3 year old on a plane, other than dvd player what else can i pack

[vodkatonic]

to keep him amused? any super tried and tested toys?

thanks!

Sweets for take off and landing
(distraction and good for swallowing and avoiding ear pain)

Crayons and paper
Favorite teddy

Stickers. Comics. I got party bag type toys. Then if they drop them you can whip out another one. Another idea if to gift wrap their snacks to keep them busy.

Magic painting books. Kept dd occupied for hours on trains with those. You can pick them from poundshops and the like.

Loads of cheap and crap colouring books and stickers.

My friend took with her a bag filled with lucky dip type toys all wrapped up with loads of sellotape, she used to give her dd one every half an hour or so, she said it took her about 10 minutes to open the things (bonus).

It worked for her on a flight to Brunei with a 3 year old so has got to be worth a go. I never tried it, was too bone idle busy.

I take freezer bags each with a small thing in like a simple jigsaw or a roll of playdough and a couple of cutters or a small colouring book and a few crayons or a small note book and stickers. You can then get lots and lots of options into one small carry on bag. You can also fill some with stuff you already have in the house.
I have always done this since DS1 was tiny and it has worked with all three.

Stickers , stickers , stickers a new book or comic at the airport and those magic water pen colouring things. If its a long flight ( or you are delayed )your dvd battery will run out . I also find a toy catalogue e.g letterbox or ELC are a god send as she sits and works her way through it saying I have that , I would like that no kidding she will sit for 30 mins with one !! Now she is 3 she can put a red crayon dot / mark next to the things she likes to ask Father Christmas.......

Sorry should say Dvd battery might run out ....

stickers, play dough, crayons and paper. I get ds's to draw what they see, so they spend time trying to draw people planes and clouds etc. Small toys which you won't really mind of they get lost plus maybe one special toy you dd is attached to.

oh and a few different types of snacks I take raisins, apple rings etc as kids always seem to get peckish at a time when there in no service (atleast mine don't seem to eat much of the meals)

Make sure you have something non electronic to use before and during take off and also during landing - you can't use electronic stuff at this time and if you get a dlay before take off it is handy to have other things to rely on.

How long is the flight? What time? Is your chld likely to sleep?

As many snacks as you can pack.

The Aquadraw picture sets

The Crayola Magic? Wonder? Colour sets - can't remember the name. The ones with the pads with special paper and the pens that don't mark.

Post it notes plus stickers/crayons

Buy a comic or two at the airport

wow, great tips thanks!! will take all on board - no pun intended lol!

its a 5 hour flight! love the wrapping each thing up idea...

We're not long back from a 9 hour flight with dd who turned 3 while we were away. The wrapped up presents worked a treat for both her and her older brother.

but, most dvd batteries only last 2 hours MAX so we kept the dvd player only as a last resort and, as a result, we only had to bring it out for the last 1.5hours and didn't need it on the return journey.

also, playdoh may not be a good idea, it can be a bit messy and it does get everywhere

If you wrap stuff up make sure you pack a bag to put the rubbish into, to save having to have it all about you waiting for the cabin crew to come along with rubbish bags.

depends on your ds, I also copied a story cd onto an mp3 player along with some music, but my dd didn't bother with it. Your ds might though

I took playdoh with my ds and it was not messy I took a few shaped cutters and small tub of play dough and he cut little shapes out on his tray and saved them in the sandwich bag saying he was making lunch, but I guess it depends on the child.

We did OK with play-doh but it did set off the security scanner and so our bag was searched (after checking, they let us take it on). On the way back, the US authorities wouldn't let it on the plane. So it is a good idea but pack it somewhere accessible in your hand luggage!

Agree re. gift wrapping the presents. I did this with DS on a 10 hour flight to San Francisco and he was brilliant until the last hour. Every time he started to get bored I produced a new present for him. These included new DVDs, reading books, cars, colouring books and pens, magazines etc.

magic painting
stickers
mini photo album (for stories about everyone we know!)
favourite books, also on ipod

some long haul flights have plugs for dvd - ours to/from US always do, but check plug.

We did the wrapping thing and it worked great. Someone told us (or maybe BAA's website?) we might have to unwrap things at security so they could see what was inside. It was fine and we didn't but just wanted to warn you too so you can be prepared!

Kinder eggs also good. Some of the toys are fab. You can always eat the chocolate yourself if you don't want dd to have too much.

we took ds (3) to Florida this year and I brought him a 2nd hand nintendo ds for the trip which kept him amused for hours. He loves the peper pig game and also one called "I did it mum" oh there is also one called lets play schools which he likes.

I also put the high school musical, camp rock, hannah montana cd's onto my mp3 player and he spent a long time listening to those.

Can you tell he has an older sister!

fab idea on the nintendo too thanks! dh would love it also!

we have a portable dvd player, does anyone use headphones with them for their dc? JVC do some kids ones but for 4+, so is headphones big no no for 3 yr olds? anyone know?

thanks

My 2 yr old uses headphones, the ones that cover your ears, not the ones that go inside, and he loves them! Just make sure you are the one to control the volume.....

vt, who are you flying with and where to? We flew with BA and they had individual TV screens with films, music, games etc. BA also supplied headphones too.