This year we are having our first family holiday abroad....not only is it abroad but its a 9 hour flight! Ive done long flights before but never having to entertain a child too!
That's what sparked me to do this blog post!
You dont have to be flying for 9 hours to find this blog useful. its handy if your going anywhere on an airplane, car, bus, etc!
When travelling i look for activities that are mess free but are able to capture entertainment for a little while. The first few are mess free craft items but I promise they aren't all craft related!
Obviously these items are based around munchkins age group. (4-5 years)
Ive been loving these peel and stick foam activities. The foam pads come on one sheet.
You can purchase them here at
Baker Ross 4pk for £2.99
#2
Scratch art is Munchkins favourite activity at the moment. you scratch away at the black to reveal lovely shiny patterns underneath.
#3
Stickers! what child doesn't love stickers! peel off the stickers and put them on your picture! Simple but effective!
#4
We have already got these and Ive got to say we LOVE them! Foam activities.You get to stick the extras on your creature (peel and stick foam) then you have little finger paint sponges to decorate your creature. I know this isn't completely mess free but the finger paint is light and nothing that cant be removed from hands with a wet wipe.
#5
We have already picked up a where's Wally mini book up in Wh Smiths. This is a new thing for munchkin so its either going to be a huge success or a huge fail! we'll see! It cost around £3.50 there are lots of different options of the Where's Wally books to choose from.
#6
Colouring:- Another love of ours is the colour by numbers! We have found it very difficult to find colour by number....paint but numbers popped up everywhere but that's not what I was after until I nipped into Hobby craft and found this fab product! 16 pages of colour by number with the actual number on each marker! genius!!
Obviously you can take standard colour book and crayons but lets face it....they see those every day!
#7
Doodle mat:-
This isn't the exact one that Ive picked up but its the same brand. they are magic markers that don't mark anything except the mat. It comes with an eraser with you fill with water then you just give it a wipe over with the cloth supplied to dry the board!
I bought ours at Home bargains for £3.99
#8
Tablets:- Yep lets face it most kids are obsessed with them. So your Ipad may be a god send!
top tip:- Make sure you download apps that don't require wifi (unless you have wifi on your plane)
You can also fill your ipad with music, films and much more.
#9
Music:- If you haven't got a tablet or aren't taking it then pick up a cheap music player. This one looks very similar to the ipod but its not. Its from Primark and I picked it up for just £2. Granted it only holds about 30 songs but i thought i could pre load munchkins favourite songs so he could listen to them on the plane.
#10
Headphones:- Yes you do get earphones on the plane but I thought these would be more comfortable for munchkin. We have the Blue/yellow JVC ones pictured above. they come with stickers so children can personalise theirs. They also have volume control so the volume only goes so high so that its suitable for small children.
They are currently on sale at Argos for £8.99
#11
Lucky dip:-
Try wrapping each item and give them one ever 1hr/30 mins depending on age and how long you are travelling for. It makes it exciting for them and also helps them recognise how much longer we have to go e.g if there is only one present left then they know not much longer after that they will arrive.
#12
Pound shops:-
Pop into your local poundshop for toys and bits. you can pick up little dolls, cars, colouring books etc and it will have been inexpensive.
#13
Travel Games:- depending on the age of your child travel games always help pass the time. Games can range from good old Snap to connect 4 to something more advanced like Uno.
You can pick them up in most supermarket and toy shops.
#14
Stickers:- What child doesn't love stickers! Bring a little pad of paper and let them stick away!!
#15
Snacks:- Take some little snacks with you! boxed raisins, YoYo Bears are a favourite in our household.
#16
Crayons:-
Triangular crayons always help when on flights as they prevent the constant 'Mummy!, I dropped my crayon and it rolled under my seat' Then your on your hands and knees only to find its rolled 5 rows back!
#17
Ispy
I came across these and thought they would be fab for the flight. You just print them out and laminate them if you wish. They are I spy sheet with lots of different items on. If you child is too young for Ispy, you can just do the 'Can you find the ball?' or 'what can you see on the picture?'
You can print yours out
here
#18
Activity books and sticker books:-
I Love the 100 things to do on a plane book as it contains losts of activities and colourings. Usborne books have a nice range of travel activity books and they can be found
here
#19
Their favourite toy:-.....as long as its not a huge 6ft stuffed teddy of course.
We all have our creature comforts so make sure they get to travel with their favourite toy.
#20
Inflight entertainment:-
It may sound like and obvious option but many airlines have a very good variety of children's games and films....take advantage of them.....even if they are just on while your child is doing something else and they just glance up every once in a while.
I hope that these ideas have been useful to you! If you have any ideas that i havent posted here plese feel free to comment with your ideas and where you are off on holidays!
Enjoy your Trip!
xXx
