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Are you planning on jumping on an airplane and heading somewhere abroad? I’ve listed some toys, books and entertainment ideas below that we have used over the years to keep our kids occupied whilst travelling on holiday. So, if you would like to see what we packed in their rucksack for the plane journey then please keep reading.
Suction toys - I found these on Amazon and they have been a big hit. They are a really fun construction toy that are also great for imaginative story telling, and for developing motor skills. There are a variety of geometric shapes and some funny little creatures in lots of different colours. They are be used on a range of surfaces and even in the bath, so they could double up as a bath toy on holiday!
Writing tablet - These doodle boards were one of the Bee's favourite travelling activities and were perfect for the car, train, airplane and pram. The adults may have also enjoyed some doodling sessions too!
A pocket library - Both of our children love Thomas the Tank Engine, and they thoroughly enjoyed the mini book collection that we took with us. They are tailored towards younger children, and you can get all sorts of pocket libraries like, Little Miss, Paw Patrol, Cocomelon, Fireman Sam, Hey Duggee, Peppa Pig and so on. They were also great to read as some of our books before our bedtime routine.
Wikki Stix - These reusable moulding and sculpting sticks are a great creative activity to do on long journeys. The Bees made all sorts with them, but dinosaurs and people were consistently made.
Magnetic puzzle - We purchased a travel tin magnetic puzzle from The Works that went down an absolute storm. They had a range of other travel tin games too. Alternatively, Floss & Rock do magnetic playtime tins where you can create fun play scenes with the magnets.
Skip Hop bag with the essential toys in, power walk ready, she's off on holiday - see ya!
Colouring book - A good ol’ fashioned colouring book and crayons. We selected a Peppa Pig one as they are both fond of it, and I packed a pencil sharper and used a small zip wallet for easy access and tidying up.
Re-usable stickers and scenes - We have got lots of use out of the First Sticker Pictures set from GALT. You get 6 colourful scenes and over 100 reusable stickers to spark your imagination with. My personal favourite interpretation from Big Bee was when the horse was floating out in space, and Little Bee's was when one dinosaur was on top of another dinosaur, who was on top of another, and another, and another...
Search and find books - You could stick with the classic 'Where's Wally' or pick from the large variety on Amazon e.g. 'Where's the Poo' or 'Where's the Unicorn'.
Magazines - A very popular choice in our household! Getting your child to pick a magazine before your trip is all part of the fun too.
Empty spice jar - Recycle an empty spice jar and find some little wooden coloured sticks (ours are from Hobbycraft). A great fine motor skills activity with them pushing the little sticks through the holes.
Sticker/activity book - There are lots of different sticker/activity books available out there. We really love the Usborne sticker books in our household. Both Bees picked the one that they wanted to take on holiday with them. They were enjoyed during the flight and on the holiday itself.
Little Bee enjoying the doodle tablet and the suction monster toys
Ipad/tablet and headphones - It goes without saying that these definitely have a place when travelling. Don’t forget to download their favourite shows before travelling and make sure that it’s fully charger (and the headphones if they are wireless) and that you’ve packed all the charging cables and Aux cables for the headphones. We also purchased a splitter, so that if needed then they could both watch something off the same device with their own set of headphones.
Post-it/sticky notes - If you have an unhealthy relationship with stationery (like me) then you may have a pack or two of these hiding away. Using colouring pencils your little ones will enjoy scribbling on them and then sticking them on the surfaces around them. You could also draw different coloured shapes or different emotion faces and ask them to pull down the ‘blue triangle’ or the ‘happy face’ for example.
Games - Pick an age appropriate game to play with your little one on your travels. There are so many on offer from an Usborne snap game, to the many varied Orchard Toys games on offer.
Squishy toys - I visited the local toy store and round a wriggly centipede with a flashing light and a ladybug. They were low cost, something new and different for them to play with, and a great sensory toy.
Oldies, but goldies - I packed some of their favourite little toys (that they hadn’t seen for a few weeks) and put them in each of their rucksacks.
My Busy Book - Now this one was a big hit for our Bees when they were younger, and occupied them for most of the journey and throughout our 12 days away. If your child is into small world play then you can't go wrong with this. It’s probably the best value for money book/toy that we have purchased, and there are different themed books to choose from. Now, it is a little on the bulky side, which is a con if you are limited on space.
Enthralled with the paw Patrol My Busy Book.
Cockpit - If like us, you have a delay and your sat on the runway then why not ask the cabin crew whether you can go and visit captain and the cockpit. I thought the children would enjoy it, but turns out my husband and I did too (A LOT). It was really interesting to ask the captain questions, take a couple of photos, have a change of scenery and stretch our legs. As the captain eloquently put it on our flight, "hopefully the memories of the cockpit visit will out last those of the delay".
I spy with colours and 'Guess the X'- Eye spy with my little eye, something that's purple. This was our take on the traditional version of the game as it was more appropriate for the ages of our children. Great for social and observational skills and increasing vocabulary. Alternatively, give some descriptive words for any object e.g. a vegetable, fruit, dinosaur etc. and see who is the first to guess what you are describing.
Masking tape road - This is one for any car fanatics and works well on the aeroplane's tray table. You can take a roll of masking tape and a pen to draw the lane divider, or buy some road play tape. Then let them enjoy driving their little cars along the road.
Coloured dot stickers and paper - If you have time before your travels then you can draw some different coloured dots on the paper for your child to match the dot stickers to, otherwise a simple and fun activity for them to take off the different coloured dots and stick them onto the paper.
Water WOW books - These magic colouring books are a great size for travelling. You can get them in a variety of themes and they have numerous pages in each book. You just need a little water in the pen, and you have some mess free painting.
Suction cup fidget spinners - For babies and toddlers these are a fun sensory toy that you could stick on a surface and spin away.
So, there's my list. There are a couple of other bits I didn't take/trial on this flight, but have saved for the next journey abroad. I will let you know if I have any luck with these. I would love to hear if you have any success stories your end.
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