Travelling with Baby: Entertainment

There were several factors that came into play while I was considering what to bring on the airplane to entertain Luke (13mos). He loves to explore and climb, so I knew this was going to be particularly challenging for him. Best case scenario-he sleeps. Worst case scenario-I need to keep him occupied for three hours while keeping him relatively immobile. I was not as worried about Meike (4yo), because she is pretty good at entertaining herself when necessary.

For both of my kids, I wanted toys that were relatively self-contained, lightweight, and compact. Meike has to carry her own carry-on, so everything she brings has to fit in a child-sized backpack. Luke loves to throw things, so I didn't want to bring anything with small parts or that would roll easily. Anything messy, like Play-Doh or pipe cleaners, was out of the question. I was not going to be chasing toys up and down the aisles and under seats. In order to maximize the amount of time that each toy would keep my kids occupied, I bought new toys that I kept hidden until we were on the airplane.

Here's what I bought for Luke:

Ravensburger Ribbon Puzzle - The puzzle pieces are attached to the board by ribbon and there are other 3-D aspects to the puzzle that are fun (in this case, fuzzy ears). The puzzles are inexpensive and lightweight.

Alma's Designs Goodnight Book - This company makes a bunch of really awesome toys for travel. The book has a completely detachable bear that interacts with each bag. On the pages featured in the picture below, for instance, baby can give the bear a bath (includes a bar of soap that Luke likes to rub on the bear) and dry him off. The toothbrush and toothpaste come completely out of the book; Luke preferred "brushing" his own teeth to brushing those of the little bear. The only drawback for this product is the price. I thought $30 was pretty expensive, but it did keep Luke busy for 30 minutes at a time and he kept coming back to it.

Barron's Going Shopping - This is another soft book (more reasonably priced at $16.95) with detachable items. The features a store where your child can "go shopping." There is a little grocery bag included. Each page is a different type of store; there's even a fish market with a fish tank that has to be opened to get the fish out. Your child puts each item in the grocery bag. The last page represents your home, with a pocket drawer and opening refrigerator. There are velcro spots so you can help your child put the items away where they belong. Like the previous book, this one zips completely shut so nothing falls out.


GeoMag: G-Baby Sea - These are large magnetic pieces that are frankly pretty awesome. There are different sized and themed sets. The set that I got Luke includes a center block as a foundation to stack the other pieces on; it even has divets so the rounded pieces can be placed into some of the sides. It came with four rubbery sea animals that fit over the rounded half-circle pieces. This goes against my no-rolling policy and there are 11 pieces in the set I bought. But, the amount of fun that Luke has playing with these far outweighs the potential annoyances. Plus, they are very brightly colored and large-ish, so they're easy to find if they roll away. I have to admit they are kind of expensive, but they entertained Luke far longer than anything else I bought.


Here's what I bought for Meike:


Big Book of Monster Stickers - Lots of people recommended crayons and paper/coloring books. I really don't want to have to keep track of crayons; stickers take up less space. This book is cool because it has games and puzzles; you don't just randomly put stickers anywhere. Stickers are grouped together and associated with particular pages. Some of the activities included pattern completion, finding the twin monster, grouping monsters by color, etc. Nothing in the book requires a drawing utensil. I'm pretty sure all kids love stickers.


iPad - Granted, I didn't actually buy this for Meike- it was my Mother's Day present. It's purpose is pretty self-explanatory. I uploaded movies onto my computer and then downloaded them to the iPad via iTunes. This is much more compact than carrying around a DVD-player and a bunch of DVDs. Plus, there's a bunch of games that Meike can play. Now, what am I going to do on the plane?


Kids Headphones - I splurged on these. I have plenty of adult headphones in every shape and style, but none of them work for Meike. The earbuds don't fit or fall out; the full headphones are too large and slide back and off of her head; she hates the clip-ons for some reason. These are comfortable for Meike and they're cute.


Sticker Dolly Dressing: Around the World - Another sticker book. Usborne Books makes a lot of really great sticker books, some that are even appropriate for Luke (I have to peel the stickers and help him with it, obviously). This one is great because it teaches Meike about different world customs associated with clothing. She gets to dress a couple for a traditional Japanese wedding and it explains the different pieces of clothing and the order in which they are supposed to be applied. Meike has a little trouble with the shoes sometimes, but otherwise she can do this unassisted.


IPlay Peek-A-Boo Bag - This is similar to the Find It games, but comes in a smaller pouch and is made for a  younger age range. These are great because the list of items to find includes pictures for non-readers. The tag snaps onto the back of the pouch when not in use. I also found a mom who makes a similar product from home.