entertaining 7 year old girl on long flight/solo holiday with daddy

[mimsum]

dd (just turned 7) is going away for 3 weeks just with dh - long haul flight, visiting friends and relatives at the other end, but also a few days on a tropical island for just the two of them

dh is getting a little nervous and would feel a lot happier if I could get him sorted with ways of entertaining her en route, and at bedtimes etc when they're there - they'll be so busy during the day they'll be alright for much of the time

so far I've got her a couple of new ds games and will pack pens, pencils, paper etc - I'll pack some books, but the problem is dd is a ridiculously fast reader (if left to her own devices will read several chapter books in a day) and dh doesn't want to have to cart a whole library around

so any suggestions for longer books (not HP please) which will keep her going a bit more - or anything else which might help

and if anyone can recommend a crash course in styling small girls' hair for dh that would be great too

audio books on mp3 player?

Hair - lots of wide headbands so it is a case of brush and go; lots of hats

Flight - will their be individual TVs. We felw Virgin in May with 7y DD and she sat glued to the screen for the fuull fliight, never touched her DS even, lol. DD is generally easily entertained with books, a new magazine (we get the ones with an activity book in middle if possible, even if a bit easy, such as Sparkle World), an activity pad and pens, her iPod and her DS.

Be careful putting audio books onto IPods though - many are sperated into tracks, so whenon random the odd chapter plays every so often.

Holiday - can you pack her sooter? We took DD's scooter to Majorca in october and it was fab! It folded down and fit at bottom of the case easily - and no weight problem (even for Ryan Air!) Made such a difference to have it.

Can she buy books on her holiday? DD enjoyed reading the travel guides this year and spent ages looking at where we were going/ had been, and reading more about it.

What about making a scrapbook/diary of her journey. DD has done this a few times. She can take pictures whlst there to print on getting home, or get postcards and do drawings. Then stick them in her diary and write about what she has done, seen, who she visited, etc. We buy the materials before we go and take them with us - papers, stickers, embellishments, glue, etc. Then DD does a page a daym normally in the evening. It is a nice way for her o share her travels with you and/or school too.

thank you

genius idea about the scooter btw - I hadn't thought of that and yes, it would make days out a whole lot easier

The scooter was fab. Came to us as a silly suggestion of DD's initially, and then thought - well, why not. Fit in bottom of case no problem, and weight wasn't an issue either.

Extravagent I know, but what about a kindle or similar ebook? My dd found out about them recently and has been pestering us to get one for her. She reads loads , but availability is a problem that this would solve. She needs to get in line behind me though.

Spray on detangler is essential before brushing, the only way I was allowed anywhere near DD with a brush when she was that age.

And one of the those detangling teaser type things that look like they have come out of a horse grooming kit.

And practice saying: "if you want we can go to the hairdressers and just get it all cut off."

The horse grooming thing is called a Tangle Teezer apparently.

We are taking an 8 year old DD to NZ in a week. We have a MP3 player onto which we have loaded:
3 Dr Who stories (2 CDs each)
2 Hiccup Horrendous Haddock 3rd stories (3 Cds a piece)
The Moomintrolls (4 CD set)
Terry Jones Fantastic creatures stories.

Added to this she has a cheap John Lewis not-quite a DS thingy.

If you email me on wibblestmum at yahoo . com I can email you the MP3 files to save you buying any CDs.

"dh is getting a little nervous and would feel a lot happier if I could get him sorted with ways of entertaining her en route, and at bedtimes etc when they're there"

Is he not an adult?

Soupdragon, harsh but fair. My dh adores dd and takes her to the UK a couple of times a year on their own . One photo he took of her because he was so proud of doing her bunches has pride of place as a screen saver. He had managed somehow to put them over her temples. Most odd.

Is that not how they are supposed to go?

well they're 10 days into their trip and all seems fine so far

from skype evidence dd and her hair brush appear to be strangers, but hey ho - tangle teaser next time ...

she's already read all the books I sent her with, dh has bought her some and they've been to the library in Sydney with a cousin's card ...

soupdragon - of course he's an adult, however in his defence he works abroad most of the time so this is the most concentrated dh/dd time they've ever had, and he didn't want to do something stupid and watch dd kick off ...

and thanks so much for the offer of mp3 files, slug - I'll email you on the offchance you're checking emails in NZ