Entertaining a 6yo and 3.5yo on 3.5 hour flight?

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In April, we're going to Australia for 2.5 weeks and while we're there we're taking 2 internal flights with Jetstar, both flights are 3-3.5 hours. We pre-booked IPads for the flights, but Jetstar have now told us that no IPads will be available.

So my question is how to entertain two kids for these flights? We have one tablet of our own, but beyond that and a load of comics, we're a bit stuck.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Take a drawstring bag of 'new' things (eg the comics) and eek them out. We had Wikistix (get the ones with a board), colouring/ sticker books, a car or two, some small ocean creatures to do made up games with (that doubled as bath toys), crayons and a drawing pad (which I used to get them to guess what I was drawing a bit like pictionary). Accept you may lose some of this. We also had a memory based travel game. Also looking at view from window next to toilets , making meals or snacks take ages etc if possible.

Stickers, snap (my DTs 3.5 have really got into this recently) and the kids sharing the iPad - you can get an adapter for two sets of headphones or put a few programmes on a smartphone?

Don't know when you last flew but my two were a dream out and return on 2 hour flights this week - not a stealth boast, I promise, just a very pleasant surprise! DTD didn't want watch the iPad at all.

Seriously... After you've done the flights to Australia 3.5 will seem like a breeze!

Are there in flight tvs at all? Snacks, sticker books, chatting....

I don't know about Jetstar but Qantas (who own Jetstar) had inflight entertainment which you could watch on your phone. We had to download the app and then use the plane's wifi and then the kids watched a couple of movies on our phone and iPad.
Ours are 7 and 3.5, one iPad is going to cause trouble!

"Seriously... After you've done the flights to Australia 3.5 will seem like a breeze!

Are there in flight tvs at all?"

No there are no TVs on the plane, that's why you can, on the website, pre-pay to have iPads that are loaded with films, games etc. - that's kind of the point. The cheeky thing is they let DH book - and pay for - the iPads before they emailed a couple of months later saying they aren't actually available.

The flights to Australia and back are much less of a worry - we're flying with British Airways and they have in-seat video that's on demand, so plenty to keep the two of them entertained.

We're pretty annoyed as it was the iPad option that made us pick Jetstar over their cheaper rival, Virgin Australia. Now without this service we feel a bit conned! We could've paid quite a bit less to get what turns out to be pretty much the same service

LadyCass - thanks for the tip. We'll look into that. We do have a third internal sector that IS with QANTAS so it will hopefully work for that flight if nothing else!

We took similar ages to Australia. The internal flights really did feel like a breeze in comparison!

For the long flights the 3.5 year old really wasn't transfixed by the TV for long, kept wanting attention but was fine when asleep! The 6 year old wouldn't sleep...

We took a bag with small presents, zelfs, non chocolate sweets, stickers etc for the big flights and got little things out whenever it all got a bit much. You could do the same on the flight.

First 20mind or so and last 20mind you are taken up with taking off and landing. Get snacks out early on and towards the end and that fills time. Allow them to buy a magazine at the newsagents on the way.... Take some.colouring or a puzzle book.

Honestly the long flights are what you should be concerned about! We booked a hotel at Singapore which you could hire by the 3hour block and slept which helped.

Small tub of playdough, small pocket money toys....

we find plasticine good for along journey, but a new pack is best when the colours are still separated

For that amount of flights, I'd buy a second tablet. It doesn't need to be expensive. We went to Australia with DS when he was 3.5 and his iPad was a godsend. We're flying again this summer now he's 7 ( only to Spain so about 3 hours) and we're only planning to take his iPad, sweets and a puzzle book for entertainment, so there will be no messing about with small toys, crayons etc.

Buy a headphone splitter then they can both watch a movie on the iPad at the same time