I have a six and eight year old and haven't flown with them in two years. Does anyone have some "no fail" items they always pack to keep kids busy on the trip?

I broke down and got a Game Boy for each of them and Finding Nemo, Monster's Inc. and Spongebob cartridges. We are saving them until we get on the plane (it's driving them insane, of course;) )

Tell me your best airplane secrets!

Just a few things that have been winners for me..

1. those activity books with the 'magic' pen.. you can buy them at Target/Walmart....they have a lot of different levels so you can get ones to meet each girls interests and ability

2. Personal music.....back in the day before CD's it was cassette players which worked great because you could swap out music for 'read along' tapes, now I just use her CD player and bring along several of her favorite CD's

3. Uno cards .. you can play 'hands' instead of 'games' so that you don't have to keep points...

4. colorbooks/crayons

5. Pack some of their favorite snacks...don't rely on the airline, peanuts or pretzels get old fast.

Want to follow-up on mammasilva's observation about the food. Bring snacks and bottled water. Do not put yourself at the mercy of the airlines.

Klutz Press has saved many a long trip for us. I'm sure you know what good products they put out. Your 8 year-old would enjoy "Wishing Stars" and the drawing workbook would go over with both girls, as would the "Thumbprint" drawing series.

Do you know the "Anti-Coloring" coloring books? Those are nice.

Nancy Drew for the 8 year-old and the Boxcar Children for the 6 year-old are perfect. You don't need much concentration and you feel so grown-up reading a real mystery.

Originally posted by 3894

Do you know the "Anti-Coloring" coloring books? Those are nice.


No, I don't, actually. What are they about.

At DL yesterday I bought two great activity books for the plane--a theme park and princess one. Lots of cool mazes and word puzzles. :)

I say make sure you have extra batteries for the game boys...and make sure there are fresh batteries in them when you leave for the airport.

I used to fly from LA to Boston to Canada once a year every year as a child (before the time of gameboys). This is what my mom would do to entertain me on the flight. She would let me go to the bookstore and pick out books and magazines that I wanted to read. I was into the SweetValley Twins and Babysitters Club so I would get the newest ones of those. Then we would go and get those Magic Pens books, new tapes for my walkman, coloring books and a brand new box of crayons.

All the stuff went into a bag and stayed into her room so I couldn't read or play with it. The night before the flight I was allowed to pack my carry-on bag with all my new stuff and the carry-on stayed in her room.

I wasn't allowed to get into my new stuff until we got on the plane and my seatbelt was fastened.

Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!

If anyone has any hints for an "energizer bunny" 4 year old I would really appreciate it. We are flying to Orlando from Sacramento, in August, first time for either boy. I'm not worried about my 8 year old but my 4 year old is the epitome of "a handful"! He doesn't read yet so that's out, coloring books only last soo long, same as the magna doodle. He's not that interested into music(but he does love I Like it I love It and Who's Your Daddy, but I don't think that'll last 7 hours! LOL)

So any tips would be sooooooo helpful

dsnylndmom



Does he like to unwrap gifts?????

Someone else posted this terrific idea on another thread and I am too lazy to go search it out, but they went to the dollar store and got a bunch of cheap (read don't care if you pitch it in the trash on the way out of the airport) little toys, books, assorted snacks .... and they wrapped each one up as a gift/present.. then they would let their child open a surprise.. play with it til they got bored then let them open another one.. if you went that route remember you have to fly BACK with this same child so do doubles and stick half in a suit case?

Originally posted by mammasilva


Someone else posted this terrific idea on another thread and I am too lazy to go search it out, but they went to the dollar store and got a bunch of cheap (read don't care if you pitch it in the trash on the way out of the airport) little toys, books, assorted snacks .... and they wrapped each one up as a gift/present.. then they would let their child open a surprise.. play with it til they got bored then let them open another one.. if you went that route remember you have to fly BACK with this same child so do doubles and stick half in a suit case?

:D That was me! I guess I have a few good ideas about flying with kids. I also need to get off my booty and wrap a few little gifts up. ;)
I think the return flight is harder. The fun is over and we all just want to get HOME. Maybe save a few really special gifts for the ride home.

Originally posted by dsnylndmom
If anyone has any hints for an "energizer bunny" 4 year old I would really appreciate it. We are flying to Orlando from Sacramento, in August, first time for either boy. I'm not worried about my 8 year old but my 4 year old is the epitome of "a handful"! He doesn't read yet so that's out, coloring books only last soo long, same as the magna doodle. He's not that interested into music(but he does love I Like it I love It and Who's Your Daddy, but I don't think that'll last 7 hours! LOL)

So any tips would be sooooooo helpful

I am guessing you are going to WDW. So how about a bunch of WDW (or Disney in general) themed things? You can find cheap Disney coloring books at your local store, and Disney crayons and Disney "little golden books" etc...and wrap them up. Maybe you can get your hands on some WDW specific coloring stuff from the website that you can print out.

Bring their favorite snacks, and special snacks (read: snacks that they don't get often). You can request a kids meal too if your flight has a meal.

I know you said he isn't into music. That said....if you can, make a looped CD with his favorite songs on it, or some songs from WDW rides :)

HAVE FUN!

Originally posted by mammasilva
Someone else posted this terrific idea on another thread and I am too lazy to go search it out, but they went to the dollar store and got a bunch of cheap (read don't care if you pitch it in the trash on the way out of the airport) little toys, books, assorted snacks .... and they wrapped each one up as a gift/present..

While this is a cool idea for keeping the child entertained during a flight, it very likely would not work at all anymore. With the increased security measures on airline flights, wrapped packages are generally required to be unwrapped at the security checkpoints.

-Jeff

This isn't an activity per se, but make sure they drink lots of water. I hear it's a good defense against getting sick from the recirculated air.
:)

Originally posted by Gemini Cricket
This isn't an activity per se, but make sure they drink lots of water. I hear it's a good defense against getting sick from the recirculated air.
:)

And then the activity would be getting up to use the restroom every 45 minutes ;)


GC, you did have an activity :D

Originally posted by HB Tigger Fan
And then the activity would be getting up to use the restroom every 45 minutes ;)


GC, you did have an activity :D
I also heard moving around at least once an hour is good. There's some sort of ailment you can get from not moving around on planes. I can't remember the name... but hey, I can't remember five minutes ago.
:D

Originally posted by Gemini Cricket
I also heard moving around at least once an hour is good. There's some sort of ailment you can get from not moving around on planes. I can't remember the name... but hey, I can't remember five minutes ago.
:D

Blood clots ;)

okay--thanks for the ideas everyone. I have a carry on bag packed for each with a GameBoy, walkman and books on tape, trail mix, water, activity book, fresh markers, pez dispensers, playing cards, and silly putty. I think we will survive. C is insisting that her new plush Bambi joins us on the plane, so we will see how she will carry that and her tote bag. :rolleyes:

I'll let y'all know which items were the life savers when I get home.
:)

Don't forget spare batteries from home for the gameboys!

Originally posted by HB Tigger Fan
Don't forget spare batteries from home for the gameboys!

Bought a new pack today. I'm ON it, baybee. :p

Jet Blue

we had those tv's on Legend.... never heard a peep from the over-2 set

Originally posted by Morrigoon
Jet Blue

we had those tv's on Legend.... never heard a peep from the over-2 set

What's Legend? We are planning our flight on Jet Blue. I know they have Nickelodeon but no Disney!!!:( If they showed Disney channel on the flight, I know we'd be in the clear!!

Anyone have any suggestions for a Toddler?

We live in Oregon and have had good luck so far with the 2 hour trip to DL, but we are going to WDW in October, and my son will be 23 months then. He's not really into letting me read him stories yet, but he does like to color for small durations. I thought about renting a protable DVD player, but he really could care less about TV. (Which really is a good thing, but not for a long plane ride.) We are flying Continental. Does anyone know if they have video monitors on the plane?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Well, my girls are quite a bit bigger, heidiwhr, but I do remember a roll of scotch tape coming in handy--they can't even believe their luck then you hand it to them--or just give them little strips to put on paper.

My girls were facinated with story books on tape ever since they were little. They always loved playing with the walkman--taking the headsets on and off, on and off. Now that they are older, they actually listen to the stories! :rolleyes: This was even more popular than the brand new gameboys and games--go figure.

I packed a back pack for each girl, small enough for them to wear and bough surprises for in it. They did not see it or anything in it until I gave it to them just before getting in the car for the airport.

They were clear plastic which came in hand for bag checks at DL since they insisted on carrying them in each day.

I bought a few happy meal type toys at the thrift stores, chewing gum for the flight, snacks (fruit chews, granola bar, cookies...), small pack of crayons, scratch paper, pencil (the ones that are plastic with lead so I didn't have to sharpen them), but the best thing was the sticker book and many new sheets of stickers. Target had them on clearance a while back and they had the princess and pooh and each came with over 100 stickers. I would give them a sheet of stickers at a time and they would put the stickers on the page then re arange them. Those things were well worth the couple bucks.

Since we were flying southwest (no meal service) and had a 2 hour wait in Las Vegas, I packed the girls a lunch and they each carried their lunch box and wore their back packs thru the airport. I had my backpack and our water bottles. In my back pack I packed a few workbooks and extra paper. Oooo and one of the view masters with Disney reels. That was a huge hit.

Have fun and good luck.