We are taking our 16 month old on a trip to see her grandparents and we have 2 flights each way, including 1 long one (4.5 hrs.) I want to get some small toys to keep her entertained and am looking for suggestions.
LO has her own seat and will be in her carseat. I would prefer to not have obnoxious noise/music that will annoy the passengers around us. Most of the toys she plays with a lot now are big, like an activity table, or have lots of parts, like blocks. What would you bring?
pomegranate / 3872 posts
My LO will draw on her magnadoodle pretty much endlessly. Maybe they make a mini version.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
That age was tough for us with flying. I would suggest lots and lots of snacks and drinks. For toys, I would consider a Busy Book and crayons and a coloring book. There is a good series on flying with kids, too that may be helpful! http://www.hellobee.com/flying-with-children/
eggplant / 11716 posts
@mrs.shinerbock: We just had a flight with LO, who was 17 months at the time. It was shorter (just one 3 hours flight), but she is in a very active phase and I knew it would be a struggle to keep her in place for 3 hours--we also flew with her as a lap child.
I bought a handful of cheap toys on Amazon--
- $8 doodle board (she loved!) http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Travel-Doodler-Pro-Green/dp/B0060JVU72/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1421334032&sr=1-1&keywords=doodle+board&pebp=1421334034805&peasin=B0060JVU72
-This guy kept her entertained for about 25 straight minutes http://www.amazon.com/Buckle-Toys-Toy-Bizzy/dp/B00GCH6D2E/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
And this thing, which was pretty huge. Luckily I have a gigantic diaper bag I was using as a carry on. LO loves stickers and recently learned all the parts of a face, so this kept her entertained for a while. http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Make-A-Face-Sticker-Pad/dp/1223062562/ref=sr_1_6?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1421334083&sr=1-6&keywords=melissa+and+doug+sticker+pad
For a longer flight, I totally would have downloaded some videos for her to watch on our phone )with baby headphones).
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
Stickers, dry erase crayons/wipe off board, magnetic story board books, a buckle toy as posted above, the plan toys nuts and bolts, stuff like that.
pear / 1986 posts
Raid the $1 bins at Target! I travelled with LO at that age and brought a little car, tiny plastic ponies, little bracelets, one of those marker books that only shows the color on the special paper (no stains!). And definitely lots of snacks!!
cherry / 147 posts
Same idea as doodle board.
I went to the Dollar Store and found one of those "magic" colouring books that you colour with a refillable pen of water.
apricot / 305 posts
During my last flight with LO (she was 17 months old), I downloaded an episode of sesame street and a few apps to my phone and bought her headphones (that entertained her for about 30 minutes). I also brought her books and stickers. The stickers kept her entertained longer than I expected- she played with them for awhile by sticking them on our face and hands, then pulling them off, then putting them back on. It might have been partially because this was only the second time we let her play with stickers though, so they were still new and exciting.
grapefruit / 4120 posts
Small books, lollipops and little plastic junk, haha. Last time we went on a plane, I gave my daughter (then 1.5) one of those mini my little ponies that comes in a foil envelope (so it's a surprise and you don't know which one it is). She became oddly into that pony and still plays with it.
Airline magazines are great too, if you don't mind the sound of constant ripping.
nectarine / 2152 posts
Mr Potato Head was a huge hit when we flew at 18 months!
Also, sticker books!
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
We brought a vinyl sticker book, lollipops, and a travel etch-a-sketch with us. She liked the sticker book the most.
squash / 13208 posts
In lieu of stickers try painters tape - your LO can stick it all over the seat, window, etc and its super easy to remove!
grapefruit / 4923 posts
we had a 19 hour flight with LO when he was 19 months. we brought tegu blocks, some toy tools from a black and decker set, an aquadoodle, ipad, small measuring tape (he was really into that for a while) and a shitload of snacks. oh and a magnet book.
i'm going to be honest and say that nothing really worked because he was overstimulated. the snacks and screen time were the best.
pomegranate / 3595 posts
I was going to suggest the mini doodle board as well! We also got a lift the flap book that took up a good chunk of time when we flew with LO at that age.
My only other suggestion is to wait on your bag of trick as long as possible. LO was so interested in looking out the window and watching the people and exploring her seat, checking out the drink cart, etc., and all that used up a lot of time. Good luck!
pomegranate / 3858 posts
Stickers, seek and find books, snacks!, cartoons (we had headphones, but she didn't like them, so she watched with sound off), boogie board (LCD writing tablet), colouring stuff
pineapple / 12566 posts
Stickers, snacks and screentime, consider buying your LO her own headphones.
grapefruit / 4649 posts
If your lo likes unwrapping things try wrapping little things in tissue paper. Even raisins are more fun when wrapped. Bring a sheet of contact paper and then rip or crumple the tissue paper and stick it on the sticky contact paper.
nectarine / 2054 posts
In addition to all the great suggestions above, one thing that DS loved playing with at that age (and still does actually) is cups from the flight attendants - when the drink cart comes by I always ask for a few plastic cups and a few of the styrofoam/paper coffee cups.
But as lots of people have said, at that age the most important thing is snacks.
grapefruit / 4988 posts
We are going to be in this exact situation in a few weeks with a 16 month old. I'm glad I saw this thread because I just ordered a small doodle board, reusable stickers, and a water coloring book. Good to know that those were hits for other people's kids! I also got Traveling Flash Cards which got good reviews on amazon. Not sure if those will be too young for her, but worth a try for 5 bucks.
pomegranate / 3779 posts
Thanks for all the tips! I've added a few things to my Amazon cart and will definitely pack a ton of snacks. The buckle toy and magna doodle are great ideas - I'm pretty sure she will love those.
@Mamaof2: Great idea on the painters tape. She hasn't shown any interest in stickers yet, but I have some in my crafting supplies, so maybe we'll try them out and see if they keep her entertained.
pineapple / 12793 posts
Stickers, magna doodle, and iPad saved our samiti flying with an 18 month old.
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