We traveled for my dad’s Celebration of Life last week and I knew it would be a difficult week for the kids, so packed some extra materials to help keep the kids occupied during the event and other appointments.
On-the-Go Activities
We will sometimes bring these activities to a restaurant, on the rare occasion that we go to one. But, they also worked great for travel. Once again, many of these ideas are inspired by Mini Jetsetter.
For each one of my kids (3 and 5), I put together a pouch with art materials, a sketch book, mini colouring book, mess-free painting, water ring game, and at least one animal figure.
I also gave them each a mini lego set in a pencil case.
Everything above is from Dollarama or was a gift from the hairdresser or came from friends’ goody bags. The water ring game is from Jean Coutu (a drug store in Quebec) and the mess free painting sheets are from Amazon. Nothing is precious. I include things in these kits expecting them to get dropped, left behind and gifted to other kids we meet.
On-the-Go Sensory Activity – Pluffle
I packed an extra sensory activity, in case we needed to occupy the kids for a while at my mom’s house. I brought a ziplock bag full of Pluffle because it’s very light weight and you can squeeze the air out in the bag so it packs up small.
At my mom’s house, I dumped the bag into a bin and brought out some of the play kitchen dishes – and voila, a Pluffle tea party. It kept the kids busy for 2 hours. To me, that counts as a success. The only drawback to Pluffle is that it can be messy. We needed to do some sweeping and vacuuming after the activity.
Entertaining kids while traveling is a marathon. Just when you think you have them settled, another challenge presents itself – someone is hungry, someone needs to go to the bathroom, someone is overtired. I feel I am constantly pivoting between our most effective strategies.
What works best for our family, may not be the solution for others, but here are some of our favourites. We have a 3 year old boy and a 5 year old girl. Both are very energetic and excitable, especially when in new experiences.
Get them moving – whether it’s an airport, or a rest stop along the highway, there is really no substitute for letting the kids run and free play. At the airport, we now make the kids walk and run as much as possible on the way to the gate. Once at the gate, we try to sit away from the concentration of people close to the gate, so the kids can run and play without disturbing too many people. They will usually run in laps without much encouragement from me. Most airports also have kid play zones now, so if we have enough time we will take the kids over to check it out.
Keep the snacks coming – a fairly constant stream of snack is our next go-to strategy. We will pack at least a small cooler bag full of snacks and meals. It’s an extra bag to carry-on on the plane or takes up space in the car, but it’s always worth it. Our kids are picky about what they like, so we bring their favourite things.
a tupperware box with a meal – this tends to be what we need to use up in the fridge before our trip – a sandwich, their favourite veggies (tomatoes and cucumbers), fruit (berries, apple slices, whatever we have), cooked pasta, cheese slices, cooked chicken nuggets
bananas
granola bars and other packaged snacks
small bags of Goldfish or Veggie Straws
fruit gummies
nuts
water bottles
Once the kids have gotten some energy out and filled their tummies, it’s usually time to bring out the activity kits. When it comes to travel activities, I’m influenced and inspired by Mini Jetsetter and her instagram account. She has wonderful ideas and tips for traveling with children. I highly recommend her content.
When gathering activities and toys to pack, I try to cover 7 main themes: art, fidget toys, sensory materials, building, small world play, puzzles & games and stories. Variety and novelty can be the key here. I keep most of these items separate from their regular toys, so they only see them while traveling, I will also rotate items and activities within each category, so they are not the same activity every time.
Here are the kits I brought with us on our recent flight just after Christmas. Most items are from Dollarama unless otherwise listed.
Travel Activities for 5 year old girl
Art
small blank sketch pad
stickers
stencil
small spirograph (Aliexpress)
Ooly Switcheroo markers (Amazon)
washi tape
pens, crayons, pencils (from our art supplies at home)
glue, scissors (not pictured, added after)
self inking stamp
spy pen (Zellers)
Fidget Toys
squishamallow (Costco)
stretchy, rhinestone bracelets (They were gifts, I think from Joe Fresh)
mini Etch-a-Sketch (Chapters)
Sensory Materials
bead bracelet and necklace kit (Michaels)
playdough and tools – plastic knife and roller
small box of add-in charms for playdough (Michaels)
Building
mini magnetic tiles (Aliexpress)
suction toys
Puzzles & Games
Go Fish cards
magnetic puzzles
On-the-go activity tin with tic-tac-toe and other games
Small World Play
My Little Pony figurine and hairbrush
Stories
Yoto mini player (Yoto Store)
headphones (not pictured) (Amazon)
Frozen Yoto card and Brain Bots Yoto cards (Yoto Store)
Travel Activities for 3 year old boy
Art
small blank sketch pad
stickers
stencil
washi tape
markers, crayons, pencil crayons, pencils (from our art supplies)
glue, scissors
self inking stamp
spy pen (Zellers)
Fidget Toys
squishamallow (Costco)
mini Etch-a-Sketch (not pictured) (Chapters)
Sensory Materials
bead bracelet and necklace kit (Michaels)
playdough and tools – plastic knife and roller
small box of add-in charms for playdough (Michaels)
Building
mini magnetic tiles (Aliexpress)
suction toys
Puzzles & Games
Matching card game
On-the-go activity tin with tic-tac-toe and other games
Small World Play
Small construction vehicles (these were a gift)
mini monster truck (my son got it as a gift after getting a vaccine shot)
Stories
Mini Yoto player (Yoto store)
headphones (Amazon)
Make Your Own Yoto card with music, Funny Stories for 4 Year Olds Yoto card (Yoto Store)
Kits to carry the activities
I have 2 different toiletry bags I use as kits for the kids activities. The purple stripe bag is an old Venus razor bonus bag that I must have received as part of a promotion many years ago. It is my favourite for its ability to hold lots of stuff and fold up into a more narrow bag. The second, blue and white stripe bag is from Amazon. Because I shove so much stuff in the kit, I find it folds up into a bulky bag. I also find the zipper to be of cheaper quality than I would like for something a child is going to zip and unzip often.
Playing with Activities in Transit
We use these car travel trays both for the car and on the plane. I like that they have a stiff bottom that is also a dry erase board because the kids can draw, colour and play on them without it moving around too much. It can also hold up a water bottle in the car and on the airplane tray. The sides stay up with velcro and keep toys and activity pieces, especially small ones, from falling on the floor.
The trays are bulkier than I would prefer, but just like the snacks cooler, well worth hauling with us. We use also use them as a “clean-er” surface to eat on. The flight attendant on our most recent flight had never seen this type of tray and couldn’t get over what a brilliant idea they were for kids.
A Word on Screen Time
When all else fails, we give the kids screen time. We have one ipad that we bring with us on trips. It has some downloaded shows and movies that the kids like. Usually my husband and I use screens as a way to preserve our own sanity. To us, screens are preferable to losing our tempers. Screens and screen time are a controversial topic among parents, so obviously do what works best for you. Happy Traveling!
