Toy ideas for the plane.

fancynewbeesly

We will be taking my daughter in a few weeks (15/16 months) on a plane ride to Florida. The flight isn't long but I am stuck with toy ideas for her to bring. Unfortunately most of the things that she LOVES to play with are completely impractical on an airplane. (make a long of noise, too big and bulky or just not feasible). 

 She doesn't sit still for TV very well--maybe I can get 20/30 minutes of her being focused enough to watch. 

I am lost for ideas for her. The one thing I did pack was a travel aqua doodle-but besides that I need some more ideas. The flight will be about 2.5-3 hours.  

MrsCodeMonkey

We're leaving for a 16hr trip and I posted about the same thing a while back. I ended up buying travel flash cards, the aquadoodle, small stuffed animals like finger puppets and Elmo, a small flip book, a fabric quiet book, a sticker book, and a ton of snack size bags with puffs, pretzels, goldfish, animal crackers, etc.

I'm also bringing the ipad. It's overkill, but I don't want to be stuck on a layover with nothing to do.

Someone even mentioned floss and masking tape. Apparently they love to unwind the floss and play with tape. Others suggested loading up on new stuff at the dollar store.

Have a safe trip!

dairygirl19

Ditto PP.

I'd also go dig through the dollar bins at Target. They have tons of small, little stuff. Usually if it's new they'll be occupied.

I know you said, she's not into TV but what some Ipad apps? Mine is obsessed with the fish aquarium one where you can slide the screen and the fish and backgrounds move. It's on my phone and I give to LO on car trips because she's not the best car rider and it keeps her occupied for a long time.

Jelliebean1982

I highly recommend a light-up fan.  The wind plus the lights for some reason helps them get into a little toddler trance.  Also, Dum-Dum suckers for the way down.  Since a plane flight is such a special trip I don't mind giving things I wouldn't normally give my kid. 

 Color wonder markers are also a good idea.  I also had success at that age with Play-Doh for DD.  She wasn't much of a mess maker so it worked really well.  

If you're planning on having her do any activities that require use of the tray table just remember that it will not fold down if she is in a carseat.  All they can do when sitting in a carseat is kick the person in front of them, or sit RF and scream because they can't do anything (and disturb everyone else on the plane).  I'm a huge fan of checking the carseat.  

fancynewbeesly

She is a lap child--we are definitely checking the car seat. 

I definitely will look for some iPad apps.

Unfortunately our dollar section at Target is pretty much notebooks, containers and wrapping paper--no toys at all.

I am definitely going to use some of the ideas though--thanks! 

Paviku

We just got home this morning via a 5-hour flight (and a 1-hour flight). Our biggest hits (both directions) were all from the dollar store- reusable stickers, little plastic dinosaurs and bug flash cards. We don't have an ipad, but I brought our portable dvd player and it got a lot of use. I also brought some books. He really enjoyed looking at a book about airplanes while we were flying there. He wasn't as interested on the way back. His markers were taken away since he was coloring on the plane. I also had some more expensive stuff I bought and borrowed, but none of it was that engaging (leap frog phone toy, sesame street characters, colorforms). It really depends on what your kid likes I guess. I also absolutely second the suckers. Friends of mine suggested masking tape and post it notes for fun, but I forgot both of those. Another idea I was given and liked was to pre-package wipes and diapers in ziplocks. That way, when I had to change him, I only took the little packet with us to the bathroom.

Our flights went much better than I had anticipated. Hopefully it'll be the same for you. Good luck!

SouthernMama1

I flew from Indiana to Oklahoma, with an hour layover in Dallas when my son was just over 16 months old. I got him a small sock monkey for the flight, I totally spaced the toy part of our trip. The flight attendent gave him 2 plastic cups and he was good the whole 2.5 hour flight from Indiana to Dallas! I know that's not much but maybe that will help.