What toys could be used for a 5 hour plane ride?

gooberz · March 2013

I'm going to visit my brother in June with my daughter. She will be roughly 17 months at that time. I have no idea what to bring on the plane to keep her entertained for that long. Her favorite thing to play with is the cat we have...

SharonB222 · March 2013

We travelled at 18 months, 12 hrs each way (with layover). The airplane headset was a big hit (unplug, plug, unplug, plug) followed by the airplane touchscreen. Airline cups and ice cubes are a second favorite. DD ignored the toys we brought. Even threw her lovey into the aisle and it got lost for a bit. GL!

Netty_3 · March 2013

I would choose ones that are quiet for the courtesy of other passengers. I'm making LO a quiet book for our upcoming trip to Disney, it has activities and is "quiet" I would also take books. Buy a new toy to make it interesting. Good luck...I'll probably be lurking on this one myself for more ideas too.

SCtoDC · March 2013

Our phones or the iPad are the magic toys for us. Preload a bunch of videos and new (free) games and let her go to town. Our DS doesn't need to be able to hear the videos to enjoy watching - when he decides he 'needs' the audio, we'll introduce headphones. iPad can buy us HOURS of a happy toddler.

Also - food. Pack a ton of different snacks; crunchy, chewy, salty, sweet, everything.

Something to avoid: Our DS saw us put down the tray table and wanted to play with that for the entire flight...obviously, we discouraged that since it would clearly be annoying for the passenger in front. Try to avoid her seeing you do anything that you don't want her to repeat. Can be hard, but I'd do anything to go back and not put that stupid tray table down!

lbursey · March 2013

ipad or iphone with lots of apps and videos. Nathan will completely ignore any other toys we bring and wine for the ipad. We never use it at home but for vacations and restaurants it is a must have.

valigrl21 · March 2013

We just flew across country with DD, who is 20 months. She still uses a pacifier but only for sleeping... and airplanes! We actually brought a few and she loved it.

I brought lots of snacks - cheerios, PB & J sandwich, nutrigrain bars, etc. And a sucker - a treat that takes a long time (I kept thinking of the commercial - "how many licks does it take to get to the center?" while she was licking it).

I also brought a few small books and a coloring book/crayons.

We got really lucky and DD napped quite a bit.

DD enjoyed taking trips to the potty. Gave her a chance to walk around and she loved flushing the toilet and washing her hands.

But most importantly like PP have mentioned - we had our iPhones stocked with episodes of Sofia the First, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and some toddler games.

Overall it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. There was one leg of the trip where I felt she was probably annoying the people around her (being extra whiny and fidgety) but when we were getting off the flight, a passenger next to us said "wow, she did so good on the flight". So that made me feel really good.

peaceinnature · March 2013

We've been out to CA twice since DS turned 1, it's about a 5 hour flight from here. He mostly stayed on my lap and looked at the in flight entertainment system or DH's iphone. It was nice to have a couple small books and his stuffed cat/lovey to pull out when he got restless. We also brought some fabric finger puppets that entertained him for a bit. Also lots of non-messy snacks.

We going again in a few weeks and this time he'll have his own seat and he's just getting into coloring so we might bring some crayons/paper or stickers.

ras26 · March 2013

SCtoDC:
Our phones or the iPad are the magic toys for us. Preload a bunch of videos and new (free) games and let her go to town. Our DS doesn't need to be able to hear the videos to enjoy watching - when he decides he 'needs' the audio, we'll introduce headphones. iPad can buy us HOURS of a happy toddler.

Also - food. Pack a ton of different snacks; crunchy, chewy, salty, sweet, everything.

Something to avoid: Our DS saw us put down the tray table and wanted to play with that for the entire flight...obviously, we discouraged that since it would clearly be annoying for the passenger in front. Try to avoid her seeing you do anything that you don't want her to repeat. Can be hard, but I'd do anything to go back and not put that stupid tray table down!

x2 on all of this. Even if you are generally anti-screen time, do yourself a favor and download some videos. I also let DD destroy the skymall catalog after she has searched for every last picture of a doggy.

Caligirl81 · March 2013

We flew across the county with DS at Christmastime, so he wasn't quite a year old yet. We have some Fisher Price aps on the our iPad, which he liked. Although they didn't keep his occupied for as long as we were hoping. We also brought some new toys that we gave to him once we were on the plane. The "newness" kept his attention. Also made sure to bring lots of snacks, as well as Tylenol (we needed it on the way home because he was a miserable teething mess).

DS had his own seat so we had the whole row to ourselves, which was also helpful.

DS is a busy body so he doesn't usually play with one toy for a long time, but the new experience (for him) of going through the airport, being on the plane, seeing all the people, seemed to keep him occupied as well.

Jenny952 · March 2013

First of all, wow you're brave! I would bring lots of snacks and toys that are very detailed and will take lots of time to explore. Do you have a doll or something that has zippers and buttons and snaps? That could occupy my DD for a long time. Also crayons and a coloring book could be fun. This sounds simple but a roll of blue painters tape or a box of cartoon bandaids will go a long way too. Be sure to also bring a lovey and blanket, as it will likely be during a nap time. Good luck!