What would give a 2yr old to play with on a 10 flight?

[Vixie78]

Help, starting to prepare myself for traveling to the US with my 2yr odl and a 6 month old baby. Think my youngest will be ok, they can sit still but my 2yr old will be all over the place, so was wondering if anyone has any good ideas for things to play with for her.
So far I have bought some small books, some pencils and colouring book, play mobile mobile, fuzzy felt tin, mini magnetic drawing board. Any other ideas? don't want anything too noisy as I think people will be trying to sleep.

A sedative????

I've heard of having little surprises, maybe some giftwrapped, to bring out at intervals of about an hour-nothing like a present to look forward to!

sweets, i-pod and medised

only half joking

finger puppets?

A tip - don't get everything out for her at once. She will probably spend the first half hour at least just taking in her surroundings and chatting (if my ds is anything to go by!). Wait until she is getting a bit bored, then produce one thing to play with out of the bag. That way it will take her longer to get bored.

I took ds on a 10 hour train/coach trip at about 17 months and he only whinged/cried when he got really tired - the rest of the time I was able to keep him occupied.

ipod

playmobil do very very tiny magnetic playsets which are enclosed in a box

DON'T buy if your two year old is likely to EAT them of course, but my 18 month old liked that on a flight recently

chupa chups

BBC childrens magazines - the free gift lasts a good half hour before you even get to the stories.

Children's channel on in the in flight TV.

a bottle of medised with a teat on!

Dont use sedatives, we did, but I wont do it again, my children became anxious and it made them grumpy for two days afterwards.

remember you will be the one that will have to pick up all the pencils from the floor...
Tomy drawing board, pencil attatched with a string is a wonderfull thing.

Snacks...

The changing area in the toilet is very small, remember pull up pants instead of nappies. Tescos own easy fit pants is very good.

Maybe a couple of toy cars.

a bottle of phenergan

I used to give my ds a walkman with his tapes of stories and songs to listen to. Something simple to build, like a 10 peice puzzle, something cuddly.

Yes if you are going to use sedatives do a couple of test-runs first

My youngest went hyper on Medised and my oldest went absoutely MAD on Piriton - it was like she'd take cocaine for about 4 hours afterwards, she didn't stop running and chattering (is normally quiet)

I'm not a fan of drugging children but if you do, don't use a 10 hour flight as a trial!

random....... but my DS found pegs quite amusing.. pegging them around the chair and on each other! Cheap and Fun! LOL!

some threading things? ds will sit threading beads on to laces or straws for hours

playdough- in the small little pots, my ds is quite the traveller, we fly to visit my parents in the states twice a year, so he is used to the 9 hour flight.

he will sit quite happily for ages playing with playdough, and as its small tubs no need to worry if a bit falls on the floor.

also we find it best to feed him at the airport before boarding the flight, then atleast he has had soemthing to eat that he wants and normally he is falling asleep by the time the food comes around.

make sure to bring a favorite soft toy, and favorite book as well for the comfort of both.

and dont worry if they cry they cry its not the end of the world and it never lasts long before they eventually pass out, I know i have been one of those mothers

have a good trip

Crayola colour magic pens are good. Also Wikkistix amuse them for a while.
Coloured pencils will end up on the floor!
One website I went on for tips once suggested a roll of masking tape - they can have fun sticking bits onto the chair, table etc - and it'l peel off easily! (never tried it myself though)

A sticker book ... a portable dvd player (if you have one!) - worked a treat for my ds ... books (some favourites and maybe a new one!), a trip to wh smith in the airport and let her pick out a couple of comics to look through. My ds loved the kids national geographic one as it has loads of piccies of animals and stickers etc. Some puzzles ... I took 4 or 5 of his puzzles out of their boxes and put them into individual freezer bags and he did those. Besides that ... food as the meals on the plane are awful ...

I did the oz flight with 3yr old and 15mth old on my own-let them watch as much inflight tv as they want and don't stress-people are really helpful and won't think you are a bad mum if the kids cry