Activities for two year old on plane

[diz74]

I'll be flying to Disney with my two year old and five month old (and DH!) next week! Does anyone have any ideas of easy to carry activities for my two year old DD on the plane? I'm thinking coloring book and crayons, a doodle board that she can draw on over and over again and a few of her favorite books. Any other ideas? We have an early flight so she may sleep but I want to be prepared in case she doesn't!!! Thanks!

 

[PixiePlanner]

Cheerios and pipe cleaners. She can make a bracelet and then eat the beads.

 

[Princess&JackMom]

When my twins were 2.5 years old, I got them Fisher-Price interactive phones and that kept my DD busy for a good 20 minutes (my son usually sleeps in flight). It was only like $10 and was small enough to fit in their backpacks. I wrapped it up (along with a few other items) and opening the "presents" and playing with them kept her entertained. Last trip (when they were 3.5 that didn't work so well because she just kept wanting to open more presents and not play with anything).
The only issue with the phone that it is a little loud and not adjustable and I was worried we'd bother people but with all the noise on the plane it wasn't a problem.

I also have an iPod that I've downloaded a lot of free podcasts to, including episodes of Sesame Street and Super Why, and she enjoyed watching those.
The iPod is great because it is so small and you can have a few shows/movies on it where the DVD player is larger and the discs have to be carried, too. You just need to get headphones for the little ones to use (rather than what comes with the iPod as the ear plugs don't fit in small ears).

For our trip this year, I'm planning on sticker books to hopefully pass some of the time.

 

[Explodo]

Hunt for snakes.

 

[Penelope2000]

Does she have good fine motor skills and a little patience? Bring a small baggie of lots of precut simple shapes of different sizes, some small bright paper, (I find fluorescent Origami paper is a big hit for this) and an under 3 oz glue stick. And a roll of tape. And some wipes. This will probably keep her very busy. And you could get a few preinked stamps (google "disney" + "stamping" to see a few) I would not give her the roll of tape, but give her pieces of tape. Kids that age either love the stickyness, or hate it.

Tell her you are making decorations for your room, or a card for Mickey. Your dd may be too young for this, but I know that my dd was crazy over this type of activity at a young age. As long as she is supervised, she'll either love it or hate it - you can try it at home first. The wipes are for the glue that will inevitably get on her and on the tray.

Does she know her colors? I love the idea of the Cheerio bracelet, and if she enjoys doing that sort of thing, a piece of white string and some Fruit Loops is a hit for a necklace. (tie a Fruit Loop on the end so they don't all come off.) She may love the challenge (or hate it!) of making a simple pattern.

 

[tjmw2727]

IMHO at that age you don't need as much as you think.

My kids loved to play with me at that age We did lots of eye spy, finger games, itsy bitsy spider etc, you can go online and find some fun ones.

New fun foods (age appropriate of course), esp if its chewy for the ears. I know gerber makes some fruit chews and such.

Color wonder, pipe cleaners, stickers and lots of patience My dd once played with a roll of scotch tape for an entire 3 hour flight.

I would not bother to wrap anything, its very likely that TSA will make you unwap them anyway.

 

[ateam79828592]

We are going with a 4 month old, 2 yr old, and 5 yr old in sept. I am bringing for the 2 yr old (based on our trip last year):

Stickers
Matchbox cars (know u have a girl, just get a purple one :-D)
Slinkie (dollar store!!) A big hit last year
Post-it flags . Also a big hit last year
Sucker
M&Ms
Goldfish

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Coloring book and crayons, especially if they are small / restaurant sized. We got a good set at Smitty's (a Canadian restaurant chain), which we keep in the diaper bag for emergencies.

Depending on the interest and development of the child, a small puzzle might be good. My DD loves her six-piece puzzles with Lightning McQueen, The King, and Mater.

Any new toy would be good too. Like a little plastic dinosaur or a toy car. One of my DDs favorite toys is a slightly used tennis ball (a gift from a tennis-playing stranger). She liked it so much, I still haven't given her the big ball I bought her for her 2nd birthday several weeks ago.

 

[patchchild]

We took my DS at the same age last year. A couple of Brio trains were a huge hit. They have magnets so they stayed together and on the try better than matchbox cars. Post it notes and a pen bought us about 45 minutes. Stick them everywhere and clean them up easily. He also watched a video along the way, but practice with headphones ahead of time to make sure they tolerate them.

 

[Fall1]

We went with 2.4 year old twins last year and snacks were the best! I put Fruit Loops in a baggie, a way they never ate them, and that took up a good hour.

Books and the Jet Blue tv's were great too!

 

[HotdogDncrs]

We're heading out in a couple of weeks - I'm going to make sure that I pack lots of stickers (they were a really big hit during our March trip). They are also very good to have at dinner, as crayons will only distract a little one for so long....our son had lots of fun putting the stickers all over his face etc. during our last trip while waiting for his food. Makes for an easy clean up!

I also make sure to pack lots of Disney themed colouring books and crayons - one tip I picked up somewhere and absolutely love was to put the crayons in a travel soap dish (the kind you can pick up anywhere including the dollar store). This made it much easier for little hands to get the crayons without the whole cardboard box dumping and rolling all over the plane!

We are also going to download some pre-school apps for our IPOD so that my DS can have something else to distract him.

If you're lucky like we've been - our son tends to fall asleep shortly after take-off!

Have a great trip

 

[tlh0726]

We nixed crayons and markers after our first flight. It was a real pain in the butt having to try to constantly pick them (or the caps) off the floor.

Doodle pad that has the pen attached by a string would be great.

One other thing that works for us is that DH and one child sits in one row while me and the other one sit directly in front or behind them. This allows us to pass things back and forth as well as communicate with each other through the space at the headrest of the seats.

 

[wmharley]

at walmart I found a travel pack and play set.

It has 10 pouches that each contain a small coloring book, a small pack of mini crayons, and a sheet of stickers. each pouch is of an animal (cat/dog/horse, etc)..

my 2yo LOVEs it. He will walk around with it and pull the stickers or flip through the booklet.

it was $5 for a 10 or 12 pack actually.

the package for each is about 3 inches wide and 5-6 long, so perfect for a putting in a bag or purse.

We also have a Leappad that was our daughters. he uses it and enjoys it.

other than that, we've given him my phone which has videos on it to keep him busy. he knows how to swipe the menus to get to the pictures, how to play the videos, and to play the ones he wants, not just random..