Going to Be on Plane for a Long Time Need Entertainment!

My daughter is 3 now. The last time we traveled on via Air she was two. First thing, DVD player, even if you have to buy a cheap one or rent one at the airport. Besides bringing toys I went and bought some cheap new toys and wrapped them up. Then if she got too bored I would pull one out and let her open it up and play with it....those little toys wrapped special were GREAT! Good luck!

Books and coloring books
Small erasable etch-a-sketch pad
Snacks!!!!!!!
Favorite doll or toy
A few magnetic fridge letters (to spell words or stick to metal)

A sense of humor!!!

We just flew to Arizona, and we had special toys that they could unwrap at certain points in the trip, they got super excited each time they saw the special bags they were in. Magna doodles are great because you don't have to worry about losing the crayon, or them coloring on things other than the page.

We fly often to the East Coast (my kids are now 4 and 7).
I don't recommend a DVD player - it's just one more thing for the Mom to juggle, make sure it works, etc. I prefer things without batteries, noisemakers or moving pieces.
Things that have worked for us - but do as one of the earlier Mom's suggested and only pull out one at a time and space them out:
- MagnaDoodles
- Matchbox cars
- short markers or colored pencils and a small spiral bound notebook - we use these for coloring, or if you want to play along with the kids try playing "pictionary" or "Guess this song" where you draw something from a favorite song
- MP3 player, most flights will sell $1 headphones for the onflight radio but it's not terribly kid friendly
- playdoh gets in the seats if you arent careful - other options are WikkiSticks or the colored foam pieces that stick together
-we have a small plastic TicTacToe game from some bday party give away, it's good for a few minutes, is lightweight and doesn't matter if we lose it :-)
- small paperback books

See what Target has in their dollar section, or Lakeshore Learning, or small local toystores (like White Horse Toys in Issaquah) where the staff can show you what other parents recommend.

When we went to Louisiana last year, I packed a bag full of stuff to entertain my daughter. Her favorite thing on the plane way playdoh. She was 2. She spend hours and hours playing with it and it wasn't really messy. The other thing she liked was colorwonder products. They don't make marks on anything but the special paper. We brought a magnadoodle and water color book and she enjoyed that as well. The technique I used was not introducing everything all at once. I also packed snacks in little bags to hand out every now and then. That was also a good little distraction. cd story books might work for your older one.

Good luck

I just flew with my 3 yr old daughter. Our longest leg was 5 hrs. I don't have any experience flying with 2 children but I can tell you what worked for her. I brought a couple self contained magnet toys. They are little metal boxes that when you open them contain different scenes which you place corresponding magnets on. Her favorite was one called Silly Faces. When you opened it they have blank faces on the inside of the metal box and then she added funny magnet mouths, noses, eyes, etc. She really spent a lot of time on it. She also liked this toy (that I used to play as a kid) where you use a magnetized wand and draw mustaches, beards, eyebrows whatever you want on a face. I think it is called wooly willy or something like that. I bought a Barbie book that came with stickers and first I read the story to her and then we went back and placed the stickers throughout the book where she thought they should go. I got that book at Wal Mart. I aloso brought along a Crayola Magic Wonder booklet and a Polly Pocket book which had crayons and a special marker that revealed things on each page. She liked those...I think those are the toys she played with the most. She loved getting snack and a drink each time. She slept a little bit but not as much as I thought she would. Your kids are probably going to be so excited to be flying and going to see daddy that your flight will be a piece of cake. I bet your 21 month old sleeps quite a bit if the flights are timed during naptime at all. My little girl slept a bunch on previous flights we have taken.
Good luck to you ... you are going to have a fine time!
T.

When we are in the airport, we walk alot. All of my kids liked watching the planes take off and land. We look for the best views and for kid-friendly shops where we can browse. Sometimes there are areas at the ends of the concourse that are relatively uninhabited and we can spread out with toys and snacks and not bother other people. It is more work to be on the move with little ones but time passes more quickly when we are "exploring" and the walking helps to wear them out so they are more likely to sleep on the plane.

-Snacks!! something to suck on in take off and landing
-Stickers (I loved the bandaid idea)
-Watercolor books (hard to find sometimes) and the way to keep it not so messy is to use a waterbottle that only has a little in the bottom and put it in the seat pocket (keep the lid handy)
-Playdough one time I couldn't get it through security
-One book with lots of stories
-Magnetic fridge letters my three year old loves spelling games and they squash in the playdough nicely
-Blanket for a fort
-a family of little toys

Hi,

We are a military family, so I have had some long trips with my boys who are 2 1/1 and 4 1/2. Our last flight was 9.5 hours from London to Montana. Things that they enjoy:
stickers/sticker books
coloring books/crayons
toy cars
snacks

With any luck, they will take a nap, but either way you will get through it! Best of luck on the move and your husbands new job.

That is tough all right! Hopefully your plane is one that will have the video player built into the seat in front. I just came back from Toronto with my 16-month-old son by myself and it was pretty intense as he's not really into watching television, though the video would keep him occupied now and again for about five minutes. However, I brought a book that had flaps in it. I made the mistake of bringing a book that had removeable shapes for the flight there and he just threw them all behind us and the guy behind did not look impressed when he had to hand them back. In any case, the flap book worked wonders. Maybe one of those "etch a sketch" things would work for your kids. That way you don't have loose parts. You can pick them up in Walgreens for about $3-4 each. Pretty handy! Can you get one of those books like Find Waldo for your three year old? Any books that will keep them busy with fun activities (finding things, comparing things, etc.) would probably be good for keeping them busy.
Good luck and may they fall asleep! ;-)

By the way, we've been on 10 flights - domestic and international - and have always brought milk with us from home. As long as you take it out of the bag and send it through the scanners separately, security won't take it away.

you can usually rent a dvd player at the airport these days. i would highly recommend it. Bring some of what you know your kids like. New workbooks for the older one, a new toy for the younger one. A few legos. Food also helps to pass the time, could make them sleepy if you are lucky. A car seat for the younger one. I find they behave a lot better when they are in the car seat.

Try to think positively about the experience. Your kids will pick up on your attitude and mirror it. Its all an adventure and exciting. Get the older one to help mom and be the big guy that he is...his father would want him to help out, right? Good luck and stay positive.

Check out In Motion DVD player and rentals. It's at: http://www.inmotionpictures.com/index.html. Your rent a player with movies at one airport and return it at another. They have kiosks in major airports.

Legos, playdough (the party pack size work great), crayons and coloring books are musts for your carry on. We have given our kids Benedryl in the past to help with pressure in their heads and to help them relax and sleep. But you want to make sure your kids aren't the small percent that get amped from it. I didn't want to do that...but my doctor said it was the only option for sleep aids on a 12 hour international flight...it comes in chewable tabs so you don't have to worry about liquid. That was a last resort...but it did come in handy.

Also, I travelled across country with my two by myself and there was always a nice person or two that helped me at times. I also took a stroller to make airport transfer easier.

Hi! I travelled 2 months ago with my 3 1/2 yr old and then 21 mo. old - funny. Plus I'm pregnant so I was really worried. Our flight was a little shorter, but I used some of the things that have been posted here. I also found that buying some new books that they hadn't seen or read before was helpful, I got ones with lots of flaps and those kept them busy and they wanted to read them again and again. They also enjoyed a Viewmaster that my mom got for them, it was something they'd never seen, so it was an interesting novelty and it was nice for me that they could look at it/play with it on their own without me needing to help them. We got a few snacks that they were familiar with but don't get often, like fruit snack packs and little boxes of animal crackers. Having small packets that they could open and hold themselves was helpful. Don't count on the plane snacks, not only is it not much, but they may not be appropriate or appealing to little ones (spicy, or with nuts, etc.) We took empty sippy cups and had the flight attendant fill them with juice once we were on the plane. Good luck!

Where are you leaving from? check with your airport and see if they have an INMOTIONS. They are a dvd player rental place and you pick up at one airport and drop at the other. They a fairly priced. Here is a linked that talks about them.
travelwithkids.about.com/cs/carplanetips/a/dvdrental.htm
I haven't used them, but a friend of mine who travels from WA state to Florida has and can't say enough good things about it. Good luck.

K.

HI I traveled with my then 3 1/2 yr old in Sept. to the mid west (8 hrs total) I found some kool-aid packets that you just add to a bottle of water and shake, (bought an costly bottle of water at airport. brought some of his favorite toys in his own backpack, and made a big deal over the plane and what was happening to the plane. We booked our flight during the evening out there and then they put us on a fight with faimilies with a veriaty of aged kids and played a kids movie. I also got a kid leash (this looks like a stuffed backpack with a extra long tail. Was nice I could let him walk around and use up some of his energy between flights (only had a couple peaple make bad comments- I just asked them if they wanted to be on our flight with an kid tied to a seat for 87 hours) They seamed to change their minds. if you have a quick plane change ask for assistance from the airline, they will have someone help you get to your next flight and will even hold the plane if needed ( about 10 minutes). but most of all you need to relaxe and enjoy, your kids will feel your emotion and respond.

I traveled often alone with my boys who are 2-1/2 years apart, and VERY active. Bring a box of bandaids, loads of stickers and books to stick them in, lots of things to keep little fingers busy. Colored clay with stuff to squish in- our best bet was to use the tray table, roll out some play doh, then drive little cars and trucks through it. Good luck!

Quiet books, though I'm not sure where you can get them. I think my mom got them at a Bible book store because they're designed to keep kids quiet in church. A "quiet book" is a cloth book with lots of tactile activities in it like tying strings, matching pieces, snapping, buttoning, and other things that fascinate children. They kept us quiet in church for years. I still remember them, and I have a child of my own now.

My son has been on at least 12 different flights- most are 5+ hours long so I say this with experience. GET YOURSELF A DVD PLAYER! It will save you. Rent one if you can or if you have to, buy a cheap one for $75.

I couldn't tell if you have a boy, but if you do get a video like John Deere Tractors for Kids. You don't need volume- so if they won't wear headphones it doesn't matter. We use ours only on the plane so it is a special occasion and we bring his favorite videos.

Speaking of headphones, get ones meant for little kids. We just got the Caliphone Toddler Headphones from www.bhphotovideo.com for $10 each.

The other good suggestion that someone else said is to have the special toys for different points on the trip- that works for us as well.

One last tip- Make sure you buy milk or any other liquids you need for your kids as soon as you get through security. The beverage carts on flights are rarely stocked with milk so don't count on it.

My 3yo loved to play "I spy." They took our playdough away at security (maybe a smaller quantity would have been OK). Kids' magazines were great and we could toss them when they got boring - and finger puppets saved the day sevral times. We brought wipe-off books (you can get them at Traget) and crayons (which are less messy than the markers but work on the wipe-off books) We also walked the aisles several times - no one seemed to mind. I got to the airport 3 hrs early so they could run around and didn't have the opportunity to nap in the car on the way - then timed a meal for right after boarding so that kept them entertained for 30 min or so.
FYI they don't always preboard anymore so if you check in with the desk sometimes they will board you in the first group or make an exception to preboard you.
Good luck!

I haven't read all the responses but I know InMotion does DVD player rental out of Seatac: http://www.inmotionpictures.com/find_all.asp

Also, my last trip I wrapped up a bunch of little things for my son to unwrap throughout the trip. Little cars, dinosaurs, books, etc. The new toys were a hit and he liked unwrapping things. I just used tissue paper mostly so he could easily tear it up by himself.

Good luck!

My little ones are the same ages, and I know how hard it can be sometimes to find something that keeps them equally entertained. The mini-magnadoodles are a great idea, there are also aqua doodle activity books which are fun for variety(they are in the same toy aisles usually). They come with a "pen" that you fill with water so no worries about drawing on anything else. Someone had also mentioned Where's Waldo books, and they do have Look and Find books for this age. They are nice because I can ask them to find things in the picture based on their own skill levels so they are both involved. I usually get mine at Ross because they are cheaper there. Good Luck.

We just went to Disneyland a couple months ago and although it was a much shorter trip and with only one 4 year old girl I can tell you what worked for us! Magnet boxes that they have at Wal mart, we had the dress up a doll one and a fairy one. Also the crayola markers are wonderful! She loves all the princess' so I found a pack of like 8 of them at Target they are like mini action figures but for girls and she played with them and acted out what she wanted to do when we got to Disneyland! I also took books and some of her polly pockets, which she loves but kept dropping and those things are so tiny to try and find on the floor! So I probably won't bring those again! I also downloaded a bunch of her favorite songs to our MP3 player and she listened to that quite a bit too. . . . .and of course a lollipop! She loves them and doesn't get them all the time so I gave her a big round one, that she never did finish but did keep her busy for a while! Not the healthiest thing I know but helped us have a wonderful flight! I did see those DVD players that you can rent and I think those are great for long flights too. She did wonderful throughout the whole trip and never did sleep on the plane rides! You will have a great trip! Good luck!

Hi--
Well, I do only have one 2 year old to deal with when traveling, but she has been on more than 40 planes since she was 6 weeks old, and she is not one who usually likes to sit still for long, so I have had to get pretty crafty...yes, the DVD has helped on the long flights, so I can relate with the anxiety of not having that! Since toddlerhood, I have started buying her a small, "exciting" new toy so she has something new to occupy herself...I also bring things like crayons and coloring books, travel aquadoodle, little puzzles, stickers, and any other not too messy crafty activity (you may have more options too for your 3 1/2 year old!) But probably her favorite is her friend, "rat"--a white mouse puppet who is operated by me and keeps her entertained literally for hours...he is like her B/F. Since you have 2 kids, it may be fun for all of you to get some little finger puppets or a couple of small hand puppets to stuff in your carry-on and your kids can play together,or you can do silly things with them to keep your kids happy and giggling. On such a small space, you have to utilize what you got, so I will play hide-and-seek with rat under the tray table and between the seats and my daughter also loves looking out the window and pointing at everything she sees and showing rat...I know, my daughter is a bit kooky, but I think any kid would get into a new animated "friend", even if just for a plane ride! Best of luck with your travels and your new move...take care!

Play dough! Play dough! Play dough! Don't worry about the plane getting messy--it isn't that bad. Something about it is soothing and allows them to focus. Oh, and of couse, lolly pops. I take a few little 'surprises' and wrap them, so when they fidgity and need to be re-focused, I bust out a 'gift.' Could be the play dpugh, a special fruit snack I don't normally by, or a little. Go to the dollar store. Good luck. Play dough saved me!

Before the birth of my 3rd child, I traveled with my two children, by myself, ages 2-4 1/2 years old. Everytime I have flown with them, they receive a new book, and a small toy. (My 4 1/2 year old likes Polly Pockets, so I would buy her a new one, and my 2 year old likes Thomas, so I would buy him a new train.) Each child had their own roll-backpack that would get packed with crayons/markers/pencils and paper or coloring book, their new book, their new toy, and a couple more small non-noise making toys (Barbie, Polly Pocket, cars, etc). I also found a small lunch box to help hold their smaller toys that I put in the backpack. For my older one, she helps pick out the toys she wants to bring. The new toy and book are not 'revealed' until we are on the plane (packaging taken off). I would also pack their favorite doll and some various snacks. Finally, I allow my children to stand up whenever the seat belt sign is off.

Whenever I fly with them without my husband, I arrive at the airport 2 hours before scheduled to take off. After we go through security, I encourage them to walk all the way, even stopping at stores along the way. They basically run around the terminal until we are ready to load, so they're tired and ready to sit when the plane is ready to take off.

Do you have a friend that can travel with you? That may help with the children! GOOD LUCK!!!!!

Hi L.,
I know you've gotten a ton of responses, and I read most of them but thought it a good idea to give you some of my experience as well. We just travelled with our 2 year old for a 4 and 1 hour flight cross country. We got her her own roller backpack, which was SO great for her to have her own thing to drag around while we waited. Filled it with new toys and the ones she enjoyed most were the stickers, and the magna doodle. They even make a small travel magna doodle.
Snacks are also important, but try to bring a variety of NON SUGARY snacks. This is important!!! Our daughter got up at 3 am, we thought she would fall back to sleep but no luck. Someone had shared this little tid bit with us, and we are so glad we didn't have any sugar or juice for her because we know it would have made her want to run around the plane and or throw tantrums!!
Good luck!
Oh, also getting them excited about airplanes and airports worked well for us too!
L.

I was also going to suggest INMOTIONS to rent a DVD player. I've used them before and it worked out great.

Our last trip, I bought the Crayola Color Wonders books and markers. My 5-year-old loves them. And you don't have to worry about them coloring on anything else, since the markers only work on the special paper. We also like playing card games like Go Fish! or the children's Uno (we adapt, so the younger one can feel like he's playing with us) or even Tic-Tac-Toe.

We took a short trip (only 2 hours), but the entire time (no joke) my daughter colored in those "Color Wonder" books by Crayola... they are pens, but they are designed to only work in the special books... they are awesome! I also agree with the DVD thing, but we used my iPod and watched cartoons instead.... iTunes has free cartoon downloads sometimes...

Well first off I hope you have a good trip. I looked at a few responses and well I would not recommend bringing playdo, clay, or messy or questionable things to go through security with. Books, snacks they like, empty sippy cups, and containable games, coloring books, crayons are all great. Also, a bag or backpack that they can wheel themselves is also great. It makes it easy for you if you have to take over for them and it give them a job to do for the trip. Take a comfort thing for them a blanket, stuffed animal or something.

Now depending on the airline most for longer flights will have possibly personal dvd type machines (digi player) you can rent. You can call the airline and check with them and even reserve them in advance. They have pre loaded movies, tv shows, cartoons. You can't put in a dvd but they are great. Plus if you have an Ipod. You can download shows for your kids and movies for them to watch too. You can get a headphone splitter and the kids can watch the same device and listen at the same time with their own headphones.

A friend of mine once said the best thing she ever found to entertain her children on a plane was a box of band aids with their favorite character. It takes their little fingers a while to open a single bandage but they love doing it. They can stick them all over themselves or their things. They'll have a blast, and the bandages are easier to get off of the plane windows than stickers. It's an inexpensive and novel idea. (Maybe even a good photo opportunity at the end).

I like playdoh and activity books, which will probably only work with your older child. Colorwonder markers are great, since they don't make a mess. Your little one could probably color with them.

Yikes! Don't blame you. You can rent a DVD player and a few movies at the Portland and Seattle airports and, depending on what airport you're flying to, drop them off at the arriving airport.

Perhaps buy them each their own piece of luggage or bag and fill it with new toys they have never seen before. Make sure to bring your own snacks and food and most certainly something for them to suck on. This may be one of those times when sucking on a lollipop is okay - the sucking will help their ears and if they don't usually get one - it's fun!.

Good luck!