Long-haul flight toys - recommendations please! Post Reply

[pigeonairre]

Brill ideas on here- will use in our long train journey to france

[willowshonker]

Definitely worth investing in children's headphones for each of them, if you're even thinking of using the in-flight entertainment system. We had a nice white pair we bought in the airport, can't remember which brand, but they were really good and included noise-reduction.

The only snag we found with the in-flight system is it tends to be touch-screen and little hands kept touching the screen, stopping the play, and then getting annoyed!

[Latcherie]

Here is what I generally pack for that age group (last time was 6 flights in 6 weeks with 2yo twins, travelling economy incl. 2 rounds of toddler gastro and 1 of diahorrhea!)....

Backpack: easy access side of front pocket
1 pack nappy wipes
1 small pack anti-bac wipes
No-spill sippy cup
Kids' plastic fork and spoon in plastic zip lock
Nappies/pull-ups - just in case
Nappy sacks (food for rubbish;nappies;sicked on clothes...)
Snack for fast grabbing e.g. Raisins, cereal bar, seed and dry-fruit mix
Plastic zip-lock of: meds, alcohol gel, calpol or nurofen sachets, diarrholyte, nappy cream/moisturiser
Identity documents

Main bag:
Big ziplock bag with one set of spare clothes, 2 spare underwear, one set light pjs (incase of severe delay)
Blanket-lightweight (airplane ones are barely steam cleaned and have horrific bacteria growing in them between each use)

Bought beforehand for main bag:
Crayola magic water pens and pad
I go to £land (though of course you have to be careful about toy safety) and similar and buy:
Sticker book
Plastic tea set
Favourite small toys in baggie e.g. Toy cars, plastic dinosaurs, dress the teddy wooden set)
Comfort item e.g. Blankie/teddy
New lightweight books esp. Gruffalo, Commotion in the Ocean variety
A magazine of eir choice in the depaure area.

New stuff I wrap up (dep. on customs) and hand out as treats/distactions etc every hour or so.

A portable DVD player is good if the onboard entertainment won't hold their attention but then you have to carry DVDs
ipads made everything soooooo much better, if you possibly can borrow or buy. Pre-loaded with kids' jigsaw puzzles, cartoons, films, books, games, educational games, photos, flashcards. Lots are free and if you ban playing on the ipad and hide it for a month before you go, it holds attention much longer as a novelty.

Bag of snacks; often planes will have. Big free selection so I don't worry too much unless there is a dietary issue.
Little bitey snacks that keep them busy...cheerios in a baggie, seeds and dried fruit (watch out for the loose tummies, I discovered the nasty effects of dried apricot in a confined space!), couple of favourites for sesperate measures.

Food: if you have a child who eats really well and mainly very healthily, with a wide variety, then airplane food sucks. It is full of sugar, chocolate, cookies and sandwiches but not a lot of filling stuff. Maybe request a grown-up meal. You can always buy something yummy in the depaure lounge too.

Have a fab time!

[ellesmum]

Plasticine was my lifesaver on a 9 hour flight, on my own, with a just turned 3yo last year! Unlike Play Doh, it doesn't crumble, and it kept her occupied for ages A pack of Crayons and plenty of paper also proved useful. I worried about it way more than I needed to, and brought way too much, though. I should have brought a lidded cup, too...but I found that out at the same time as I discovered how they deal with an entire can of lemonade being spilled on a seat at 35000ft! Snacks are a must, too, just in case they don't like the airplane food. And, if you are on a night flight, try to follow your normal routine - put PJs on them, brush teeth, bring a blanket/pillow (Yondi or Snoozihead by the Trunki people are really good) and encourage them to sleep for a bit.
Good luck - it won't be as bad as you think!

[Camille]

I understand the problems as much as anyone but should we really be encouraging such young children to stare at close range screens (Nintendos/Ipads/etc etc) for hours? I think that contravenes all good advice.
Sorry to be a bore but I think juliantenniscoach's advice about Crayola crayons and drawing/colouring books is by far the healthiest advice...

[bumpontheway]

It's a one off flight that maybe happens once/twice a year and you do anything to get through it.............I have travelled with lot's of children in my time and by using electrical equipment such as those mentioned it has no long time lasting effect. The children just see it as a novelty that happens on a flight, also as other people have mentioned you mix it up with toys/playdough/books and crayons.

[8han]

I agree bumpontheway, anything to get through it!

My daughter loves colouring in at home but on a flight it was the least on her mind with so much going on. Thankfully we had on demand tv and the iPad. The only bad thing about the iPad was the two of them fighting over it and when there was turbulence we had to put it away. My two year old didn't understand why we had to turn it off so there were a few tears (screams more like). We turned into one of those families we used to hate sitting near before we had kids! You just learn to look at no one and keep your head down, only 12 hours to go!