Tag Archives: travel activities

Great Travel Games for Young Kids

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This time of the year, I start thinking about small things to buy for Buddy’s Easter basket. And one of the things I always look for is travel games. We’ve traveled a lot less in the last year due to the pandemic, but we still have taken several very long car trips. And sometimes, we’ve brought travel games to with us when we’ve had to wait somewhere like a restaurant or a doctor’s office. Here are our favorite travel games.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Travel Yahtzee

My family loves playing Mickey Mouse Yahtzee Jr., and we made our own version to play at home. (Our original is from the 80s and is at my dad’s house.) When we decided to do a 18 hour road trip last summer, I wanted to make a to-go version. I looked at the current travel Yahtzee available, and eventually decided to get a vintage one off of Ebay. I had that version as a kid, and I knew it would be easier to keep the dice contained. They way we play it is you have three rolls to get as many of the same kind as possible, with the number 1 being wild. If someone else has the same score already, you get bumped down to the next lowest score. I printed and laminated a score card and put it on a little clipboard left over from our Disney trip.

World of Disney Eye Found It Card Game

We’ve loved the World of Disney Eye Found It Card Game for a long time. It is a staple to play at home, and recently we sent a set to my dad so we can play it on FaceTime. To play the game, you have to be the first one to find a certain object on your card. Then you can discard your card and a new item is chosen. It’s great because it doesn’t take up much space, so it’s great to throw in a purse or carry on.

Spot It

There are so many versions of the Spot It Game. The one we have is Planes Spot It, which has both images from the Planes movie as well as letters. To play the game, you put down two cards and you try to be the first one to find the one thing they have in common. It comes in a heavy duty tin, so it’s really great for travel. We kept this one in the diaper bag for years.

Magnetic Bingo

We bought Take and Play Anywhere Bingo for Buddy when he was 3, and almost 3 years later, it continues to be a favorite game. This version of bingo has 24 different animals and a spinner to use to select the animal. It was a great game before Buddy knew his letters and numbers, and he still really enjoys all of the different animals. This one also comes in a magnetic tin that is very durable. The Take and Play Anywhere game series also includes hangman, memory, and fishing, which all look fun.

Road trip Scavenger Hunt Game

I bought the Briarpatch Travel Scavenger Hunt Card Game last summer before our 18 hour car trip. The box says the game is for ages 7 and up, but Buddy was able to play it at age 5 without a problem. We started playing it with a card holder, but then Buddy discovered that he can just prop the cards on the edge of the window. I modified the rules a bit from how they were written. We each choose 5 cards, and then we discarded them as we find the thing. I go through the cards before we play and pick things that I think are more likely to be seen depending on where we are driving. It takes awhile to play, and it makes a long car trip pass more quickly.

Spin and Play Board Game Book

I bought the Spin and Play Counting Games board book before our trip to Bogota in 2019. This board book has five different board games with two dice in the middle to spin. I liked it especially for that trip because it was easy to take in our carry on, and we played it both on the plane as well as in the hotel room. It’s also a great way to practice counting and simple addition.

Cars and Trucks Card Game

Cars and Trucks is another card game we’ve enjoyed on trips as well as at home. It’s not currently available online, but this war game is similar. We have played it on planes, and we like to bring it as a game to play when we arrive at our location.

Melissa and Doug Flip to Win Memory Game

Buddy likes to play memory, but it takes a lot of space to set up, so it’s not a great choice to play while traveling. So we got him the Melissa and Doug Flip to Win Memory Game last Easter to use for trips. It’s great because there are a lot of different game choices, so it’s nice to use even at home. The flaps are a little loud, so it’s probably better as a car trip game than a plane game.

Mental Games to Play While Traveling

While it’s great to be able to buy games to take with you on trips, it’s also helpful to have games you can play without anything else. We play these a lot while waiting in lines at the store, as well as when we travel.

  • Animal Game – One person chooses an animal and the other people ask yes and no questions until they guess it.
  • Alphabet Game – You look around at signs, license plates, labels and anything else you can find and look for the letters one at a time in order. We’ve found this to be a great game to play while sitting in slow city traffic where there are lots of lisence plates and billboards to see. We play this in grocery store lines as well.
  • iSpy – One person picks something they can see, and the other people ask yes and no questions to guess it.
  • Color game – We play this two ways. Usually we play it like iSpy, and one person says the color of the thing they see. Then the other people guess what it is. But we have also played it by picking a color and then seeing how many things you can find with that color. The person who finds the last thing of that color wins.

If you have any other travel game suggestions, I’d love to hear about them in the comments section.

Airplane Activities for a Four Year Old

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Airplane Activities for a Four Year Old

My family flies a lot because my husband works for an airline. And he was working abroad last summer, so Buddy and I flew together a couple times to see him. It was our first experience flying just the two of us, and overall, we both had a good time.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Before our first flight, I had purchased this Wildkin rolling suitcase for Buddy. Since we were traveling by ourselves, I needed him to pull his own toys. Buddy loved this suitcase and was happy to pull it. It fit underneath the seat, and it holds a lot! I highly recommend it.

Because our trip consisted of two long flights followed by a week in a hotel room, I wanted to bring a variety of activities. I put together a few busy bags, some games, some books, and some small toys for Buddy. Some of these were things we had, and I got some new things for the trip too. Here are the things we brought with us.

Toys

Books

Other Items

  • Kindle and headphones
  • Empty waterbottle – we always fill after we go through security and before we get on the plane
  • Snacks – fruit snacks, Ritz bits, and animal crackers are Buddy’s current favorites. I usually throw in a couple suckers too.
  • Bag of clothespin, popsicle sticks, and pipecleaners- This kept Buddy busy for awhile. See picture below.
  • Post it notes and pen – I’m not sure why Buddy is more interested in writing with a pen than a marker or crayon, but he is.

I found all of these items to be very helpful in entertaining Buddy on the flight and at the hotel. Although Buddy was content to watch his Kindle for long periods of time, it was nice to have other things to keep him busy when we were ready for a screen time break.

Waiting Activities for Kids at Disney

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Buddy and I both love Disney World, and we were lucky enough to be able to take a quick trip with our extended family in August. All of Buddy’s cousins came, which meant our group had a total of 5 kids – ages 2, 4, 5, 5, and 7. I spent a good amount of time planning for keeping our kids busy while they were waiting at Disney World.

Disney Busy Bags

Before we left, Buddy and I went to the party store, the dollar store, and the grocery store looking for cheap toys to play with at Disney. I splurged on one larger toy per child. For the three girls, I got a small princess doll. I got a Woody doll for Buddy’s oldest cousin, and Buddy desperately wanted a dragon stuffed toy. (It was actually a keychain and I cut that part off so it was just a tiny stuffed animal.)

Buddy and I got a bunch of smaller toys to play with in lines. I put them in groups of similar typed items, and then I put each group in a bag. The groups were: things for fingers (skateboards/light up rings), pretend play (fairy wands and pirate spy glasses), and rubiks cubes. I also made bags with papers, coloring supplies, and stickers for times that we were sitting and waiting for a show or at a restaurant.

Here is a close up of the coloring supplies bags. I put them in quart size ziplocks to be easy to open and close. The girls had a spiral notebook and pen from the party store. Then I split a set of princess stickers and a princess crayon set from the dollar store. The boys had a spiral notebook, marker, and ruler set from the party store, and then they split Lion King crayons. I found a ton of Disney stickers around the house, and I put them in the bags along with tiny coloring/activity books from the party store. The spiral notebooks were the biggest hit and several of the kids used them as autograph books.

When we were in a long line, waiting for a show, or the kids were about to melt down, I’d pull out one of the bags. They were great distractions, and helped to enhance the Disney magic. I also brought a bag of glow wands, which were great entertainment at night.

Buddy was excited to have his dragon Cinder meet all of the princesses.

Other Waiting Activities

  • Read a picture book – We did this at rope drop! It would also be great for waiting for a show.
  • Play I Spy – Buddy and I take turns picking an object, saying its color, and then the other person has to guess which item it is.
  • Play The Animal Game – I taught this one to Buddy earlier in the summer and we play it all the time! One person thinks of an animal, and the other person asks yes or no questions until they guess the animal. This was a hit with our group.
  • Play The Color Game – Choose a color, and count how many things you can find with that color.
  • Look at a map – Buddy loves looking at maps, and there are many of these available as you enter each part.
  • Look for Hidden Mickeys
  • Blow Bubbles
  • Play Simon Says
  • Put on sunscreen
  • Have a snack
Buddy’s reading a map of Magic Kingdom while we were waiting at our hotel.

It wasn’t easy to keep a large group of little kids entertained while waiting in Disney lines. And there were definitely tears and meltdowns. But for the most part, having a plan for keeping the kids busy in lines made our trip much more fun.

Hotel Fun with a Preschooler

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My husband is working in Colombia this summer, so Buddy and I took two different week long trips there. We spent time every day sightseeing, but we still had a long amount of time in the hotel. Here’s a list of some of the things we did to have fun while in the hotel room.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Build Something

On our first trip, I brought train tracks, duplos, and these duplo train track pieces, which were a new surprise for Buddy. He had a blast constructing different arrangements with the blocks and tracks. It was a great way to make well loved toys feel like new. We also brought magnatiles with us on both trips.

Washi Tape Roads and Bridges

Buddy and I used washi tape to make roads and folded construction paper to make bridges. I intended for it to be for Buddy’s cars, but he wanted to use it as a runway for his planes instead. (Read more about this activity here.)

Coloring and Activity Books

I bought some new coloring books from the dollar store before this trip. Buddy especially loves the puzzles and activities in them. I also purchased some dry erase activity books from Usborne, which is what is pictured above. (We got the dinosaur wipe clean book and the big activity book.)

Play Games

Buddy loves to play games, so of course we always bring them when we travel. I bought a book of 5 board games (Spin and Play Counting Games) to bring with us on this trip. This book was awesome because it had two dice as spinners in the spine, and it was great practice with adding, counting, and reading numbers. Buddy also brought his favorite game, Sequence for Kids, which I packed in a gallon ziplock. We also brought travel bingo, Toy Story Uno, Cars and Trucks card game, and Disney Eye Found It (which we call the Mickey game).

Draw on the Windows

I brought washable dry erase markers for Buddy’s activity books, and we used them to make pictures on the windows. We looked outside and drew the things we saw. Buddy loved this so much that we did it multiple times on both trips! (Read more about this activity here.)

Read Books

Buddy loves to read, and we brought a bunch of books with us. Sometimes we would take the whole pile and cuddle up in bed and read. Hotel beds are so cozy and comfortable for reading.

Play with a Balloon

I meant to bring one from home, but I forgot. Fortunately we were staying at the most amazing hotel that gave Buddy two different balloons during long waits in the lobby. This one kept Buddy entertained for a very long time. We just hit it back and forth all over the place.

Make a Fort

Buddy made a fort on his own when I was in the bathroom. This is how I found him!

Put Together Puzzles

I bought a couple puzzles from the dollar store to put together in the hotel. I also got this nicer one, which was magnetic and had two different puzzles. The magnetic one was also great for doing on the plane.

Play Mats

Before our second trip, I decided to bring printed train mats and Thomas mini trains. Buddy loved having wooden train tracks with us on our first trip, but the printouts were much easier to bring and he was just as happy.

I was worried before our trip that I would feel cooped up in the hotel room, but Buddy and I had a lot of fun! By the end of our time there, it began to feel like home.

Portable Train Tracks Busy Bag

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Buddy loves playing with trains and setting up train tracks. When I saw the idea of a portable train set on Play Train’s blog, I knew it’d be perfect for our upcoming trip. We were planning to spend a lot of time on airplanes, and portable train tracks sounded like a great way to keep Buddy busy.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

I started by getting a handful of jumbo craft sticks, a sharpie, and a ruler. Then, I drew the train tracks on the sticks, and I used the ruler to make my lines nice and straight. I decided to make 10 sticks so Buddy would have a lot of different options when setting up the tracks. Once the tracks were finished, I added three of Buddy’s mini trains. The portable train set on Play Train’s blog included felt background pieces and pipe cleaner trees. However, when I asked Buddy about making these, he wasn’t interested.

Buddy was very excited when I offered to pull out his portable train set on the plane. We set up two squares with 8 of the sticks, and then we added a couple extra lines of track. Buddy had a lot of fun making his trains go around the track.

We did have a slight problem because the popsicle sticks slid around a bit on the tray table. Before our next trip, I’ll add a piece of felt to go under it to help make it more stable. Otherwise, it was a great activity that kept Buddy busy on a long flight.

Do you have any other busy bag ideas for our next trip? If so, please share your ideas in the comment section.

Drawing on Windows

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My husband is working abroad this summer, and Buddy and I recently flew to Colombia to see him. I knew before we left that we’d have a lot of down time in our hotel. When I was looking for ideas, something that made me very excited was Coffee and Carpool’s blog on hotel activities. I especially loved the idea of drawing on the windows with dry erase markers.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Before I offered the idea of drawing on the windows with dry erase markers, I tested it on a small part of the window, to make sure it would erase easily. We used Crayola washable dry erase markers. All dry erase markers should work for this activity, but I like the peace of mind with washable markers in general. If they get on something else besides the window, I know it will be easy to remove the stain.

Buddy and I both took a marker, and we looked out the window. We drew pictures of what we saw outside, such as cars, busses, trees, and bicycles. Then we drew everything else we could think of. I offered to play tic-tac-toe on the window, but Buddy just wanted to draw.

Buddy is not always into artsy things, but he had the best time with the activity. He drew happily for 50 minutes the first time we did this activity. The next day he wanted to do it again, and it lasted 30 minutes. Both times we did this, we erased our drawings with a Kleenex when we were done. Some parts took a little effort to erase, but overall, it was pretty easy to clean up.

Dry erase markers will be a regular part of our travel activities in the future. They take almost no space to pack, and they are so much fun! Do you have any other fun ideas for travel activities? Please share in the comments.

DIY Roads and Tunnels

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Buddy loves all sorts of transportation vehicles – cars, trucks, trains, and especially planes. We are traveling a lot this summer, and I’ve done a lot of research for activities to do with Buddy while traveling or at our location. I saw two different activities that inspired this one. First, I saw how to make easy paper tunnels on Mama.Papa.Bubba’s blog. Then, I found the idea for making tape roads on Learn To Play at Home’s blog. Together, they made for a great, stay in our hotel room activity.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Before we left on vacation, I bought two rolls of washi tape at the dollar store. You can find similar tape here. I also brought some construction paper and kid friendly scissors. I cut one piece of paper into four sections, and then we were ready to go.

I showed Buddy how to put the tape down on the floor, and he was so excited. My original intention was to make a road, but of course Buddy wanted to make a taxiway and runway for his toy airplanes. We wound the tape all over the floor, and we each did one roll of tape. Then, I started putting up the tunnels. I folded the edges of the paper into flaps, and then I used the washi tape to tape the flaps down.

Once our airport was set up, Buddy and I took turns driving our planes around the taxiway and then taking off and flying around our hotel room. It was a great way to keep him entertained while we were stuck inside for the afternoon.

Do you have any other great ideas for travel activities? Please share in the comments.

Road Trip Activities for a Three Year Old

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My family loves to travel, and we traveled a ton this summer. Over the course of ten weeks, we took two airplane trips and four road trips. I’ve already blogged about the airplane activities we did with Buddy here.

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We did two big road trips (6 hours and 7.5 hours) and two small road trips (3 hours each) this summer. For all of the road trips, I set up a shoebox of activities, and I tied it to Buddy’s car seat. I always bring an empty reusable grocery sack in the car so that our toys can come into our destination to entertain Buddy. For the longer trips, I throw a few extra activities in the bag that can be handed back to Buddy as needed.

Here are the things I packed to entertain Buddy on our road trips:

Little people Disney characters and animals – Buddy loves playing with little characters, and he’s lately been very into his Disney ones.

Little Look and Find books – Buddy’s loved look and finds for a long time. I bought a set of four mini look and find books, and we only use them for road trips. They are my favorite thing to bring because they keep him entertained for a long time.

Small board books – The board books at the dollar store are great because they are slim, but still sturdy. We also have this Thomas the train set of four board books and they are the perfect size for travel.

Water Wow – These are reusable paint with water books that are no mess, and dry clear so they can be used again. There is also a look and find aspect to them. We have a bunch, and they are great!

Reusable Stickers – This Melissa and Doug Pet Shop Puffy Sticker Book lives in our diaper bag, and it’s amazing! The puffy stickers are easy for Buddy to peel on his own, and there are a ton of pages to choose to put the animals. Best of all, it’s reusable! We also like Colorforms, which are flat reusable vinyl stickers and can often be found at the dollar store.

Dinosaurs – We always bring a ziplock bag with a few small dinosaurs with us when we travel. Originally, we just used a set from the dollar store. But Buddy got this set last Easter, and they’re much nicer.

Thomas Mini Trains – Buddy has loved Thomas the Train for a long time, and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. The minis are awesome because every set comes with a lot of trains. We have a bunch, and we take 4-5 with us on all of our trips.

Cars – Buddy loves cars, and there are always a ton of great ones at the dollar store. We have a Lightning McQueen car that travels with us often. Buddy got this pull back set of cars in his Easter eggs last year, and we always have them in our diaper bag. (I even have one in my purse!)

Planes – Yes, we need a variety of vehicles wherever we go. I actually would love to get some smaller travel friendly ones, because Buddy is really into planes right now. This set of small planes looks great for travel.

Nuts and Bolts – We have a toddler nuts and bolts set, and I usually just toss a couple in our car box. It’s a different type of activity from “playing pretend” that Buddy does with his cars or animals.

Magnadoodle – We have this Doodle Pro that we love. When we left it behind at my dad’s house, we bought one from the dollar store, which also works well.

Follow Me Finger Maze book – I came across this book a week before our longest car trip, and I bought it because it looked like something that would entertain him for a long time. I’m so glad I did. It’s not a small book, but it is great to put in the big bag to pass back. It is a board book with grooved paths where an animal goes through different setting (city, forest, ocean, etc.). Buddy asked his Nana to read this book over and over when we were visiting her. There is a world version and holiday versions of this book, and I’m definitely tempted to get another one.

Small stuffed animals – We love Teeny Tys for travel sized animal fun.

Squishy toys

Finger puppets

Magnets and tin – We have brought a cake pan and magnets for long road trips in the past. This summer, we used a small metal tin with some magnetic letters in it. (Read more about our magnetic letter busy bag here.)

Duplos – Buddy loves his Duplos so much he tried to smuggle them in both Hubby and my suitcases on one of our summer trips. For some of our trips, I brought specific ones so they will make the pictures in our Duplo Busy Bag (read more and get the free printable here). And for some trips, I just gave Buddy a ziplock and let him throw some blocks in.

Happy meal toys

Busy bags – I have some sewing cards from the dollar store and popsicle sticks with velcro dots on the end that I put in a bag. I have also done crazy straws with felt squares to push onto it.

Travel binder with crayons and stickers – This is another one that I have to pass back on longer trips. I love puffy stickers from the dollar store because they are easy for Buddy to put on himself.

Custom photo books – Buddy is really into planes, and since Hubby works for an airline, he knows a lot about planes. Hubby put together two photo albums worth of planes and airlines pictures with information about each one. He made them in Power Point and saved them as jpegs. I had them printed at Walgreens and put them in cheap, flexible photo albums. But you could make one about anything your child is interested in. I plan to do another one with pictures and autographs after we go to Disney World.

Kindle and headphones – We love the Kindle Fire for long car trips and for traveling in the dark. Buddy has these Kidz Gear headphones and likes them a lot.

Buddy loves playing games, so I’m going to link our favorite travel games here. We actually don’t play them in the car because I get car sick if I’m in the backseat or turning around too much. However, they would be great in the car for other families. We play them on planes and take them with us to play at our destination on road trips.

We also bring a ton of snacks on road trips, and they help a lot as well. I let Buddy help pick the snacks for our longest car trip, and his choices surprised me a bit (grapes and fruit snacks). It was great having things he liked it in the car to help us get through to our next stop.

We have three more road trips coming up in the next two months. Can you think of anything we should bring with us? Please share in comments if you have ideas.

Magnetic Letters Busy Bag

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One of my summer goals is to help Buddy learn his letters. So far, he has been very interested in letters and getting pretty good at identifying capital letters. Buddy has also been interested in reading and writing words. He knows how to spell his first name, as well as Mom and Dad. Since he often asks how to spell other family members’ names, I put together a magnetic letter busy bag for him.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

My original inspiration for this busy bag was on I Heart Crafty Things’s Blog. She used a metal pencil box for her words, but I just used an old tin box that I had around the house. (This pencil box and this metal tin would both work well if you’re looking for something to buy.)

I wrote down the names of different people in our family on large popsicle sticks. Since Buddy loves animals, I decided to also include the words cat and dog. I Heart Crafty Things used hot glue to add magnetic adhesive to her sticks, but I didn’t. My tin is a little too narrow to have the word under the letters in the tin. We just set the sticks on the floor and then spelled in the tray. Then I found all of the necessary letters from our magnetic letters set, and then the busy bag was finished.

I put this box in the car for our road trip to see my dad, and Buddy was so excited! He played with it in the car and at Granddad’s house as well. Buddy feels like a reader because he knows just enough to figure out what each word says. (For example, he knows both Dad and dog start with d. And since he knows how to spell Dad, he knows the other d word in the kit is dog.)

We brought this kit on our first airplane trip this summer, and I’m sure it will continue to travel with us for awhile. Buddy really enjoys it, and we sometimes use it at our house as well. I plan to switch out a few words once Buddy is ready for more challenge.

Do you have any other ideas for busy bags? Please share in the comments.

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Airplane Activities for a Three Year Old

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My family loves to travel, and since I’m a teacher, we always travel a lot during the summer. Since it’s been awhile since we’ve flown with Buddy, I spent a lot of time looking for new activities for this trip.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

This trip was our first airplane trip since Buddy turned three. Before Buddy was two, we always flew with him on our laps. But we worried about his carseat getting lost when we checked it, so once he had his own seat, we brought it onto the plane. (We always travel with our Evenflo Tribute LX, which I would recommend. It is cheap and only weighs 9 pounds!) Buddy loved having his own seat and we had the peace of mind knowing that it wouldn’t get lost. However, it prevented him from using the seat tray or reaching the window, so it limited some of our activities.

Now that Buddy is three, we could finally buy the Ride Safer Travel Vest. We literally have waited years for Buddy to use this vest instead of a car seat for traveling. It adjusts the car seat belt so that it hits his body correctly, making it just as safe as a regular car seat. We used it for the first time on this trip, and we loved it! It was so great not having a carseat as we navigated the airport. It also let me bring activities that used the seat tray and window again.

Here are the things I packed to keep Buddy entertained on the plane:

  • Duplos – Buddy is really into his Duplos recently. In fact, he wanted them brought on this trip so much that he snuck blocks into both my bag and Hubby’s as well! I brought a quart sized bag worth onto the plane. I made some small pictures of things to build for another trip, and I brought those too. (Read more about my Duplo Busy Bag and get the free printable here.)
  • Bingo game – I bought this for Buddy’s Easter basket. He loves the game Zingo, and I thought he’d enjoy a bingo game. He loved it, and played about 10 games a day during our trip!
  • Snakes and Ladders Magnetic game – I bought this right before our trip, because I wanted another travel game to play with Buddy. He enjoyed it, but he didn’t quite have the attention span to play the game all the way until the end. This will probably be great in a year or so.
  • Disney Eye Found It card game – I first saw this game on a list of things to keep you busy in line at Walt Disney World. It’s the perfect game for us because I love all things Disney and Buddy loves look and finds. We played this a lot on the plane, and on the trip.
  • Spot it game – There are a bunch of versions of this, which all look great. We have the Disney Planes one that also has letters. It’s fun because Buddy loves the Planes movie and it’s great alphabet practice. It is also easy to play with just one person or with a whole group.
  • Thomas the train minis and play mat – Buddy loves everything related to Thomas the train. We have several sets of the minis, and they are perfect for travel. For this trip, I decided to print and laminate some train tracks. I gave him a couple options, but he especially loved this free zoo train printable from In Our Pond.
  • Stickers
  • Paperback books and magazines – I love paperback books for travel because they don’t take up much space. We subscribe to High Five, and it’s great to have a lot of new stories to read and puzzles to do.
  • Hidden pictures sticker book – Buddy loves look and finds, so I was excited to find this sticker book with hidden pictures. It was a lot of fun, and it will last us a long time.
  • Playdoh and tools – I missed having this as a travel option when Buddy was in his car seat. He was very excited to have a chance to play with Play doh on the plane. I brought some tiny tools to go along with it. We have these and the small ones in this kit were great.
  • Window clings – I also missed this when Buddy was in the car seat. These are usually available at the dollar store, but this set of letter window clings looks fun.
  • Crayons and paper
  • Wikisticks
  • Small dinosaurs – Buddy loves dinosaurs and he helped decide which ones from this set came with us on the trip.
  • Kindle and headphones – We only let Buddy use our Kindle Fire on trips, which makes it extra special. I load it up with some videos, apps, and books before we leave. I especially love checking out new library ebooks to have new reading material for Buddy that doesn’t take up extra space. We have these Kids Gear Headphones, which have worked well for us.
  • Reusable stickers – We love colorforms, and we have a couple different sets. They are reusable vinyl stickers, and they take up almost no space. I bought Melissa and Doug Reusable Puffy Sticker sets for Buddy’s Easter basket, and they were great when we had a long delay at the airport.
  • Magnadoodle – We have this travel sized Doodle Pro, which is a lot of fun. So much fun, in fact, that when we left it behind at my dad’s house we bought another one at the dollar store. The Doodle Pro is much nicer, but when our suitcase is pretty full, the smaller dollar store one is great too.
  • Teeny Tys – Buddy loves all stuffed animals, and he always gets to take one of our smaller sized ones with us. I love bringing his Teeny Tys on trips because they are so small and a lot of fun.
  • Water Wow– These are reusable paint with water pads, that are not messy at all. We have a bunch of them, and we rotate them for different trips. When we fly, I leave the water pen empty and then fill it later with a water bottle. These also have a look and find aspect, which just makes it even more fun.
  • Snacks – I am a firm believer in over packing, especially when it comes to snacks on airplanes. On this trip, our plane left on time but we ended up diverted due to storms and stuck in an airport for several hours. It was late enough that all of the restaurants were closed and we had to have snacks instead of dinner.

We still have a couple more car and plane trips ahead of us this summer. If you have any other fun ideas for travel activities, please share in the comments.

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