How to keep a toddler entertained on a long trip

My 2 year old son & I took a trip to PA & IL to visit my parents and my in-laws. We flew to each state on 3 flights. I wanted to be prepared to keep my toddler busy, incase he didn't sleep. Over the past month, I’ve collected a variety of items that I thought would entertain him. I picked them up at the Dollar store and Target (check out their $1 section). Before the trip, I separated them into 5 Busy Bags. So, I could just pull out each bag filled with items and stick it in the seat pocket for easy access.

Busy Bag #1

Since we’ll mostly likely be sitting on the runway, I had to think about small items we could keep with us until we are cleared to get larger items out.

Includes:

A slinky

Some matchbox cars

Coloring pages

Triangle shaped crayons (so that they won’t roll)

Busy Bag #2

This bag is filled with things to do with our hands.

Includes:

Lacing Cards (super easy to make, I’ll show you how in an upcoming post)

Playdough & Playdough tools

Busy Bag #3

Entertainment

Includes:

Pepperidge Farm Fish (Smores flavor, which will be a new thing for my son)

101 Dalmations

Toy Story

(Since we have a layover on our return flight, I thought I’d pack 2 movies, just incase)

Busy Bag #4

Again, this bag was for decending/landing. Items that they won’t make us put away.

Includes:

Highlights Magazine

Picture Book (easy to make, I will show you how to do it in an upcoming post)

Busy Bag #5

This is an extra bag, just incase.

Includes:

Fishing Game

Dry Erase Board

M&M Pretzel bites (put in a tin for extra fun)

Picture Book

Snacks

I packed some different snacks that my son had not had before and probably will only have on occasion in the future.

Pepperidge Farm Smores Fish

New M&M’s pretzels

Reese’s Pieces

Nabisco Wheat & Cheese Crackers (something a little bit healthy)

Tips for packing busy bags:

Find items that your child has not seen before. You don’t have to buy all new toys. Try looking for items at the Dollar Store, thrift stores, yard sales or even borrow/swap toys with your toddlers friends. You could also try taking household items and repurposing them. One suggestion from Vanilla Joy, was take a muffin tin, your husbands golf tees, playdough and a play hammer, put playdough in each muffin cup, and let them hammer the tees into the playdough!

Be creative and think outside the box. Ask friends and family what they do to keep their kids entertained. You’ll be surprised. One of my friends even suggested little scissors with bundles of yarn, let them cut through the bundles. She said it’ll keep them busy for a while.

Think about snacks that they haven’t had before. Snacks that they haven’t seen before can be very entertaining. Don’t forget the lollipops, I think it really helped his little ears during take off & landing.

Remember to pack comfort items such as pacifiers, blankies or their favorite stuffed animals. My son is only allowed to have his paci at bedtime, but it kept him quiet on the plane and he ended up going off to sleep.

Most of all, be flexible with them. Being strapped in a carseat for long periods of time is not fun!

For this trip, I must say I was a little over packed. We really only used 2 or 3 of the items, since he slept for most of the duration of our flights. But I always say it’s better to be over-prepared rather than underprepared!