How to Keep a Toddler Busy on a Plane
A toddler can't sit still for long, and a plane asks them to sit still for hours. You won't keep them busy every minute, and that's fine. The goal is to break the flight into short, easy pieces so nobody (you included) melts down.
Here's a plan that works for most kids ages 1 to 4.
Plan for 15-minute chunks, not the whole flight
Toddlers move from one thing to the next quickly. So don't think "how do I fill a 5-hour flight?" Think "what do I have for the next 15 minutes?"
Before you fly, count the chunks. A 3-hour flight is about 12 of them. Some are already filled: boarding, a snack, the drink cart, a nap if you're lucky, a walk to the bathroom. You only need something for the gaps.
Hand out toys one at a time
The biggest mistake parents talk about is dumping the whole bag out at once. The toddler plays with everything for ten minutes and then nothing is new.
Instead:
- Keep toys in your bag, not on the tray table.
- Bring out one thing at a time.
- When interest fades, put it away and bring out the next one.
- Save one toy your child has never seen for the second half of the flight.
Wrapping a couple of small toys in paper adds a few extra minutes of fun, too.
Pick quiet toys with nothing to lose
On a plane, two kinds of toys cause most of the trouble.
Toys that make noise. Anything that beeps, plays songs or rattles bothers the whole row. If it has batteries and a sound button, leave it at home.
Toys with loose pieces. Blocks, puzzles, crayons, markers and sticker sheets end up under the seat in front of you. One parent wrote about bending over hundreds of times to pick up building pieces before giving up and putting the set away.
The toys that work best are soft, quiet, and have every part attached. A felt busy book like the deMoca Quiet Book is a good example: its buckles, zippers and shapes are all stitched or tethered to the pages, and it makes no sound. Buckle toys and simple fidgets work for the same reason.
For kids 3 and up, water-reveal pads and mess-free coloring sets are good too. Just keep the pen or markers in a zip bag between uses.
Use the plane itself
A plane is new and exciting to a toddler. Use that before you reach for a toy.
- The window. Watch the bags get loaded, the wheels go up and the clouds go by. Point out what you see and name it.
- The safety card. Find the pictures together: the plane, the seat belt, the slide.
- The seat belt. Let them practice clicking their own belt (or yours) open and shut.
- The drink cart. Talk about it before it comes. Choosing a drink and opening a snack can take a whole chunk.
- A walk. When the seat belt sign is off, a slow walk to the back of the plane and back resets a squirmy toddler. Stay out of the way of the cart.
Make snacks part of the plan
Snacks are an activity, not just food. Small snacks that take time to eat work best: cereal pieces, crackers, cut fruit. A snack cup with a soft lid lets a toddler pick out pieces one at a time and keeps crumbs in the cup.
Pack more than you think you need. Flights get delayed, and a hungry toddler is a loud toddler.
Screens are a tool, not a failure
Many parents save a tablet for the last stretch of the flight, when everything else is used up. That's a good way to use it. Download shows before you leave, charge the tablet, and bring kid-size headphones. Try the headphones at home first, since many toddlers refuse them the first time.
Keep the volume off if they won't wear headphones. Captions or quiet videos are fine for a 2-year-old.
Age by age: what tends to work
- Around 1: soft toys with buckles, flaps and textures, a simple fidget, board books, snacks, and lots of window time.
- Around 2: busy books, buckle toys, stickers (with a parent handing them out), and naming everything out the window.
- Around 3 to 4: water-reveal pads, mess-free coloring, small activity books and a few favorite shows saved on a tablet.
Whatever their age, a short break on your lap or a walk down the aisle can do as much as any toy. You know your child best. Bring a few things they love, one surprise, and plenty of snacks, and take the flight 15 minutes at a time.