I have today and tomorrow to get ready for our trip and I have a lot to do. I just loaded up the ipod with movies and games and baby apps to keep him busy on the airplane. He's very excited that he'll get to enjoy his first piece of bubble gum on the flight (he has allergy congestion and I'm afraid the take off and landing pressure is going to really hurt his ears!)
Doesn't the picture above look wonderful? I found it first at
Crafty Crow but it's originally from
here. I'm going to make one each for Alfredo, Rich, & Omar for the airplane trip.
Do you have any suggestions for small toys for the airplane ride? Any other good traveling with toddlers tips?
20 comments:
lol omg you are such a good mom!!!i have never commented before just a lurker but had to say something when I saw your treat boxes lol. They will all have a great plane ride. hugs JoAnn S
ps check out my blog sometime I am newbie.
What a great idea! For our plane rides, I go to a dollar store for small toys. You can get a variety of small toys, coloring books, etc for very cheap. This way they are all new to the kids (therefore they are interested in them for more than 2 minutes) and if you lose them it's not a big deal since it was only a dollar.
for lucy & my last trip i went CRAZY assembling small "activities" bags for her to do-- i had no less than EIGHTEEN not including books, new/favorite snacks and notebook/crayons. what did we do for the entire 4 hour plane trip? ate snacks, drew pictures and read :) if you would like, i can go get the activities bag and detail out what i made/assembled--it's all still in the messenger tote bag i took it in ready for our next big trip or some time when mommy needs lucy quietly occupied!
the best thing i took (i got this tip from some other internet mommies) was a LARGE pill box filled with-- you guessed it- TREATS! it was large enough to be useful but not so large that it couldn't be easily stashed. the best thing about the pill box i got was that it was made for arthritics so you simply had to press down to get each section to pop up. my two year old could do this by herself easily, which was fun for her. i mixed up "healthier" things (dried fruit/nuts/seseme seeds) with novel/less healthy-- little cookie/chocolate seseme seeds, jelly beans. once we got to our destination i replenished with new/favorite snacks and took it everywhere we went. it came in VERY handy when we had to wait 30 minutes at a favorite breakfast restaurant. lucy and her two cousins were entertained for the entire wait-- and honestly, it doesn't hold that much food- it's just the fun of it :) (i always carried a few extra things to refill with, but it wasn't often necessary). my mother actually bought a couple of these for my neice and nephew who she babysat last week-- she said they were the best idea ever. i got the large easy press pillbox at target- it was 1.87 (the cheapest one they had!)
i agree that little dollar spots (target) and dollar stores are good for plane trips. tubes of animals/figures (they sell these at michaels- great use for a 40% off coupone!) are fun-- something about the TUBE itself and the pulling the stuff out one by one and putting away and repeatrepeat. my child is OBSESSED with little books (think nutshell library, little beatrix potter books) hard or softcover- so i had several of those stashed for her to "read" or have read.
i had so many things lucy never even saw that i'm keeping for next time. like i said -- tons of drawing- "what kinds of things are in the sky?" etc. TONS of reading (i do NOT suggest the richard scarry book about the airport....ugh! von flugel!), and tons of snack eating (including the ones that we got on the plane!).
have a great trip! alfredo will do great! (and if he doesn't, my brother's tip is to offer drinks to those around you ;)
I was just looking at homeschool ideas and saw this post: http://countingcoconuts.blogspot.com/2010/05/activity-kits.html
Those activity bags might be nice if he is the type that needs a lot of variety. My toddler is happy with her sticker book and some crayons to color. Target has some great coloring/sticker books that we've really enjoyed. They have Thomas and Curious George among others. The pictures two color are nicely done and there are hundreds and hundreds of stickers to use. We use this on car rides, in church, and anywhere else we need to stay quietly occupied. She also has a "sticker book" with slick pages made for parking stickers, but they can be rearranged. She enjoys putting stickers into a book like this. She also likes stringing cereal O's onto chenille stems to make edible jewelry. And snacks always keep her occupied. In the past we've also used felt books--there is a good one on the days of creation. There is a space on each day and lots of felt pieces with animals, plants, celestial bodies, etc. that you can put on each page according to what was created then. Oh, and I almost forgot--she loves to listen to kids' music on my mp3 player. It doesn't last for ages, but it does offer another distraction.
Good luck! I love the snack tray idea.
Wow, Mary! Great tips. My kids are grown up, but I remember....my kids were very messy with treats on planes--be careful. It's hard to clean them up properly. One flight, my son's snacks were all over the both of us. It sounds like you have it under control. The ipod is a great idea. Have a wonderful trip!
Silly putty is a non-messy, self-contained, very versatile quiet activity. My girls are nine and seven and still get a new egg of Silly Putty when we travel!
hi amy-foster has been on over a dozen trips in his almost 2 years and our latest trip saver was playdoh-it went through security fine (it is not a gel or liquid) and saved me many times. Also a pen and pad of paper- we drew each family member countless times and traced everything from hands to feet to cars and forks.
PS your dr might recommend a nose spray, we use saline daily, I don't like drugs but I had cold on a plane once and the pain was horrible, it was 10 years ago and I have never left without a decongestant in my purse since!-maybe have some on hand just in case.
Happy travels-love the box idea!
My kids really like plane related items, when they ride on planes. "Planes" by Anne Rockwell, is a really nice book, and age appropriate for Alfredo. They also just enjoys playing with a small airplane toy. If you have a portable dvd player with ear phones that is great, too.
Hope you enjoy your trip.
Amy,
That looks so pretty!!! I want you to all leave them just like that!
Are you going to have books on tape? Or his favorite music?
I remember being on a flight with Katie when she had congestion and she got serous otitis media (may have spelled that wrong). The fluid backs up in their ears. If he is really congested, you might want to talk to your pediatrician about a decongestant a few hours before the trip.
That's my friendly advice! Hope it all goes well!
Hugs,
Suz
We use to travel three children, 2,4, and 5 to China and back several times a year. (crazy, I know) As messy as it sounds, Playdoh was great! and it really wasn't messy. It became roads and mountains for their mini cars, we made animals, rings...you name it. I also always brought one of those painting coloring books that you just need water to brush over and the color appears. They were fascinated with it and it kept them busy. I'd suggest having some lollipops for take off and landing. We have much better success with them rather than gum for keeping the ears from popping, but always gum to chew on for the flight as it as a treat. Dover makes some great little sticker books that keeps kids busy for quite awhile and they aren't too expensive so you can buy several and they take up very little space. They have some that are sticker paper dolls and others where the kids make scenes.
Have fun!!!
I love the snack tray idea! Next time I travel.. I'm going ot make one for ME! ;)
Thanks so much for the link love, Amy!
Hi Amy - My ENT always told me to take a oral decongestant a little while before the trip, then a decongestant nasal spray right before I got on the plane. This is what I used if I was feeling stuffy. I don't know if a small child can take all of that or not. I HIGHLY recommend Earplanes (http://www.cirrushealthcare.com/EarPlanes-C8.aspx) I found at a drugstore. Have a safe trip!
Hi Amy - My ENT always told me to take a oral decongestant a little while before the trip, then a decongestant nasal spray right before I got on the plane. This is what I used if I was feeling stuffy. I don't know if a small child can take all of that or not. I HIGHLY recommend Earplanes (http://www.cirrushealthcare.com/EarPlanes-C8.aspx) I found at a drugstore. Have a safe trip!
Hi there! My 2-year old flies a lot with us, and our favorite things to bring on the plane are stickers and coloring books! My little guy will spend 45 minutes sticking the stickers...and he's a little boy that doesn't stop moving! The stickers do the trick for some reason. :) The best we've found have been in the Target Dollar Spot...they came rolled up in the box, so they were doubly as fun...you could pull the roll out AND unstick the stickers. :) Hope you have a great flight!!
Here a few ideas that worked for me ...
playdough (this works GREAT)
small spiral notebook a some sticker sheets
travel magnadoodle
cheap plastic animals (not the nice ones in case they get lost)
"rent" a movie on your ipod
a new sippy cup (always a huge hit!)
Have fun!
You can't go wrong with a sticker book, small amount of play dough and a toy car. Your treats box looks awesome, I must remember that one next time I travel. I don't think you will have any trouble at all, something to suck or chew is good for take off and landings. Relax and have fun :-)
A travel magnadoodle stays in our diaper bag. No worries about having to take paper or crayons. It is also great for restaurants.
-Amy
Crafting by Candlelight
Love the candy. I love love having candy around. The colors are so pretty Come Visit Laura
Peekaboo Wild for the iPhone is awesome. And Cheerios of course.
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