Fun Activities for Toddlers on Planes (They Will Actually Do)
I flew with my daughter at least 20 times when she was a toddler, so I had to learn a thing or two about activities for toddlers on planes. You can pack the cutest backpack full of carefully curated games and toys, but what your toddler will actually want to play with is an entirely different story.
After much trial and error, I found a few activities that were a big hit with my daughter, and hopefully will be for your toddler as well!
Editor’s note: My daughter is four years old now, so she’s no longer a “toddler.” I kept the rest of this post in present tense to reflect her behavior on flights when she was a toddler, to help the content feel more relevant to you.
Activities for toddlers on planes
1. Little boxes with treasures inside
Hands-down, this is my daughter’s favorite activity on the plane. She gets very upset if she doesn’t have her tiny boxes, and she will most certainly notice if one of the items inside goes missing.
I use empty jewelry boxes and fill them with hair ties, miniature booklets, screen wipes (she calls them “baby blankets”), lip balm, and other small things that can fit inside.
If you don’t have small boxes on hand, here is a cute set.
2. Magnetic puzzles
Puzzles are one of those things that can become such a pain when pieces start to go missing. I’m convinced the pieces have legs.
Enter this magnetic puzzle book to save the day! This book comes with three different puzzles of varying difficulty (9, 12, and 16 pieces). My daughter loves it.
3. Play-doh
I think most parents have a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with Play-Doh, but these miniature containers are really nice to have on a plane. The tray table in front of the seat is an optimal place for your kid to roll out the dough and let their creative mind go to work.
I never even thought of bringing Play-Doh on the plane until another mom with five kids on board asked if I wanted a container for my daughter, and I figured, “Why not?” (This mom gave me a lot of fun ideas for airplane toys. With that many kids, she had some experience.)
4. Little things that snap
Maybe you can relate to this: You take time to carefully pick out the perfect toys for your child, and they end up playing with the most random things you have lying around.
Exhibit A: Hair barrettes.
I kid you not, my daughter enjoyed snapping these barrettes and clipping them onto various objects for a long time. They are so small and lightweight, making them ideal for stuffing into their backpack for the plane.
For even more fun, consider this combo pack with bobby pins, barrettes, and rubber bands.
5. Finger puppets
The hero mom mentioned in #3 also gave me the idea of bringing finger puppets on the plane. She gave my daughter a few plastic monster puppets that I could have never imagined she would love so much. She thought it was so funny to attack me with the puppets while making her best monster noises.
For a more refined puppet choice, you could also get fabric characters. We picked up these Magnetic Personality puppets at a bookstore in Paris, which portray famous people throughout history. I’m not sure who was more entertained by them: my daughter or I.
6. Magnetic building Tiles
These magnetic building tiles come in a big set, but you can easily pack a few of them in your child’s bag for the plane. My daughter spends a lot of time creating little pyramids like the ones below — she calls them her “house.”
What I love most about these tiles is that they aren’t so small that they easily get lost, but they are still somewhat compact and lightweight. Plus, magnets are always a great idea for toddlers, especially on a plane.
7. Flash cards
While my toddler isn’t quite at the age where she can play a memory card game, she does love looking at cards with pictures on them and organizing them in the box.
Flash cards make for a great opportunity to ask your toddler questions about what’s on the cards so they can practice their vocabulary.
8. Stickers
Stickers are always a hit. I like to bring a bunch of stickers and a small notebook for my daughter to play with on the plane.
Even better than stickers are reusable stickers! A reusable sticker book is a convenient and eco-friendly option to have on hand.
9. Coloring book
I like to pack a small coloring book and some colored pencils or crayons in my daughter’s backpack. She isn’t always in the mood to color, but when she is, she can easily spend 20 minutes or more doing it!
The pencils shown below were provided by Icelandair — the most kid-friendly airline I’ve flown with so far! They hand out a bag of goodies for small kids on the plane, including flash cards, an eye mask, and a stuffed Icelandic horse (so cute!).
Another pencil set that is great for toddlers (and kids of all ages, really) are the Stabilo Woody 3-in-1 pencils. They’re chunky, they glide smoothly across the page, and they’re washable for easy clean-up. I never bring the whole set on the plane, but often throw a few of them into my daughter’s bag.
These pencils aren’t the cheapest around, but they are such great quality and will last a long time.
10. Snacks
Never underestimate the power of food! If there’s anything I choose to overpack for a flight, it’s snacks. Since my toddler’s appetite can still be unpredictable, I pack a variety of things for her to choose from: crackers, fruit pouches, granola bites, fresh fruit, protein bars, etc.
Snacks that come in small pieces like bags of crackers or cut-up fruit are especially nice, because it takes longer for toddlers to eat them. (Read: You get a little break from entertaining!)
A Bento box is great for packing snacks for the plane. I also like these small pouches that don’t take a lot of space.
Built-in toys on the airplane
Remember what I said above about toddlers loving random “toys”? Well, planes come equipped with several fantastic items to peak your toddler’s attention for solid chunks of time.
There have been plenty of moments where the backpack of toys that I carefully packed was of no interest to my daughter. She was too enamored by the plane itself.
Headphones and jack
Many airlines provide headphones free of charge, but it doesn’t hurt to bring your own pair along just in case. Your toddler will likely spend a ridiculous amount of time plugging and unplugging the headphones into and from the jack.
Seatbelt
Getting my daughter to stay buckled in for take-off and landing can be a struggle, because she loves opening and closing the seatbelt. It’s such an easy toy for her to have right at her fingertips.
I point to the seatbelt sign to remind her when she needs to wear her seatbelt. I also tell her that the flight attendants will come by soon to check on her and she can impress them with her seatbelt-wearing skills. Sometimes this tactic works; sometimes it doesn’t.
Seat pocket
The seat pocket in front of your toddler is the perfect place for them to store miscellaneous items, and of course, the safety pamphlet and other papers inside the pocket can also become instant toys.
A note about screen time
When all else fails, screen time to the rescue!
I do my best to prepare screen-free entertainment options for my toddler on the plane, but sometimes nothing will keep her attention like one of her favorite shows or iPad games. I’m okay with that.
When I get on a plane with her, I go into survival mode, and sometimes screen time is what it takes to survive. I let her use it and I don’t feel guilty about it. I don’t think it will hurt her long-term if she has more screen time than usual on a long travel day.
survival tips for plane travel with a toddler
Beyond choosing the right activities for your toddler, here are some other tips to help you get through the flight.
Choose the right flight time.
For shorter flights, I have had the best luck flying early in the morning, around 7:30 a.m. or so. This means waking my daughter up at 4:45 a.m., but she hasn’t seemed to mind this.
The flight time that did not work well was from 7-9 p.m. It was right around her bedtime and she was overtired and didn’t want to fall asleep. That, coupled with ear pressure on our descent, made for a not-so-pleasant experience.
For long-haul flights heading east, I suggest taking off an hour or two before your toddler’s normal bedtime. That gives them a bit of time to explore their surroundings, eat some food, and settle down for sleep. If you take off too late, they will become overstimulated (and overtired), and getting them to bed could be a nightmare.
For long-haul flights heading west, daytime flights can work well as long as your toddler gets a good night’s sleep the night before.
When we flew home from Istanbul with an overnight layover in Paris, we had a flight delay that left us with only 4-5 hours to sleep at our hotel before catching our flight to Boston the next morning. Starting another long day of travel with our daughter on little sleep did not go as smoothly.
Pack light.
These are the four items I pack when I travel with my daughter: my diaper bag, my small crossbody purse, her backpack, and our travel stroller. For shorter flights, I also wheel a small carry-on suitcase so I don’t need to check a bag.
Adding the carry-on does make things slightly more complicated, but it is doable. If my daughter wants to walk instead of ride in the stroller, I place the carry-on inside the stroller and hold her hand.
Keep your stroller until right before you board.
It took 17 flights for me to realize it would be so much easier for me to keep the stroller until the moment before stepping onto the plane.
I used to fold the stroller into its carrying bag and juggle all of our bags—plus my toddler—before scanning our plane tickets and walking down the jet bridge.
Of course, it was inevitable that we would get stuck in a long boarding line while I was holding all of our things. I would almost always arrive to our seats feeling sweaty and overwhelmed by everything I had to carry.
On our last flight, I decided to see if I could wheel the stroller all the way down to the plane and fold it into the bag there. Sure enough, the gate agent let us go through and I was able to quickly pack the stroller away and leave it by the gate check-in area. I will never juggle all the things again!
I use the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 travel stroller and it’s amazing!
Conclusion: Activities for toddlers on planes
Traveling with a toddler can be unpredictable. You can plan things out perfectly, but your child might still throw you a curveball. However, I always have more peace of mind when I at least come prepared.
All of the activities listed above are things that have entertained my daughter at some point on the plane. Hopefully you find a good mixture that works for you and your child, too.
Remember: You will survive. You’ve got this!
