Babies: Sometimes the simplest things work

Our son took his first international trip to Cancun when he was 8 months old, and we definitely didn’t slow down after that. By the end of that calendar year, he had easily clocked another 10 flights.

And please don’t hate me if this was not your experience - but honestly, the baby stage was probably one of the easier ones for us.

That’s not to say we never had crying or difficult moments. But before he was really mobile, he was much easier to contain and entertain than he would become during the toddler years. Best-case scenario, of course, your baby sleeps. And if they aren’t walking yet, use that to your advantage: they can’t get away!

At this age, we weren’t really giving him an activity and expecting him to entertain himself. It was more about having simple things we could use to capture his attention for a while.

A few things worked particularly well for us:

Suction-cup spinning toys. Stick one on the airplane window and start spinning. Did it provide hours of entertainment? Absolutely not. But 15 minutes? Sometimes! And 15 minutes of a happy baby on an airplane is gold.

Sensory fidget tubes. These were incredibly simple - colorful tubes that extended and collapsed - but there was enough movement and texture to keep him interested, and they were easy to throw into a bag.

A small sensory toy or rattle. Something he could hold, shake and explore with his fingers worked well, especially if it made just enough noise to interest him without entertaining the entire cabin.

But you definitely don’t need to buy an entire bag of new toys before flying with a baby. Some of our most successful entertainment came courtesy of the airplane itself.

The safety card or other pamphlets in the seatback pocket? Fascinating! He could open them, close them, turn them over and inspect them. A cocktail napkin became perfect for peek-a-boo. And a few plastic cups from the flight attendant could suddenly become stacking cups.

Sometimes the thing you didn't pack is the thing that works.

Toddlers: Bring options. Lots of options.

Once our son became mobile, things got harder.

For us, roughly ages 1–3 were probably the toughest flying years. He wanted to move, his attention span was short and sometimes the thing we had carefully packed specifically for him was of absolutely no interest.

So we kept some of our baby-stage favorites and started adding more activities to our arsenal.

Coloring books and crayons were always in the bag, although he wasn't particularly interested in them on the younger end of this stage. We kept bringing them anyway because even a few minutes of coloring was a few minutes of entertainment.

Sometimes Adam or I would start coloring the page ourselves. Funny how quickly something becomes interesting once Mommy or Daddy starts doing it!

One lesson we learned, though: don't introduce an activity that requires the tray table before takeoff! Once a toddler discovers that the tray table comes down, convincing them that it now has to go back up can become its own form of in-flight entertainment - just not the kind you were looking for.

Busy boards were another good option because one relatively compact item contained several different activities. Turn the page and suddenly there was something new to zip, buckle, button or manipulate.

We also loved Melissa & Doug Water Wow! books. You fill the little brush pen with water and the pictures appear as they "paint." They're reusable, mess-free and, in our experience, much more interesting to our son at that age than regular coloring.

They also apparently entertained Adam, so technically these work for multiple age groups.

Reusable puffy sticker activity books became another favorite as our son got closer to the older end of this stage. He could move the stickers around different scenes and create his own little stories.

One practical tip: bring a gallon-size plastic bag. There are a lot of little stickers, and having one place to dump everything when you're finished makes packing up considerably easier.

LCD writing tablets also became a staple. When he was younger, he could simply doodle. As he got older, he started using them to practice letters and eventually his name. They're extremely lightweight, easy to slide into almost any bag and useful well beyond the airplane. We liked them enough that we eventually bought several to keep at home and in our ready-to-go activity bag.

When the things you packed aren't working...

This is where some of our more creative entertainment came in.

On one flight, we handed our son the airline magazine and let him rip out the pages one by one.

Did I have a little mom guilt about destroying a perfectly good magazine? Yes. But I also figured it was eventually going into the trash - and the people sitting around us probably preferred listening to ripping paper over a screaming toddler.

Airline magazines aren't nearly as common anymore, but the idea is easy to recreate. Have a junk-mail catalog sitting on your counter? Throw it in your carry-on and let your toddler have at it.

Another idea came from a parent friend: wrap a few random things before you leave home.

And I really do mean random. A little toy they already own. A spoon. A keychain. Some other safe little object from around the house.

Loosely wrap each one in gift wrap and pull one out when you need a distraction. At that age, the entertainment isn't necessarily the thing inside - it's the curiosity and determination involved in getting it open.

You don't always need a new toy. Sometimes you just need to make an old thing feel new.

Preschoolers: Finally, a longer attention span

As our son has gotten older - he's 4 now, almost 5 - flying has admittedly gotten easier again.

Activities hold his attention longer. He's more interested in coloring. He likes practicing letters. And he's old enough to have opinions about what he wants to bring in his own little backpack...even if we're fully prepared to end up carrying that backpack ourselves.

Our activity bag now usually includes some combination of:

• Coloring books and crayons

• His LCD writing tablet, which is still a staple

• A few lightweight books, both for the flight and because we try to maintain his bedtime routine when we travel

• A wipe-clean workbook, which lets him practice letters and motor skills and then wipe everything clean to use again

• Sticker books, which continue to be a hit

He's a big Pete the Cat fan, so a Pete the Cat sticker book has made quite a few trips with us.

We also regularly wander the craft aisles at Hobby Lobby before trips. Their inventory changes constantly, but we've found plenty of inexpensive, lightweight activities that are easy to stash away until we need them - things like small wooden shapes he can color or sticker-scene kits where he can build different pictures.

You don't need those specific things. The bigger idea is to keep your eyes open for small, flat, inexpensive activities that don't take up much room in your bag.

And yes, we bring the iPad

I intentionally saved this one for last.

Yes, we bring an iPad.

And yes, I know there's plenty of parental guilt wrapped up in handing your child a screen. But our approach has always been that the iPad is special. He doesn't sit around watching it at home; it's something he gets when we're traveling long distances.

We download shows and movies before we leave, but we also load it with puzzles, games and coloring activities. And surprisingly, he'll often open one of those before he asks for a show.

At his current age, we usually ask him to color, work on an activity book, practice his letters or do something else first. Then, when he's ready for the iPad, we're fine with that.

Because kids get restless. Their attention spans are shorter than ours. And sometimes you've already colored, read the books, eaten the snacks, played with the stickers and pulled every other trick out of your bag.

There is no prize for making it through a long flight without a screen.

The real trick is variety

You don't need to buy every toy or activity someone recommends before your next flight. Some of our best entertainment has cost almost nothing, and some of the things we specifically bought for a trip barely got touched.

What has helped us most is simply having options!

Bring a mix of familiar favorites and something new. Have a few activities you can pull out one at a time instead of handing over the entire bag at once. And don't underestimate something just because it only buys you five or ten minutes.

On a long flight with a little kid, those minutes add up.

And sometimes, despite everything you packed and every trick you try, nothing works.

That happens too.

Last updated: September 2026