Entertaining a Toddler and a Baby on an Airplane

Getting on an airplane with my toddler and baby was super intimidating for me. I wanted to be prepared. My major concern was keeping them entertained, quite, and occupied while confined. It is my worst nightmare to deal with screaming kids on an airplane. What is entertaining for a toddler and a baby on a plane though?

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I knew the key was to keep their attention off being confined by entertaining them. This meant having a lot of options to switch out as kids got bored with various toys and activities. It also meant TONS of snacks, including some tasty special snacks they don’t usually get (like these oatmeal cookie bars from Clif Bar). I had everything from puffs and snack bars to homemade teething biscuits! Food that takes longer to eat is best.

Entertaining with Screen Time

I knew that screen time restrictions would need to be ignored. Bringing a tablet loaded with kid-friendly shows, movies and games can be a lifesaver when flying with a toddler. The question was what headphones to use since my son doesn’t like regular ones.

CozyPhones

Luckily, CozyPhones gifted me their awesome headband headphones. They are comfy to wear so he doesn’t fight them and can even fall asleep wearing them. CozyPhones has a max volume to protect little ears too. They come in a lot of different fun designs to make them more attractive to kids. I let me son pick one out so he was excited to wear his Ninja Turtle headband!

Other Activities for Toddler

Water Wow!

These are great! Using a water-filled pen, toddlers can paint and uncover pictures. My son absolutely loves his Water Wow! I brought several of them but he was so fixated on one I never needed all the extra.

Lacing Activities

Lacing is a great way to practice fine motor skill and keep a toddler focused on a mess-free activity. Just make sure to keep an eye on them to avoid any frustration since that can lead to the dreaded screaming on the plane. These flat lacing toys are compact which makes them perfect for travel.

Reusable Sticker Books

Toddlers love stickers. I think this is just a fact of life. I know my son can go through large books very quickly. To save space, reusable sticker books are great. The vinyl stickers peel off so that they can move them around and make new scenes over and over again.

Make a Travel Binder

These are easy to make and so much fun. It’s also a great way to bring some learning along on the plane. You just need a 3 ring binder, some plastic sheets, and a set of expo pens. Then, print out different activities and put the paper into the plastic sheets. I had mazes, tracing activities and coloring pages. Kids can use the expo pens on the plastic, wipe it off with water and do it again! It is a great way to stay engages and do some learning on the go. The best part is that once you make a travel binder, you can bring it on every airplane and car ride for entertainment.

What about Baby?

Babies can be a little harder since they have such a short attention span. I had a few toys that were new. That way they were exiting. Some favorites were teethers, rattles, and crinkle toys. Having different textures is helpful. I used an arch by Oball that attaches to his car seat. I could switch out toys on toy links and attach them to any part of the arch for play. You can use multiple links like a chain to give a little more freedom while still preventing baby from throwing or dropping a toy.

Do I Really Need All This for Entertaining my Kids?

There is no real way for me to answer this question. You might need to all and you might not. I was so nervous that I ended up over preparing. After I brought all this stuff for entertaining my kids and honestly, they ended up sleeping the whole flight. I even got to read on the plane while they slept!

This could have easily gone a different way though. If they didn’t sleep, I have no idea how much of this I would have used. I usually go by the motto “better to have and not need than to need and not have”. However, in this case, when you have limited space for packing and hauling things around onto an airplane, I would recommend picking 1-2 activities and having a tablet (with CozyPhones). And of course a lot of snacks!

So, do you need it all? No. Be prepared with some options for entertaining your kids and don’t be intimidated. You know your kids best and what is most entertaining for them. As long as you are prepared, you can travel with a toddler and a baby!