Expert: MK - 6/1/2008

Question
what should i take to keep my 2 year old happy and entertain during the flight and layovers

Answer
I love this question.

This is a great opportunity to have quality time with your child.  Spending time without interruption by life's responsibilities (laundry, cleaning and cooking for example not to mention the phone) is really rare.  I remember reading about Jackie O spending 1 hour every day with her kids uninterrupted and thinking that I never have uninterrupted time, ever, with my kids.  So in other words, embrace it, and enjoy this rare one-on-one moment.

So, I like to have things on hand that my child will enjoy and things that I will enjoy.  I like to bring things that are small and light.  I like to bring a mix of things that can be done on the plane (small place) and things that can be played while waiting for the plane (larger spaces).  These are some things that I love to bring, with an emphasis on a 2 year old:

• Crayons, markers or colored pencils.  Find a small set at an art store or museum shop, they have the best!

• Sandy lion very small stickers- to put in our sticker memo book (about 2x3 inches, wire bound), sandy lion are the cheapest that I have found.  I have bought so many over the years, they seem to multiply- tear them into the 2 inch squares and hundreds of stickers can fit into a small "fun" bag.  Some stickers are fuzzy, which two year olds can find very easy to peel and stick, plus the tactile experience is also entertaining.  These sticker books can then be colored later.  

• Story making- The stickers and colors can then be turned into a story that your child reads to you (he can  read from the image he created).  If your child is stuck, you can start the story too and model story making.  You an add to this each time you have special time and on each trip.  My kids and I have about 10 years of stories, they soooo remember these even though the pages are long since forgotten.  

• Draddle game- It is the jewish game played in the winter holidays.   This is a great game to have in your pocket at all times.  You can easily get a quarters worth of pennies at any airport in any currency, and play forever.  It is a hoot.

•  Small wind up cars- there are these 1 inch wind up cars that are very durable.  They are great for winding up and chasing.  You can also make goals and give points for closeness.  We end up needing a few more for the adults in the group as everyone has a great time.

•  Dover books- these are about $1 each.  They fit great in a bag and there are so many styles to choose from to best suit your child.  I get mine from my local book store.

•  Magna doodle, travel size.  I love this, so many picture to draw and redraw.  Again, make drawings and tell stories.  You can also play add a line- your child makes a mark and then  you do.  Along the way you can guess what it could be, like reading clouds.  

•  You can also play clouds from above on an airplane- how cool is that.  My two year old played clouds from above for hours after being awake for a day!

•  popular games-
  Slam wich.  My kids love this game for forever.  
  Rush hour- perhaps, when kids are a bit older
  Uno- does uno ever go out of style.  Great in any language.

• http://www.thoughtrockets.com/ great for kids!!!

• Kids books on tape- I love books on tape for kids, but they are better suited in a car due to the bulk of books and tapes.  But in reality, my kids really liked one or two best, where one or two bulky books could work well on a airplane trip.  But, with iPods, you can record sooo many books for a trip.  I like using earphone splitters, so you could "read" together without bothering the whole airplane.  There are so many titles on tape, but finding them on CD can be tricky.  Check out the kids music section, which also has many story tellers in the music section.  Lots of fairy tales from around the world, lady black smith mombo, children's book of virtues and the like.  The headphone splitter is the key, again a great one-with-one activity.

• Nap time-

I love bringing a sheepskin "fluff".  I put this down everywhere - on the floor of the airplane (keeps them warm too), on the seat of the airplane, lines my kids stroller, in the waiting arena, and on the trip itself.  This becomes our portable bedroom.  

To improve sleep association, I use this at home all the time.  I wash it before I put it in the crib.  I spray it with aroma therapy, i love "California Baby, tired and cranky baby" spray.  You can pick your favorite.  Spray it at home before your trip and then on the go, on the fluffs.  It also works well on pillows and in the air in a hotel room or rental car.  Heck, I love it in the car for those cranky days, sometimes it's not for the kids (but for me).  Sleeping whenever and wherever is also a key for a happy trip for all.  You can also use they nifty vacuum bags to suck/roll the air out and make them smaller for packing into a carry-on luggage.  I always carry two.
The more senses you get involved with sleep association, the better to make travel sleep more normal.  Some also like sound, but my kids did fine without it and I have avoided it is hard to replicate at all times (i.e. like in college dorm rooms or sleep away camp).

I also love bringing a narrow umbrella stroller, one that folds up so you can take it in the overhead and then leans back as flat as possible for sleeping.  Mine was a Peg Perego, the kids would knock back and sleep through everything.  You just have to get through the security point when they fell asleep during checking in and then the 10 minutes to transfer to the stroller after the airplane lands.  My kids were about six when we had to make them walk, then traveling got a bit more tricky.

•  Fun bag.  Every trip, every day of a trip, my kids get a new surprise.  Once we get on the airplane or packed up in the car and we stop for a gas up, I give the kids a surprise.  Very small and certainly affordable.  Some surprises get better marks than others, but it is certainly a reward for surviving all the craziness of getting ready for travel.  I use this also to introduce key bits to keep us busy, i.e. a book on tape, a new color crayon or new book, or 10 stickers.  I try and avoid sweets and sugar treats and they may change the tide of mood.  This gets added to our stock of travel toys, in our fun travel bag (the size of a cosmetic bag).

You will get good at finding little toys and games all year long to take with you on trips.  -> Make sure that the toys and games are suitable safety wise such as choking and sharp edges.

I hope this helps- there are so many more suggestion.  i love traveling with my kids, and they love to travel even on 20 hour flights with hours of delays!

mk@familylanguagevacations.com