Entertain a 2 year old on an airplane?

Question

I have an active, very sweet (but loud as a banshee when upset) 2 year old daughter. We are taking a long plane trip cross country in about a week. I am running out of creativity - here are the ideas I have already come up with -- Any other ideas? I am thinking small and very entertaining...

Portable DVD player with her fav. cartoons
New board books (I have five she has not seen)
Crayons & paper
Stickers & sticker book
Small tub of Play Doh
Finger Puppets

Other ideas? Most 2 year olds have the attention span of a gnat, so anything that keeps her attention is GOLDEN to me.

The flight is early morning to early afternoon (flying East to West). We could not get a redeye.

Airlines require that her carseat be in the window seat.

Just thought about the playdoh - probably not allowed with the new regulations.

Portable DVD players are still allowed on US flights (as are laptops, mp3's etc...). Just subject to additional inspection.

Answer 1

I’ve tried the books-recommended slew of toys from the dollar store, the wrapped-up new toy every half hour approach, the movie on my laptop, familiar and new books, and even Nintendogs on the DS… With that said, there have been only three mundane things that have worked for me in the past with my now almost 3-year old son, including on several excruciatingly long flights to Europe:
-- Snacks -- grapes, apples, blueberries, or whatever your daughter likes to start with, then the “bad” stuff - pretzels, animal crackers, corn puffs, cookies, etc. Use the beverage cups you get on the plane for a sorting game.
-- Hand wipes -- yeah, sounds silly, but he’s made sure every inch of the surrounding surfaces has been wiped clean a few dozen times... made him feel useful... Plus, this particular activity is quiet and harmless.
-- Stickers -- by the thousands from cheep sticker books. He covered his food tray and the headrest of the seat in front of us under the terrified looks of flight attendants (who didn’t say a word though!), and proceed to other surfaces. The best part --the last half hour of the trip can be spent taking them off and making vertical towers of them sticking them on top of one another before tossing away.
Not sure how all this plays (no pun intended) with the new TSA regulations. Have a safe journey!

Answer 2

Lots of good ideas here.

Also talk to your pediatrician. Tell him or her what you're doing and ask about the appropriate dose of Tylenol or Ibuprofen for the child to take about 20 minutes before the flight. This will usually help to take the edge off and she just might sleep.

Remember that airline flights are noisy and your child may have trouble hearing the CD or DVD player without some sort of earphones. We bought a tots Leap-pad that scored a big zero on a recent flight because she couldn't hear it.

Also don't count on a child sleeping on a red eye. Our son stayed awake till 2:00 am (just as we were landing). Then he was out like a light.

Don't be afraid to walk around holding the child if the seat beat sign is off.

Get to the airport early and see if you can score the bulkhead seats. Your child can then play on the floor at your feet when seat beat are not required.

If your child does not get to play with your keys or wallet on a regular basis the following are gold.

Go buy a wallet and fill it up with cards, pictures and fake money. They love to pull them apart.

Put together a key chain with real keys and a bright colored fob.

Best of Luck,

Pabs

Answer 3

The new travel restrictions may make it a little harder, but you can still survive the flight. Make the whole travel experience special. We would surprise my daughter with "forbidden" food (cookies, chips...) about 30 minutes into the flight. We would also have little presents for her at regular intervals - new set of crayons, new doll, etc... You can stock up on little inexpensive things at a Dollar Store or Target. Wrap the presents - it takes time to unwrap them and keeps it interesting. The DVD player is the best, though, and I hope you will still be able to bring it on board. I DON'T recommend keeping your child up late the night before you go. Just because he/she is tired does not mean he/she will nap on the plane. In fact, the opposite may happen. He/She may be so over tired and over stimulated that a major meltdown will happen. If all else fails, buy the people sitting near you a drink :-)

Answer 4

My Brother Let His Daughter Stay Up The Day Before The Flight So That The Next Day She Can Be Sleepy And She'll Fall Asleep In The Plane.

Answer 5

I'd check with the airline over what you can take on board,with all the strict new measures of the last few days i'd assume the dvd player and playdoh may be banned items now.
Mykids always like books and sticker books on long flights, and coloring in books. I usually try to fly at night so they'll sleep.

Answer 6

My daughter and fly quite a bit. She has been traveling from the age of 3 months. Now that she is 3 1/2 I just make sure that we have lots of snacks, small toys and movies. Here is an ides. Go to the store and bring him. Let her pick out a movie tell him that the movie is for the airplane trip. Do you have any Baby Einstein movies. I would start with the snack then move on to toys and then the movie.

Answer 7

Trying to fly when your daughter usually sleeps is a good idea. I also suggest not to break out the bag o' fun until you notice that she is getting restless. Getting things like books that she has never seen before is also great. Also only bring out one item at a time. Wait until the child is really bored with it until you bring out the next item. If she knows that she has a bunch of stuff to look forward to she will go through it pretty quickly.
Believe it or not my two year old loves books on CD. He has his own little disc-man and walks around the house listening to it.
He also love to play "whats in mommy's purse", talking on my cell phone. Maybe some little snacks in case her ears need to pop.
Remember that with the recent changes to things that you can bring on a plane you may have to leave some of the things behind.
On behalf of everyone on your plane I would like to thank you for thinking ahead and bringing things to keep your daughter occupied. I wish more people would think like that instead of checking the baggage with all the toys in it.

Answer 8

Please keep in mind that, with the new restrictions on carry on baggage that have been imposed to further secure air travelers from terrorist threats, that you may not be able to take DVD players (or other electronic devices including laptop computers) or Play Doh on board the aircraft with you.

Otherwise, I think you have good ideas. Also, playing games like "I Spy" and such is a good way to entertain two-year-olds. You may also consider paper dolls, flash cards, etc.

I wish you the best. May God bless and keep you.

Answer 9

I would not recommend playdoh - don't think it would pass on carry on luggage. Other than that, picture books are entertaining.
However, you never know - she may get sleepy too - depending on length of trip. Hopefully you are able to bring some simple snacks -such as carrots, mini crackers or cookies - make easy finger foods that can be stored in a small clear baggy.

Answer 10

I went to Hawaii final summer season. My airplane holiday all mutually replaced into 11 hours and that i replaced into by myself! It replaced into the main uninteresting ingredient contained in the international. they might have video clips enjoying on the airplane holiday yet you will desire to prolly %. up some little new child sound books, there famous toy and a very good pillow. they're going to prolly sleep maximum the way.