How to entertain a toddler during a flight

Colouring & sticker books

These two are something we havent tried just yet. However, we have heard such good feedback from other parents we had to recommend. We will be trying on our next flight so will update on how it went after that. 

But these can be quite entertaining during flights with toddlers. Specially because you can get new ones for flights and they get super excited about them. 

There is a colouring book that is incredible. Which is the Water WOW. It’s a mess free colouring book and perfect for trip days! You just fill the brush with water and when you  brush the paper it changes colour so it does the messy work for you. Also great for staying inside the lines. 

With stickers you can get some sticker books, and just allow them to play and stick them everywhere. There are reusable stickers that don’t stick as much, but are easier to peel off the random places your child will stick them to. 

Which reminds me, when using these types of activities make sure you tidy after your family, and remove all the stickers. Be mindful that someone will be cleaning that up after you. 

• Snacks 

Snacks besides being great for feeding your toddler, they are also great entertainers. 

So getting a different variety of snacks that they can entertain themselves with is a great idea. 

Good snacks that you can take, that will take them some time to eat plus have fun with should be small and bite size. Things like: cheerios, small crackers, biscuits, grapes, and other small fruits, yoghurt/fruit pouches, etc. 

This is also a very subjective choice, as you should get things your kids enjoy eating rather than taking something you aren’t sure if they like it or not. A good way to make it exciting could be not giving them specific snacks for a a few days before the trip and then bring them out during the flight. 

• Walking up & down the aisle 

So this is a bit controversial for anyone that doesn’t have kids. But let me tell you from the start that if any parent does this in an airplane, they are allowing their kids to stretch their legs and having some movement rather than having a mental breakdown and a tantrum while on their seat. 

So, with that said: Parents get your kids walking up and down and enjoying saying hello to people. Needless to say its entertaining for adults also, its a great way to pass time. 

And I would love to add that parents don’t just let their kids annoy people for the sake of it. And if we see anyone not wanting to speak to our kid or not wantign to interact we move them away from the situation. So no we won’t allow our children to go up to strangers that are not willing to chat with them. 

Oh that is absolutely fine by us too. We don’t need you to speak to our kid if you don’t want to so don’t feel like you have to if you don’t want. 

I feel like this point even though is super important to help parents its also important for other adults that just assume that we let our kids bother others on purpose. 

• Suction toys 

So there are some suction toys that are super airplane friendly. You stick them to the window and they will play for hours on end. 

There as fidget spinners, sort of building suction toys and so on. 

But needless to say they are very entertaining and your toddler will love them for sure. 

• Magnetic puzzles or building blocks are great entertainment and easy enough to use wish will be so helpful for your little ones. 

We haven’t used these yet but know of people that have and swear by them. 

The fact that they are magnetic makes them so easy to use and build and it will allow your kid to play for a long period of time while in an airplane. 

• Tablet 

This is another sort of controversial item, because kids and screens and so on which im not going to go into. But I will say this: 

We don’t have a tablet, but we do use our phones and we download a few episodes and movies for him to watch while we are on a plane. And the reason why we will use this to help entertain is mainly because we are stuck in the air and there is nowhere else to go. 

Think of it this way, how boring is it for you to be in an airplane for over 3 or 4 or more hours? And what do you do? Do you read or watch a movie? Yes thats what you do. So the same applies to your kids. If anything they get bored even easier and get annoyed and don’t really comprehend what is happening just yet. 

So having a movie or something they enjoy watching is not a bad idea. It’s a resource you have to help you entertain your child when you have tried everything else. So use it in your favour.