Toys to take on holiday

[onedayatatime73]

About to go on holiday with our 12, 6 and 2 year old. We have braved this once before and came home exhausted due to the age difference.

We have saved for ages for this trip and determined to enjoy it. Can you give me your best suggestions for toys we can play with the 2 year old whilst we chat to the elder two, when at dinner/ on plane etc ?

Big hits so far are

Plasticine or play doh
Mr Potato head
Peppa pig figures

Any other ideas? She's not interested in stickers or colouring. And likes building or making rather than drawing or sticking. I just need a variety to help keep her amused x

Duplo

Oops, posted too soon. I'd suggest going to the local pound store and buying a selection of tat toys, that way you'll have a variety of new and exciting stuff to whip out when she's bored

My 2yr old loves cars so we have a small tin (made by The Brights Side) that I fill with some of his favourites and a few he hasn't played with for a while few days before we go (so they maintain some novelty value) Could you do the same with her Peppa figures or other snall world characters? It's deceptively large so I can also pop in a tub of playdoh and some extruders.

He's not fussed by stickers normally either but they saved our sanity on a long car journey as he could "play cars" but there were loads so he couldn't "lose" them as there was always another one in his car seat and they were small enough that they weren't uncomfy if he ended up sitting on (most of) them! They wefe individual foam ons rather than a sheet IYSWIM. A pain to clear up afterwards, though!

What about jigsaw puzzles? Take them out of the box and put them in a freezer bag to save space.
Books?
If she likes making things could you put together a "busy box/bag" with pom-poms, lolly sticks small cereal boxes (like the variety pack ones) and a glue stick?

if you're travelling by plane I would take Flapperty 's advice and buy some small new toys that you can wrap up and give one every half hour/hour depending on how long your journey is.

Best of luck And I hope you have a lovely time!

That's tricky,building often means sets with small parts which would probably get lost and be a pain on a plane or in a restaurant, or large parts that wouldn't fit in holiday luggage.

Playmobil 1-2-3? Normal playmobil has too many small parts I'd think but 1-2-3 is good for maximising play for minimum number of bits. DD has a rocket which is great for role playing and just generally taking apart and putting together again, but only actually has three parts. And a farm that shuts up as a travel case.

How about something like pipecleaners for making with something small that doesn't matter if it gets lost? Or would she poke herself with the ends?

Threading buttons or cotton reels or something maybe for hotel/holiday home, but would probably be a pain on plane.

Generally for holidays I try to have something new (or charity shop new or been at the back of the toy shelf for 6 months new!) to keep them interested.

At 2 we could get a lot of mileage from just observing what was around us. It's all new after all. They could sometimes entertain themselves for a whole 3 hour journey chattering away about what cars/lorries/diggers/cranes they spot.

And books of course.

Have you got any of the Orchard Toys board games? I recently got 'red dog blue dog' and I've been surprised at how much my 2 year old loves it. We just take turns to choose a card and she finds the matching picture. It took up a good part of a recent train journey, which was a godsend since she's very active and usually difficult to entertain in a confined environment! Very small and light to pack too if you just take the game contents. Her 5 year old cousin has also played it with us, so your 6 year old might enjoy playing too.

We're currently on holiday with DD 2.6.

We've had success with: stamps and ink pads and also roller stamps; regular Lego - we just bought a stack of plain blocks, nothing too small or fiddly; magnetic dress up dolls; matching games; some cars and trucks; a tea set which we've been supplementing with whatever is at the table

Stacking cups

YY to pound shop toys tat that can be kept in it's packaging until it's time to play. Plus it's light for your baggage allowance.

Also YY to orchard games, the whole family will be able to play after 2yo has had fun with the bits. DS has loved dinosaur race since the age of 2, and the shopping game might be a good one too.

Buy some disposable cups when you arrive. That was dd1's favourite "toy" in the world for a while!

Jig saws kept in freezer bags

Fuzzy felts, using a square of normal felt all in a freezer bag

Lego?

Stickle bricks

A doll to undress & redress

Them peg board things from the pound shop where you put the pegs in the holes?

Did a similar thing here with almost 2 yr old, bought various small new toys for plane/at hotel. Hits were a mini magnetic drawing board thing, play doh with a little gadget for squeezing it through in different shapes, bubbles and various wands, and some cheapy party-bag type toys from Hawkins bazaar eg wall walkers, pop up disc things. Also took a few interactive good eg Look Inside things that go.

Some brilliant suggestions here thank you so much.

My 2 year old (now 3 and still plays with them) loved lacing cards-you get boxes in ELC -great for the plane or cafe's etc and not messy! When my ones were that age they also really like the little book libraries you get-you know that you can pick up in Tesco or Asda or Mothercare-5 peppa pig books or Ben and Holly, nightgarden etc -they are tiny so don't take up much room and my kids always loved just taking the 5 books out the box and back in the box over and over!
We also have a box of wooden peppa pig outfits and you dress the peppa on top of the box-there is firefighter, doctor, summer clothes etc. Its in a small wooden slide top box like the oldfashioned pencil cases you used to get.

Oh and snap cards-my other dc's who were 10 and 7 at the time managed to show dc3 how to play uno at that age at a simple level so they could all play it together. Also those memory card type games -you get Doc McStuffins, Frozen ones.

We have a wooden threading apple and caterpillar which is easily transportable and keeps our similar age DD entertained as well as a travel Aquadoodle. We also found some some Aquadoodle Peppa Pig Mini Mats which were great.

Last time we went on holiday I got her a cheapo Minnie Mouse toddler handbag and filled it with various bits and bobs such as an old purse filled with old credit/store cards and a little bag with kids bracelets and hair bobbles. She really enjoyed rooting through to see what she could find.

Good luck!

Aqua doodle
Little cars
Small craft kits for 3yrs old n get 6+12yr old to do with 2yr old Melissa n Doug wooden ones r good I did the train n car ones on a plane last yr with my 3yr old.

Water pistols if going to be hot

Small etch-a-sketch, magnetic board has been a life saver... once entertained DS for 1 hour out of a 2 hour flight. We also have little metallic cars with, crucially, doors that you can open, and it will save another 10-15 minutes.

I also tend to tell the flight attendant that DS loves to wave when we enter the plane, and most of them are really sweet about it and waves every time they pass. If it gets really bad, we go for a little walk up and down the aisle, most people are really quite happy to do a little wave and smile and if they don't then, there is always the next row.

Can I ask - is it ok to take Play-dough on a plane?

Lego Duplo apps on a phone worked a treat with mine. They are very simple to grasp even for a 2 year old and nearly always end with the "again" mark of approval ;-) You can search for them in your app store and they are totally free to download and use www.lego.com/en-gb/duplo/apps/ice-cream