For years, it has been tradition in my family to spend the 4th of July at the lake in Wisconsin. We’re heading back this year for the 3rd time with kids! Last year, we made the trip with the kids at ages 4, 15 months, and 15 months. It was a hard trip. Traveling was hard, sleep was hard, it was a ton of work! After the flight back home to NC, Mike and I looked at each other and vowed to not get on an airplane again with the kids until they could all be entertained/distracted better. So here we are, one year later, gearing up for the trip again! I am much more hopeful that the travel day will be smoother this time around. Cam and Audrey are 2 now, so they can understand so much more than they could a year ago. They can also be distracted with some shows, plenty of snacks, and games/toys on the plane. While I don’t expect it to be a flawless trip, I think we have a lot more tools available to use that will make it feel easier!
With that in mind, I’ve been gathering some toys and entertainment things to keep the kids happy and busy during our travel! We will also use these again for our 5-hour drive to SC for a trip with friends later in the summer. Here are some of the things I’ve gotten so far:
- Magnetic Tic Tac Toe & 4 in a Row – Liam loves playing games like this! I like that it’s compact and less likely to lose pieces with it being magnetic.
- Magnetic Stretchy Fidget Toys – these are fun to just make little configurations or find magnetic spots in your surroundings!
- Matching Memory Game – another favorite game of Liam’s that he could play by himself on the car or plane.
- Backpack – I’ll probably pack Cam & Audrey’s stuff in one backpack that I wear, but Liam will wear his with his items (and he loves to do that!).
- Magnetic Block Set – these are great and surprisingly lightweight!
- Pink Headphones – I got a new set of headphones for Cam and Audrey to use for if they want to watch a show or listen to some music! We’ve used these same ones for Liam for years and they’re a great size for toddlers.
- Magna-Tiles Travel Set – these are great for travel because they’re so small and can magnetize to the carrying case so you don’t lose any!
- Zipper Pouches – to keep everything contained and organized. I’ll also fill one with snacks for each of them!
- Sticker Stamper – we’ve used these on various occasions over the years and it’s always a hit!
- Sticker Book – you can never go wrong with stickers with toddlers!
- Blue Headphones – since Cam will use Liam’s old headphones, I got him a new pair that are a bit bigger to fit him better.
- Magnetic “Dress Me Up” Set – Audrey loves doing dress up stuff, so I thought this could serve as a fun activity for her. Super compact, too!
Not pictured? Tons and tons of snacks. And a couple of earnest prayers, haha! Other things that work for toddlers that you may already have at home: post-it notes and painters tape.
