Flight entertainment for 3yr old?

[LittleLegs24]

I am taking DD on her first holiday to Greece in August and am worried as to how to entertain her for 3 & 1/2 hrs?

She is very active like any other toddller i am sure?!

Any tips on keeping her entertained throughout the journey?

x x

lots of people have said that but they are pretty expensive? x

We took DS to las vegas at the same age (10 hr flight... which was delayed for 5 hours). We made special sticker charts and gave him a sticker for every 15 minutes of sitting nicely. After completing each chart he got sth from a lucky dip - cbeebies mag, puzzle, storybook, crayons - all things that he could play with while at his seat. He watched an in-flight movie, and ate the meal which killed some more time. And at the end of the flight as we were getting off the flight the man sitting in front of us said 'wow, were you sitting behind me all this time? I never even knew there was a kid there!" Oh, I treasure these proud moments They make up for the 'Is that your child climbing up the supermarket shelves, madam?' moments...

what does she like doing?

have to say the portable dvd player is really useful! Cheapest I could find is £50

So far have s couple of sticker books and pipe cleaners to make things with and colouring pens - DD loves all these but im just worried sitting in one spot for so long - she will get bored and start with tantrums.

May have to invest in the dvd player after all! he he
x x x

Mine loved that we chose a book in the shop in the airport - and read it any number of times during the flight! The value of novelty is great - both for repeats like this and for the stack of things in your bag.
Good luck!

Another vote for the DVD player. They are worth every penny, we have cut about two hours of the journey time to Scotland as we now don't have to stop at every service station.

But make sure you get hook over the ear type headphones to keep them in place or you will be readjusting every 10 mins.

Aquadraw.
Those mini scribbler things are good, they can draw themselves or request things.
Mini pots of playdoh.

Do you have a lap top or netbook you can take? If so, download some of her favourite programmes from cbeebies before the flight.

Otherwise all the usual, sticker books, little boxes with fiddly snacks that take longer to eat, colouring etc.

You may find you need to entertain her for a shorter time that you think as most children are pretty fascinated by the whole business of flying. Mine usually spend about half an hour "reading" the safety leaflet.....

Oh Playdoh - didn't even think of that!!

OK - so a DVD player is a must!

Thanks everyone - just panicking about the journey am sure will will be ok but you just need to prepare I guess! xx

NO, sorry - a DVD is NOT a must! We have a 5 year old and (almost) 3 year old and don't have one and guess what - we're surviving! We have flown both this year and last year on flights lasting 2-3 hours, we also drive a few times a year to either Ireland (5 hours + 2 hours waiting at the ferry terminal then another 2 hours on the boat itself) or to the South of England (12-14 hours from where we are in the North of Scotland!) We take books to read, colouring books, small toys, audio CDs (for the car admittedly, but you could maybe put it on an i-pod if you have one and I think you can use them on planes?), small sweets (PEZ are a big holiday hit with our 2!) and snacks etc... We have no problems with travelling and I wouldn't even contemplate buying a portable DVD player. I'm sorry if this seems like I'm getting at people on here, but I've read so many posts on similar things where people say they are essential to travelling more than 2 hours with children - they're NOT!

oh, another idea actually - a friend of mine does the lucky-dip thing too, but actually wraps all the wee things up so it's more exciting for her daughters!

2Plus2More - thank you will def be doing the lucky dip and wrapping them.

Am not going to get the DVD player as money is tight after paying for the holiday, we'll try it with out - if all else fails - i'll get her one next yr!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions just been shopping on Amazon and think we are set for the plane - will keep you posted!
x x x