Entertaining a 5 yr old on a 5 hour plane journey...ideas please?

[soyouthinkyoucandance]

So far I have:

Play doh
books
sticker books
nibbles and sweets
small tupperaware box of lego

that will last him a good hour I think!

Play doh can get messy if dropped onto seats/clothing. Lego can also be a problem if its dropped (you'll never see it again particularly if the piece is small).
Would give both those a rethink.

Have you considered using a portable battery operated DVD player??. Childrens' entertainment onboard many aircraft is not great at the best of times.

fuzzy felts crayrons the magic water book that you colour with a pen full of water and keeps them quiet and clean .

God yes, not the playdoh.
I usually just get some new books tbh. (dd is 6) She loves flying though and is quite happy to look out the window, buy things from the trolley etc.

How about a couple of those work book things? A bit like a colouring in book but with puzzles and stuff aimed at his age group? They do maths ones and literacy ones.

Does he have a Nintendo DS? They're great for long journeys.

You definitely don't want little bits of things.

Personally, I would just get a few DVDs and a small portable player and headphones.

DD (3) was happy enough watching a few movies on the plane from their onboard flight service, although did get a bit bored as it was the same movies both directions.

Think up some games- I went to the shops and bought ....

How about card games
colouring in books/activity books
Aquadraw
Story books that you can read

I second the portable DVD, or at least story tapes/CD and personal stereo/ipod

Honestly, you will regret the Lego and Playdough - leave them at home.

Colouring in and fuzzy felt are good. As are electronic games/audio books (with headphones of course).

My 5yo spent an hour writing a postcard to her granny on our last flight telling her what the plane was like, what food we had, what we did at the airport, etc.

god no to playdough adn lego. yes to dvds and colouring in books.

Ohhh, help me!
We are taking 3yr old (fine) and 18mth old (god help me) to Glasgow from London - 7 HOURS in the car...

Any further ideas MUCH appreciated. (aquadraw noted - and put on list. 18mth old has attention span of about ooh... 60 seconds?)

ok I have scrapped the play doh and lego.

Yes we do have a portable DVD - I didnt realise you could take these - where do they plug in????

I drive regularly from Glasgow-Essex.

Portable DVD players are a godsend.

You can get portable "art desks" which are good in the car and your 18mo would be able to use one too.

don't play all your cards at once! dh is terrible for this 'do you want to colourin, read, see your new toy etc'

no no, slow release of entertainment to maximise attention span

Re the play doh - I took plasticine for mine for a plane journey to US last summer. Quite happily got it from Edinburgh via London to Toronto tehn onto Boston - but coming back it was confisated by security at Boston airport!!
I used to find Wikki Stix good at keeping that age going. Our DVDs the battery didn't last long enough. Puzzle books not bad (coloured pencils / pens also end up all over the floor). Those books with things to spot in the pages are good.

I take their school back packs and put a few things in them - a small toy (last year, ds then 9 got afinger skateboard thing and dd(6) some small plastoc animal set thing), some kind of modelling thing (ie last year plastocine - now banned - previous years wikki stix), coloured pencils, an activity / colouring book and a couple of small puzzle books like the Usborne Young Puzzle book things. THey get the back pack when we board the big flight. Takes a wee while for them to look at what they have before they then settle down to play with things. We are lucky now though as ds is perfectly happy to sit and watch the film. - another thing - if teh plane has teh seat back TVs, they are good BUT dd can never keep teh headphones they provide in her ears so I would recommend taking your own.

dvd player definitely.
we have one with limited buttons on the front, but the charge only lasts 2 hours. you can get longer lasting ones.
aquadraw and those pads with pens that aren't colours but when you draw on the pad it comes up in colour!
Card cames are good, we got lots of packs of animal snap, and farmyard animals, and teletubbies cards.
if you get it all new it will be so much more of a novelty. I like those CBeebies magazines too. They can last a while.

actually who are you flying with, some airlines have great kids tv. I guess it depends what they like, but Emirates had mickey mouse, which kept DS entertained

and check out the £1 crappy items in the toy shops, or party bags, minus the sweets!

Portable dvd player and/or DS. Small rucksack with old fav small toys, eg cars, plus a couple of new things, sweets etc. I find it works well to have everything that they need in one bag. Good to have some new small toy that you know they will like.

Check with the airline as they may give out children's packs and there may be children's videos. Ds (5) has travelled a lot and I find these days he pretty much entertains himself.

Personally I wouldn't bother with playdoh (too messy) or lego (bound to drop pieces and then have to deal with the ensuing meltdown that the piece dropped is the only piece he needs).

Only take lego if you don't mind losing it. And I used to take magnetic travel puzzles/scrabble etc, but no longer do - if a piece falls down the side of the seat, it sticks to the metal parts and you never see it again. I always take a small torch, as there is always some absolutely essential small item that gets dropped and rolls under the seat in front. A trip to the pound shop before you travel is definitely a good idea for stickers, small toys and so on.

Best flights ever are on Singapore airlines - TV, Movies, games. Every plane I went on had personal inflight entertainment (seat back) even the short hop 1 hour flights! (I spent a happy time playing super mario)

Most European flights at 5 hours won't have planes that modern though.. Check with your airline if they have inseat power, some do, some don't but if they do then the DVD player doesn't need to rely on batteries.

Totally second the DS - they are completely addictive.

Adair: re the driving from Glasgow - London - we did it 2 years ago, its a long trip!

Top Tip No1 - definitely use the M6 Toll

I have some "car bingo" sheets I made up for that trip - like pictures of different lorries, different coloured cars etc - all quite simple stuff (well I do have complex ones for older kids too but these were for dd2 who was 4). Its not a competition thing, just spotting!

I can email them to you if you want? CAT me if you are interested.

i used a travel pack from crayola - it had it's own pens, and a colour in snakes and ladder game,colour-in postcards and some little figures to colour in etc. Really good value - she took the whole holiday to completly use it.
we also took a little plastic dolly with clothes to take on and off - he's a little bot so maybe he'd prefer a car and driver or something. the pound shops are good.
extra good-mummy points if you wrap each item - takes that bit longer, and makes it all a bit more exciting!