taken old Zoobooks Magazines and even some of my Travel Magazines and decorated them with stickers. He finds a supreme amount of joy taking food stickers and having me close my eyes while he “hides” the sticker somewhere in the magazine and then has me try and find it. Silly hippos eating broccoli or a Pterodactyl flying next to a picture of an airplane might be found halfway through the magazine. And he can be entertained for a good chunk of time with that Hide-and-Seek activity.
6. Cheap Toys
I love grabbing a few toys at the dollar store (that he won’t get to play with until the plane), such as those little contained water toys that bounce the loops over the screen when you press the buttons, anything that catches their eye that you wouldn’t normally buy. These can be thought of as disposable, since something is bound to get lost or broken on the trip anyway.
I usually grab a few small animal figurines or characters from the bins in our house. Many kids can be perfectly entertained by having the animals fight, look out the airplane window and “fly”, or any other magical play.
7. Playdough
A small container of play dough or clay is a great way to entertain a toddler on a plane. Pick a bright color, and it is up to you if you bring a tiny cookie cutter or something with it. However, I’ve found that the little animals you packed work just as well, as those animals make footprints over the clay, get buried and unburied with the dough/quicksand. Get creative and ask your little one to make a saddle with the dough, a ball, a snake to attack the toy animals, anything.
8. Magnets
Bringing even a small zip lock bag with 5-10 of those lovely triangle or square magnets can fill a fun solid amount of time building on the tray in front of you. Then, try building a house, a cage for the animal toy, etc.
9. Tablet/Cell phone
I’m the last person to tell you that you can’t have a kiddo watch a movie, their favorite TV show, or play a game on the phone or tablet. I just want to give you OTHER ideas to stimulate them (and you as well). Think of this as a list of All the tools in the tool belt, and yes electronics are one of those, of course. Let’s find a way to add in the bonding moments too, with the interactive play and imagination that some of the other items allow as well.
PRO TIP: Set an alarm on your phone 2 days before the trip to charge these devices, pack the charging cords, and DOWNLOAD the show/movies you want to have accessible on your trip.
10. Cup w/Straw or Sippy Cup
It is so sweet that the flight attendants will give a little cup of water, or OJ, or other juice for your kiddo, but I can’t count how often those have spilled, or I’ve been in a panic that they will potentially spill. So why not make it easier on yourself, and less stressful on you and your kid, by bringing along a cup with a closed lid and straw or sippy cup to put that yummy drink into? Makes life easier.
11. Stuffed Animal or Pillow Pet
Ask your kid which one of their many, many stuffed animals would like to go on the trip with them? I highly recommend not bringing their absolute favorite lovey, or the one that has major sentimental value for them (as we’ve lost a few before on a trip that were “hiding” in a drawer of the coffee table at our AirBnB in Kauai – Tragic). Have them pick from a few smaller ones that they aren’t as attached to. “Do you think Sloth and Polar Bear would like to go to Hawaii?”. Put one in the suitcase and let them travel with the other one. Pillow Pets are a great choice on the plane and can double as a pillow for a nap.
12. Blanket
Bring their blanket or even better yet – I always pack a Turkish towel on my trips. They roll up fairly small for my carryon bag and works as a perfect cozy blanket for both of us on the plane and in the hotel room. It is also the absolute best beach blanket as it easily shakes off the sand and dries super quick. I usually pack two of them, so I have one to use as a blanket and another for pool/beach.
13. Pen/Crayons/Pencil & Paper
Self-explanatory – play with this with the stickers even. Draw monsters, draw whatever animals or sites you might see on the upcoming trip, or create a picture for grandma or whomever you are headed to see.
14. Window Clings
A sheet of these – either the plastic thin ones or the gel ones are great for sticking to the airplane window. Kids will love it and they are easy to remove and toss back into a ziplock bag at the end of the flight. Embrace their natural need to graffiti their world, without causing any damage to the plane itself.
15. Books
Search and find are my favorite type of books to bring on a plane. You can also bring a chapter book that you read to your little one, or picture books they can explore themselves, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll be reading to them while they are curled with their pillow pet and Turkish towel and they drift off to sleep. One can dream! Amazon.com: DEMMEX Certified 100% Organic Cotton & Organic Dye Prewashed XL Diamond Weave Turkish Cotton Towel Peshtemal Blanket for Bath,Beach,Pool,SPA,Gym, 71×36 Inches,14 Oz (Dark Grey) : Home & Kitchen
16. Headphones
This category encompasses two types of headphones:
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The ones to connect with the tablet or phone for their videos to watch (please do this step as those of us traveling without the kids for that rare moment won’t want to hear CocoMelon, thanks in advance)
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The ones for noise cancelling. Great for a long flight, red eye flight, or a sensitive kid. Amazon has great ones we like and use for concerts, planes, etc. Amazon.com: YUSONIC Unicorn Kids Headphones,Unicorn Bluetooth Headphones Foldable for Girls Boys Toddlers Phones/ipad/Amazon fire,Light Up Kids Wireless Headphone Birthday Gifts (White+Pink) : Electronics
17. Sticky Notes
I’m not sure what’s the draw for little ones and sticky notes, but dang, it is like a cat with a toilet paper roll unraveling. IRRESISTABLE! So, although this is a no-no at home, let them have at it with a small colorful pad or two of sticky notes and draw faces on them, take them apart, stick them together, stick them to the tray or the window. Maybe clean it up when they are ready to move on to the next activity though, please.
18. Finger Puppets
Finger Puppets are a great item to bring on a plane. Even just a few, can entertain a kiddo for awhile – yes, he might play peek-a-boo and creep on the people in the seat behind you, but I bet they will laugh at the animal or in our case Bob Ross finger puppet looking at them between the seats. At least for a moment. The best thing about finger puppets is that they don’t take up much packing space and don’t make a mess.
19. Playing Cards
Not a regular deck of cards for poker (unless you’ve got a genius kid you are prepping for Las Vegas – who am I to judge?), but those trading decks of cards. Make it a fun and exciting gift and grab one in the checkout line of Target or Walmart – Pokemon cards, superhero cards, whatever your kid will find fun to open and look at for a quick distraction.
20. WRAP IT UP!
Saving the best for last is this great tip. Everything that is wrapped up is better to a toddler. As in, soooo much better! Otherwise, we wouldn’t have all those memories of wrapping up empty boxes for the little one to enjoy (or is that just me?).
How to do this for a plane trip? Here’s the scoop – any of the above items that can be wrapped up, should be. And distributed throughout the plane ride.
Congrats little one! You got on the plane and kept the seat belt on after liftoff? Here’s a little present – maybe it is the fruit snack bag or the small Dino/animal toy they already own? That works! And they can pick one to unwrap.
You didn’t yell for 30 min? Yay! Here’s Another little treat. And so on…
Depending on the age and how many little “presents” I have, I spread it out throughout the plane ride to keep things interesting.
PRO TIP: Wrap up half the goodies and put them in your suitcase to make the flight back just as enjoyable. Don’t use up everything on the flight there.
Happy Travels!! Start them young and you’ll have a happy traveler in a few years you can enjoy heading out of town with!
Drop me a note in the comments on more tips you’ve found that work, anything above that was an Ah-Ha moment for you, or where you are traveling with your little one next.
I would love to hear from you!
Carla Reese
2 comments
Ryan Castillo
Hi, those tips are awesome and really helpful! By the way, considering transportation laws, lugging car seats can be a nightmare! Did you know that Kidmoto can solve that problem for you? Ditch the car seats when flying with a baby! A life-saver, I promise! 🙂
You can learn more at kidmoto.taxi
Carla Reese
Wish I’d had that when my kids were younger! I’m interested in this for my readers, but would never promote something I haven’t actually used or seen first hand A friend use. Feel free to email me if you would like to explore this further, and then if I see the joy and ease of the product I’d be happy to link/promote your product.