How to Entertain a 9-24m old on a Flight
Flying with a child ages 9-24 months old is the hardest age, in my opinion! They want to move and be active and don't have the attention span for many activities or watching a tablet yet.
It can be an adventure to keep their little minds engaged during a flight, so we polled the community for the best tips and activities that have worked to keep kids this age busy. Whether it’s a quick flight or a long one, hopefully these strategies will help you keep your toddler entertained, happy and engaged, ensuring that your family travels are memorable for all the right reasons!
Hot Tips and Advice:
Starting off with valuable tips that were the most popular submissions from our poll:
1. SNACKS!! Snacks are king when it comes to travel for any kid, but especially this age range. The community shared many clever tips for making snack time as long and fun as possible: bring tiny snacks like cheerios and hand them to kids one by one, put snacks in something like a pill container or snack box so they have fun opening them. We own the Gobe Snack Spinner and love it for this age. Some of you went as far to say pack an entire carry of just snacks and to bring every snack ever made haha. There is honestly nothing quite like the feeling when you are only a few minutes into something and you feel like your kids have already plowed through your whole bag of snacks. Don't let that happen on a flight is the morale of the story and overpack them.
2. Make things novel and new for them! Bring new trinkets, books or snacks they have never seen. Go a step further and wrap these items in gift tissue to make it even more entertaining for them to open them.
3. Non-toy activity hacks. Items like painters tape and post it flags are an incredible mess free activity for kids this age.
4. Don't forget to pack an extra set of clothes for kids and even an extra shirt for yourself. I have had the pleasure of being blown out on before on a flight and had to wash my shirt in the airplane bathroom. I don't know if it's the pressure, but why do babies always have blow outs during a flight?!
5. If you can afford it, buy them their own seat. Many people in the community said this was their number one tip. If you get them their own seat, bring their car seat on the plane. Toddlers are so much easier to manage when they are strapped in their own seat and will likely nap easier for you too. I did a separate poll on the Top Travel Car Seats you can reference here.
6. Board the flight as late as possible to reduce the time you are just sitting on the plane. If possible, have some of your party board earlier to get your space situated.
7. If you want to try screens, shows like Ms. Rachel are best for little ones. Another great tip is let them watch videos of themselves on your phone, this is always a hit with my kids!
8. Finally, I thought this submisison was funny to "BYO Grandparent". If you are traveling with family or friends, try and book the same flight so you have an extra set of hands and can get a break.
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SHOP
This light up switch board makes for a great sensory activity for kids, especially young ones when traveling.