Our last flight with toddlers went to Copenhagen and took only 1,5 hrs, so that time we didn’t have to work that hard. Our endurance and inventiveness was far more tested on our last trip that took 27 hrs. I prefer entertainment that is light and packs small. We have made an effort to make the most out of the quality time we buy with our tickets.
Before the flight:
- No special entertainment needed, there is so much happening on the airport.
- When queuing, sing “hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop, hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop, hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop” … the kids hop, and we offer some free entertainment for all the other people in the queue as well.
- Having a pre-packed (or take away but as this blog is about free but fun…) meal in the corridor. Gives the kids a chance to run of some steam, and the parents a breather before the flight.
- Most airports have some play area as well.
On the flight:
- paper dolls, building furniture out of pre-made paper pieces
- stickers and sticker books, small crafts (last time we decorated a head band with my 3 yo), puzzles.
- “surprise bags or wallets”, can be old stuff, it is just fun for them to explore what they have
- building towers and houses out of disposable cups. A matchbox car will come in handy when playing with this new “city”.
- reading magazines together, looking for animals, cars etc. in them
- Snacks eg. Raisins, cashews, carrot sticks, rice cakes, grapes…
- … and the obvious pen and paper, books and dvd’s.
You may also want to check out the 10 tips for flying with a toddler that Bucket List Publication offers here.
What are your best tips?
Free But Fun 
[…] mentioned that I often do some crafts with kids on the long-hauls, and a friend asked me what I do, as, obviously, airplanes limit a bit what you can take along. Here […]
Haha, I guess the rule of thumb is “the more small stuff you have, the more you loose” regardless of the age….
I’m not 100% sure I can blame the toddler for losing all the jigsaw pieces… but that might be just my problem…
[…] Update: Just found some more good ideas at Free But Fun. […]
We are quite on the same wavelength! Forgot about the good old paper dolls… Taking notes…
My suggestions are here, and I’ll have to remember to link up:
http://fantasyholidays.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/toys-and-entertainment/
Thanks, good tips! After reading your post, have to add to mine that jiggsaw puzzles are in my opinion good when we do them together. Giving one to a toddler to do on their own does, like B points out, always result in lost pieces. Same goes for everything with many small movable pieces. Also, our kids may play only with one matchbox car at the time, and we ar prepared to loose it. B had a good list with toys NOT to take as well, I recommend her post!