25 Ways to Keep Toddlers Busy on a Plane

Before leaving on our recent family holiday interstate I asked the Childhood 101 Facebook community for their suggestions for entertaining a mobile (and very active) 16 month old on a five hour plane trip. The suggestions were fabulous and there were quite a few that I hadn’t tried before so I thought I would compile a list to share. I have included a few of my own as well and added some comments below about which items we ended up using successfully on our trip.

25 Ways to Keep Toddlers Busy on a Plane

25 Ways to Keep Toddlers Busy on a Plane

  1. Stickers, like a roll of the “teacher dots” from the newsagent – Shae
  2. Sultanas (raisins) – Shae
  3. A movie on your phone (or iPod or iPad) – Shae
  4. Wrap little toys for them to open – Esther
  5. Stickers, (play a game where you) stick them to you (or them) and get them to find it – HaroldnSteph
  6. Mini aquadoodle – HaroldnSteph
  7. Invisible Crayola markers that come out in colour on the special paper (Crayola Colour Explosion), no mess anywhere! – Bridie
  8. Cup of ice from the air hostess – Bridie
  9. Little plastic shot glasses from supermarket for stacking – Bridie
  10. Finger puppets – Melanie
  11. Play peekaboo – Melanie
  12. Pop bubble wrap – Melanie
  13. Walk the aisles when it’s safe to do so – Melanie
  14. Small magna doodle – Crystal
  15. Pencils, crayons, books for drawing – Crystal
  16. iPad with headphones – Kathy
  17. Anything in little containers or bags with little objects and toys for putting in and taking out, and lids to take on and off – Anne
  18. Wind up toys – Rebecca
  19. Tons of snacks – Carol
  20. Clothes pins (pegs) – Dorothee
  21. Squeezable fruit puree pouches – Dorothee
  22. A window seat – Sofia
  23. Blanky or special comforter toy
  24. Commercial sticker books
  25. A few favourite books (paperbacks weigh less)

Numbers 2, 5, 8, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21 and 25 worked a charm for us on this trip. The sultanas and stickers were the most popular with AJ. The ice chips (beware of giving toddlers whole ice blocks as they can constitute a choking hazard) and simply playing with a few (empty) plastic cups and a plastic spoon took up a good chunk of time on the journey over. I found some nice, soft and chunky wind up crayons with lids that were fun to scribble with, plus taking the lids off and putting them back on again was good for at least twenty minutes! Lots of snack options proved a lifesaver, especially given AJ’s food intolerances and the fact that our budget airline didn’t allow you to book special meals for domestic flights. And I was thankful that I had downloaded a few new episodes of Playschool onto the iPad before we left as it’s a show both my girls enjoy watching and many of the on board kids TV options were more suitable for preschoolers or older children, not toddlers.

Lastly, remember to hide away a few items so there is something new for the return journey too!

Is there anything you would add to this list of suggestions for entertaining a toddler on a plane trip?

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33 Comments

  1. fill a freezer bag with beans or rice and then a bunch of small trinkets – and play I spy – squishing the bag around to find the small trinket – feather, colored rocks, scrabble tiles, other random game pieces, marble, paper clip, etc. Portable dvd player (or download movies to ipad or ipod or laptop) but remember the headphones!!! Color wonder from crayola doesn’t mark on anything but the paper. Always have their special buddy or blankie. Play I spy out the window when you can see the landscape. See if you can find shapes in the clouds. Fingerplay songs/games – itsy bitsy spider or pat-a-cake, etc. Stickers and a piece of paper or paper bag to stick them to. Note – the tray tables aren’t very big and we found that crayons tended to roll off them all the time – we found toddler size triangular ones that don’t roll were much nicer, but still the tray was crowded for space between the paper and the pile of crayons (magnadoodle worked much better). Small dollar store trinkets that they have never seen – use as a reward every half hour for good behavior (jewelry, matchboxes, hair clips, small coloring pad).

    1. Wow
      from this description I perceive a lot of experience in travelling with little kids 😀
      nice to read, thank you
      I’ll attend in August an 8 hour flight with my almost 3 year old and although he’s a good little boy, I want to be sure I have a good play/fun plan for the trip. We already flew 8 hours when he was 15 months old and we survived (we arrived dead tired but happy – no tantrums at all, but we really worked hard to prevent any). On the previous trip he was a lot into books, so I was loaded with tons and we looked throught them over and over (the touch and feel ones, I spy ones, flip little windows, etc…). Now he’s more into “pretending games” so I’ll be loaded with small toys (character ones, dinosaurs, etc..).
      Sticker I suppose is a MUST.
      Maybe by then he’ll be more into colouring: for the time being he only likes messy colouring – so no good for planes 😀

      1. Keep an eye out for a post I have coming up in a few weeks, Sarah, I will share some busy bag ideas that I am preparing to take as I fly with my little one at the beginning of June 🙂

  2. Small containers of playdough!! Although it has to fit in your bag with all the liquids as the airport considers it a paste, we just took it on our last trip two weeks ago and it was great for all three of our kids. I would have to second the stickers thing too. We spent a lot of time peeling stickers off and putting them on paper and all over each others arms and face!! Great fine motor skills and a lot of fun. Color Wonder markers were worth the money. They were entertaining too!

  3. Kirsti Collins says:

    I took my 2yr old to NZ (24hrs). I used a lot of the above and a train set with a new train and a tunnel. I kept toys he was using in a little back pack and he would get them out and put them away.
    Also a magnet book, puzzle, plastersine, blunt scissors and things to cut, beads to make braclets and a write and wipe book. Everything wraped individually of course.
    🙂

  4. Great list! We’ve also used window clings/window stickers. Paper clips that we can make a chain with. Magic with little shot glasses from the dollar store. Hide a little trinket under one cup and have child guess which cup it’s under. Small puzzles we made ourselves, usually with pictures of people we love. Maybe a tiny Lego set.

  5. We are about to drive 16 hours with our nearly 2 year old, the one thing I am taking that no one has mentioned yet is felt. Felt sticks to itself, so I have one big white piece that almost feels like it was starched, and then I cut out all kinds of shapes fr different colors, also a house and clouds ect. It opens up a lot of games, match the shapes or the colors, make a picture from the house pieces, ect. She loves playing with them while I was cutting them out, so I’m sure she will love them on our ride!

  6. Did any of you doing long haul flights purchase seats for your under 2yr toddler? Debating whether it will make it easier, thanks

    1. Hi we just few to America and back with an 18mnth old. I had the option of him travelling on my lap or to pay for his own seat (the airline did offer the seat at a discounted rate). I opted for his own seat and am really glad we did. It gives you (and them) more space and they get the full luggage allowance. If your lucky like we were you may get sat in a row of four seats. Our flight wasn’t full so we ended up with all four seats, which meant you can lay them out flat on two seats to sleep. Note the airline won’t allow the child to sleep on the floor by your feet as it’s a safety risk.

  7. So that’ll cover the first 25 mins and fill all my carry on. Then what?

  8. Most airlines have magazines on board. Grab one and talk about the pictures, the colours, make up stories. can you find the “animal”, “object”, biggest whatever on the page. What colour is it?
    But remember toddlers and pre-schoolers aren’t meant to sit still for long, so give them chances to stretch their legs or in their seats. Do some wriggly activities in their seats with them. Pretend you are a bird flying, or superman. How high can you reach while still sitting down. make your legs grow all the way down to the floor while keeping your bottom on the seat. wave your arms like a snake, catch a kiss and hold it in both hands, cuddle it to you, now throw it up in the air and catch it again.

    1. Love your wriggly seat suggestions, Karyn, thank you for sharing 🙂

  9. Some great suggestions here already – we’ve tried and tested most of them on our annual trips between Australia and Europe. For our next trip I’m planning to add some simple drinking straws and a roll of stickytape, as both our kids have been making constructions out of these materials lately and they’re both lightweight and small to bring along. Of course, straws can be combined with many of the other suggested materials: play dough, stickers, etc. and can be handy for drinking through as well! A big bag of plastic straws at a dollar store doesn’t bust the budget.

    1. Straws sound like a great idea, Riina, thank you for the inspiration 🙂

  10. Angela @CreatifulKids says:

    You can also print these free coloring pages and do some coloring!

  11. Haley Howie says:

    We travel a lot with the kids. They are now 2, 3 and 5. Best investment we ever made was their own kids headphones. Brillant. If going long haul we always try for evening. Any sort of memory game is great. There is heaps you can do with a pack of novelty cards like fish. Our next trip is new Zealand to Spain so breaking the journey in la. Exhaust them on the stopover if you can. Carry lollipops for take off snd landing fot ear issues ans eucalyptus oil is great too to calm an upset chold. Always ask on check in for a spare seat if available. Prepare for the worst and you may be surprised how smoothly it goes. I always take the kids to the 2 dollar shop and they can pick a small toy and a book but I also make sure I can fit everything I need including kids blankies etc into just one bag between the 5 of us. The most stressful time when traveling is the in between flights so you don’t want to be stressed with too many heavy bags with things you probably won’t need. Being able to carry a tired kid the huge length of airports is much easier without all the gear. Use your imagination on board and ask the staff for suggestions. Our best flight eas filled in by the hostess makiy glove balloons for the kids. So simple but they loved it. Happy traveling

    1. So many great ideas, Haley, I completely agree that great staff can make such a difference to the experience of flying with kids 🙂

  12. I’ve done too many long, overseas flights with a 2, now 3 year-old. Stickers were a huge hit, as were the doodle pages with the water pen. Other big hits: a roll of masking tape and pipe cleaners. Both were novel and took some time for her to figure out. She loved them!

    1. I honestly wouldn’t have thought of packing pipe cleaners, Carolyn, thank you for the suggestion 🙂

  13. Lots of great ideas. I’d like to add one: balloons. We change planes half way thru our annual 24hr journey, so I like to use the opportunity to get some energy out. We find an empty space, such as an unused gate, and play with a balloon. They’re easy to carry and don’t bother people. Plus, of course, it makes the kids run and jump.

    1. Ange Moore says:

      I totally agree with balloons! Not for on the plane but they are great for when you’re waiting at airports or stuck in a hotel room. It keeps the kids entertained, they run and play and they don’t take up much space in your handbag!!

  14. Great ideas, thanks. We are about do our 6th trip between London and NZ with 2 kids (now aged 3 and 4) so are regular long haul flyers but hadnt thought of some of these ideas. I fly one way with the kids on my own so am always on the look out for ways to keep them entertained. Thank you!

  15. I travel a lot with 2 small girls. This list is pretty good and we do a lot of these things. But please skip the bubble wrap pop and be kind to your fellow travelers. A constant popping noise might be fine for a mamma but not so great for those traveling without children! I teach my girls on every trip to be thoughtful to those around us. Simple things like not pushing on the seat in front of us, not using devices without headphone and overall respect for all Of the people on the plane. Too often I see parents that let their wee ones disturb the neighbors.

  16. Thanks, Christie, for the helpful list – and thanks to all who have added things via comments. We have four children (9, 7, 3, and 18 months) and while I have traveled often with three, this will be the first summer of air travel with 4. I think the 18-month age is the hardest, since their ability to communicate is low (yet their desire to be on the go is high!). Karyn’s advice about the wiggly in-seat games was great!

  17. I’m working on a traveling with kids project and, much to my delight, found my way to this site, after having heard your talk at Problogger Gold coast a few weeks ago 🙂

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  19. I am going to england a 24 hour flight with to toddlers and this post really helped
    thankyou.

  20. These are all great suggestion to keep toddler on a plane. We are just thinking about our trip in next month. A i must do some of these from here on my baby. Hope so he will enjoy it. Thanks for the sharing such a informative article.

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