Ideas to keep kids busy (and quiet) on airplane?

[Cozfamilyof6]

Hi All -

We're flying in October from Newark-to Orlando- it is about a 2 1/2 hour flight. We did it last year when the kids were 5, 2 and 2 and they did very well. It was a lot of work though for DH and I to keep them busy with stickers, coloring and reading books.

This year they are 6, 3, 3 and we have our baby who will be 5 months. Any good ideas to keep the gang happy ?

101 days and counting down!:mickey:

[LoriMistress]

Bring a laptop and have them watch their favorite movies/shows, bring coloring books, or have them look through a planning book. Or you can go over the plans with the family so they know what to expect on the trip.

[RockChalkKimball]

If they are video watchers, invest in a portable DVD player. You can even buy splitters, that allow for two set of earphones. I have take a laptop before, but they are so much heavier. I found a DVD player for about $80. Nothing fancy, but does the trick! Also, I have heard of people bring things that are "bendy" like pipe cleaners. They are quiet and can be used to make shapes, etc. They also don't make a mess! You can also find hand held games at places like Walmart that run about $7-10.

[Lucyrella]

When we traveled to China to get daughter #2, we kept daughter #1 occupied with the portable DVD player and movies, magnetic paperdolls, a hand held travel game, the sticker books that are reusable, and of course a barbie, of course it was a Cinderella barbie doll:blush:

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Another vote for the portable DVD player. We fly from LI so, we have a similar length flight. I also make sure I go and get a few new movies before the trip so they hold DD's interest.

She did well with a sticker book. I found one that had shadows for what sticker went where and that really held her interest. She had a great time finding which sticker had to go in which spot.

My Ds's are a little older (9 and 6 last trip) and brought their Nintendo Ds Lite's. They also read and worked on their homework from school.

Are you bringing car seats for the 3 year olds?? I know that might be difficult with two but, it makes a world of difference with our family. Our DD was just shy of 3 last trip and only asked to get down once each way to use the bathroom. The people next to us even commented on how well behaved she was. I say it was because she knows she can not get out of her carseat in the car so she does not bother to even ask on the plane. What a sanity saver!! ;)

I am sure you will get lots of other tips. There are lots of great ideas here in Intercot!!

[RaRaRoundTheWorld]

I agree with bringing a laptop or portable DVD and also a V-smile or other child-oriented video game player. I would also like to suggest bringing extra snacks and possibly legos.

People should be mostly understanding. My kids were 1 & 3 and started to get antsy toward the end of the flight (there were screams and tears at certain points). There's only so much you can do, and besides, it was heavy with WDW-goers and everyone was mercifully lovely.

[psychotekkie]

Previous ideas are great. The carseat thing is sooooo true!
You can also read them a story or two, feed the little ones dry Cheerios or other snacks. The 6 year old is old enough to play word games with you like the one where you take turns and go through the alphabet "My name is ANDY and I like ALIGATORS and APPLES." "My name is BOBBY and I like BIRDS and BLUEBERRIES." etc.
There are games and toys that are magnetic, so you don't lose the pieces.

(I suppose having them sing It's a Small World would be a bit hard on the other passengers. :silly:)

[yasmina]

for our daughters. They are older than your kids, but you might be able to find something appropriate for the 6yo here:

{link removed per Terms of Service}

You can find activities for the 3 yo here:

familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/feature/activity-center-parents/

The first site has TONS of information about binding a journal/activity book if you make one. It also has all kinds of downloads for your trip, including a school excuse letter and homework pages (for those of you taking your kids out of school).

Have fun!

[tinksmom02]

another vote for the portable DVD player! On our last trip I loaded DD's bookbag up with books, coloring books, stickers, games, etc. All we needed was her DVD player...although we didn't have headphones...have to remember to get some for Sept...

I'm planning on bringing the DVD player (which we can use in the room, as well) and movies, one coloring book and crayons, and this bendy twisty thing I picked up at walmart for $1. ot quite sure what it is, but it's small and won't take up much room LOL

If you are looking for games, etc. to keep the kids busy, try your local dollar store, or Michael's craft store. Michaels has a whole section fo $1 crafts. I bought DD a foam sticker set that kept her busy for over an hour at a baby shower last weekend! (It did have glitter glue, though, which would need to be removed or put into your quart size bag).

Good luck!

[SBETigg]

Something very low tech and inexpensive that was effective for us with young children: buy toaster oven sized cookie sheets and magnetic alphabet and numbers or character magnets. The magnets work with the cookie sheets and you don't have to worry as much about losing pieces due to the magnetization. Also great to keep kids occupied in restaurants. Plus, educational as they learn to recognize letters, numbers, and short words.

[Minniemouse27]

Dd was on about 5 or so round trips before she was 4yo and to be honest... on all but one let she slept 90% of the time! Most times crashing before takeoff! Gotta love the white noise from the engines.

I love Doodle Pros (formerly Magnadoodles). The travel one is just the right size and you aren't searching for dropped markers or crayons on the floor.

When she was younger we brought four or five plastic characters... Little People and Sesame Street figures... and a cup! Dd spent about 45min putting them in and out of the cup :-)

I also like bringing a board book or two.

We are in Philly and our trips were mostly to Orlando (MIL lives there) and we did fine w/ just a few toys. If it was a 5+hr trip I would think of bringing the dvd player but I think it would be too much of a hassle for such a short trip.

Ds will be taking his first airplane trip in December for our trip to WDW where he will be turning 2yo. I'm planning on a small backback just for him (as I did w/ dd) that will have a Doodlepro, a couple of books and a few other small toys for him. We are traveling at naptime (well the leg down lands just at naptime...but we will be up really early so it may work out) so I'm hoping the sleeping on planes thing is genetic! :D

Oh, and we always bring the carseat(s) so I think that really helps w/ the sleeping thing. One trip to FL dd was the ONLY child in a car seat and the poor family in front of us (mom, dad, and 2dds ...maybe 4 and 1.5yo) were sharing three seats and were MISERABLE. Mom kept looking longingly over the back of her seat at dd sleeping peacefully in her carseat, dh dozing and me reading a book.

[yasmina]

for our daughters. They are older than your kids, but you might be able to find something appropriate for the 6yo here:

{link removed per Terms of Service}



Sorry about that.

If it's permitted, you can pm me your interest in the above link, then if you want to include an email address, I can send it to you directly.

If that's not allowed either, please remove this post.

Sorry again - my bad (as my kids would say!):blush: