Check. Use an airline blanket to create a "sling" under the child's car seat. Wait until everyone's fussy before you push that magic button! If youre planning a trip that involves flying with your baby or toddler, chances are youre a little nervous, especially if youve never done it before. Still, this is preferable to trying to manage in that tiny, dirty bathroomtrust me. This creates a sling and prevents toys and snacks from falling to the floor and rolling away. Especially if your suitcase has wheels, this will free up your arms a bit. If you have a young artist, be sure to bring along some coloring pages to help them pass the time. Before you break out the toys and activities, let your little one adjust to their new environment. A boogie board is a great mess-free option for your creative kid. My boys loved clipping all of the buckles together or rearranging them so that the colors were mismatched. It is likely that you wont need this bag for its intended purpose: you can use the barf bag to create a puppet, hide snacks and toys in, and play the favorite fill and dump style games that kids this age love. It makes for a perfect addition to your toddler airplane activities! and its collapsible, making it perfect for travel! Whether youre on a long-haul international flight or just flying for a couple of hours, make sure to plan for some good toddler airplane activities. Especially if its your first time flying with a child, you probably have a lot of questions: Should I travel with my childs car seat on a plane? Bring lots of drinks so your baby doesn't get dehydrated. This is a cheap activity that can lead to hours of entertainment. This is also the perfect time to introduce your baby to your favorite dance tunes. Put the two containers next to each other and encourage your pint-sized companion to move the objects from one container to the next, then back again. Let your little one decorate your thermos or water bottle, bring along a sticker scene or book, or simply pack some construction paper for them to place the stickers on. And once youre done you can unbend and reuse them! Find one with large puzzle pieces are great for toddler hands. That way I have something compact to pull out if my toddler starts getting squirmy. The nesting factor also makes them easy to pack into a carry-on. However, this can be annoying at the toddler stage because the picture is smaller so they want to hold it, but then end up touching the screen and changing their place in the show or exiting out of it completely. But it can be done! Just put on some tunes and let your kiddo drift off while they listen. No, it usually won't, but check with your airline first to be sure! Although there is likely to be kid-friendly inflight movies and tv shows (more on this later), if your kid has a favorite movie or show that is sure to keep them entertained, it is a good idea to bring it with you. I like to trade out my activities, but this is one that I always bring because he loves it so much! Making use of airline-provided entertainment is another great way to save space in your carry on or diaper bag. Its fun to explore new places and to see nature up close, especially if you are in a different country. I was worried that my kids might get bored of it quickly, but that was definitely not the case. This makes picking up dropped toys easier. This is a classic toddler activity that is highly effective at keeping young kids entertained! This acts as a bit of a reset, by helping to get the blood flowing and allowing your child a change of scenery. Animal crackers in a box are a wonderful travel snack: they are fun to eat, and the box doubles as a play item when the snack is finished. Make sure to complete your downloads before you get on the plane! Tell the reservations agent that you'll have a car seat or that you're traveling with a lap child so they can assign you the most appropriate seat. One-year-olds love to stack and nest, so stacking cups make an excellent travel toy. Popular ones include tic tac toe and bingo. This buckle toy has several different kinds of buckles in various colors for your child to fiddle with. Pushing the button for the light, fiddling with the air, and exploring tray table will likely occupy your toddler for quite awhile! Finding travel toys for kids this age can be very difficult; the toys must be tough enough to withstand some abuse, but they must also be safe, interesting, and able to entertain the child for more than two seconds. Coloring is a fun and quiet activity. If not, ask them where the ideal changing spot might be. You cant go wrong with stickers at this age! Ask your flight attendant if they have any perks for little travelers. However, hiking with your baby can be rather intimidating, especially for new parents. If you are heading out on a well-deserved vacation from your baby, a work trip, or you simply have a baby that prefers to drink from a bottle, then youll need to pump your breast milk, Read More Guide to Pumping While TravellingContinue, Theres so many extra things to worry about when traveling with you children. Question: Do I need a passport for my baby? And of course, at some point, it transitioned into a phone and he was kept busy calling all of his relatives to tell them about our trip. If you can manage to afford it, it's really worth it to buy your baby a seat. Most one-year-olds will not tolerate headphones, so these apps might not be so helpful until a child is old enough to use headphones (usually over the age of two). You can strap this Kids Play-n-Go tray set to the back of the car or plane seat in front of your baby or just lay it across their lap. Decide whether to take a car seat with you or not. This allows your child to pick the magnets they want and prevents the scene from getting overcrowded. As always, feel free to share any thoughts, ideas, or tips of your own in the comments below. Make sure to offer lots of liquids, as proper hydration will help. Take a few rolls of colorful, not-too-sticky tape to play with. And best of all, theres no chance of getting pen on the seat or the wall or mom! Listening to music can be a great calm-down activity for a grumpy toddler. Theres also a zippered pocket at the top for storing little treasures. Youll also want to bring along a pair of kid-sized headphones so you dont disturb the other passengers. Spread out a changing mat or blanket first. The good news is, we have been on many flights with our toddlers and have lots of helpful, engaging ideas that are sure to keep your child entertained! Place it under the car seat, then take the other end of the blanket and tuck it into the pocket of the seat in front of you. There you have it! We found that if they were really squished together or if one stick was bent and straightened over and over they did tend to change texture and be less ideal for making shapes. For young toddlers, you can also take off the lid and have them stick the popsicle sticks through the main opening if they are having trouble getting them in the slot. This one is collapsible, making it a great travel option! This was a lifesaver for me when I was flying alone with my toddler and we were stuck on the runway for over an hour before takeoff. ), How to Fight Jet Lag in Babies and Toddlers, 16 Beach Essentials for Toddlers and Babies, Your email address will not be published. Good airplane activities are essential when traveling with a toddler. I love this snack catcher because it allows your toddler to manage their snacks on their own without spilling. Find a pair of small childrens sunglasses. Figuring out what to do with your childs car seat can be one of the trickiest parts of traveling with your family. And the trade-off is totally worth it for a mess-free experience. Or give them sequences to type in to help them practice their numbers. Theres something magical about seeing that vibrant picture appear before your eyes as you run the brush over the page. Recent research conducted by British Airways shows that Play-Doh and other old favorites like Legos and finger puppets actually keep kids occupied for longer periods of time during a flight than more modern, digital forms of entertainment. Pop-up books, touch-and-feel books, puzzle books, cloth books, and other books that encourage participation from little readers are a great way to pass the time and keep your kid happy while youre up in the air. One caveat: screens require sound for the baby to enjoy them, and you cannot play sound over a speaker on an airplane. When youre done making something, you can either let it air dry, which will make their creation permanent, or put it in a sealed bag to be used again! Answer: I am a writer in the USA, so I will answer with the rules for my country: all babies, even newborn infants, require passports to travel abroad. The Kindle Fire Kids Tablet allows you to stream content through Wi-Fi or download content onto the device. I have heard some people complain that this makes it hard for a child to hear over the noise of the planes engine, but we havent had this problem with our volume-limiting headphones. Picking activities for airplane travel is something of an art form. If Im limited on space, oftentimes Ill just rip a few pages out of a coloring book, fold them up, and put them in a baggie with a few crayons. Bring a strap to tie the car seat onto your luggage. Usbornes Very First Book of Things to Spot (and its sequels, like our favorite, Very First Book of Things to Spot Out and About) is the perfect look and find book for young kids. Magnetic games are perfect for plane rides (as well as long car rides and train rides). Nothing beats a movie for entertaining a one-year-old. Here are some tips for a better flying experience with a 1-year-old, 2-year-old, or 3-year-old. Our kids have loved these from a very young age. Although simple, this activity has kept my toddler entertained for soooo long while were traveling. They recommend that all children be secured in approved car seats until they reach 40 pounds. Don't start out your trip by plugging them into a movie. The great thing about a road trip is that your family can play whatever you want and no other passengers are going to complain! Learn from their mistakes! Parents who fly with or without their child can bring 3.4-ounce units or 100-milliliter units of breast milk onto the plane in the carry-on luggage, but you must declare it at the security checkpoint. If your flight attendant can't help you and the diaper is just wet (not soiled), you might have to change the diaper in your seat, using your own lap as a table. For some great toddler snack ideas, see this post. This activity will require a lot of monitoring by the parent to be sure the child doesnt put the papers into his or her mouth, and to clean up the post-it notes when the play is complete. This is one of our toddler airplane activities that we will typically always bring on a trip! You also want a variety of activities so you can switch it up if your child starts to lose interest. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Needless to say, that is extremely annoying and can lead to big meltdowns (trust me, I know from personal experience), so sometimes a tablet is the easier option for toddlers.