Flight entertainment for 2.5 y/o?

[romigu]

We have a 3 hour direct flight next week and I want to go prepared. The last time we flew 6 months ago, he was not very impressed with the stickers, books, coloring books, mini puzzles I had for him. He is more into TV now so I'm going to download his favorite movie (Cars) and also download Frozen (is it out yet??) since he loves singing Let it Go.
But I feel like there's those days that TV doesn't entertain him at all - it would be really annoying for that day to be the one we fly and i would like a plan B. Suggestions?

[jr009j]

DH just flew with DD and said the best thing was just a constant stream of entertainment. They used the Brain Quest flashcards, looked out the window, read books etc. I recommend lollipops (they put DD into a trance) and temporary tattoos as easy entertainment.

[pugz]

snacks, shows, more snacks, more shows

[scribellesam]

I bought a set of small construction trucks to keep in my bag that my 2yo really enjoyed playing with on the plane. I also bought a couple new little toys and wrapped them. When we were really at a loss, I'd bust out a surprise for him to open and the new thing kept him entertained for 15-20 minutes.

[ryry]

I typically buy a bunch of stuff at the dollar bins in Target. Stickers, window gels, slinkies, notepads, crayons...they would all hold DD1's interest for short periods of time. I've heard people recommend that wrapping everything so your LO has a bunch of 'presents' to open, and the unwrapping adds a bit of time to each activity. I've also brought blue painters tape and let DD1 go to town with that. I have no idea why it's fun, but she enjoyed it.

At that age DD1's favorite movie was The Lorax. Cars still holds little interest for her, and I can't figure out why--I thought she'd love it! The first few times we watched Frozen she wasn't very interested and it took a couple of months for her to actually see most of the movie. Can you download episodes of Curious George or Dora or something like that? DD1's attention span is not awesome for movies (she's almost 3.5 now).

[caramia17]

We do Daniel Tiger episodes and apps as well as movies as she gets antsy sometimes with a long movie. I also bring books and stickers. And lots of snacks.

[megs193]

I like to go to the dollar store and then wrap all the new things. It makes it more exciting and is a few more minutes of entertainment. Some examples of things we get:

1. Sticker books
2. Coloring book with a few oversized crayons
3. New hot wheels cars
4. Lots of snacks
5. Dum dum lollipops
6. Puzzle ( I found an Abc one made of rubber at the dollar store)
7. iPad with shows downloaded from iTunes and monkey preschool lunchbox app ( perfect for 2 year olds)
8. Animal figurines

Good luck! We have to fly 5 hours to see my parents and the only thing that gets me through it is knowing we can hand then off to nana and papa as soon as we get there.

[Deleted]

Lots of good recommendations here already, so I won't repeat those. As far as movies, DS is 2.5 and he loves The Jungle Book, Finding Nemo, and the Toy Story movies. Jungle Book is his favorite, the songs keep him really entertained.

ETA: oh, OH and a box of Band-Aids. DS looooves to open band-aids and stick it on a "boo boo" on a toy or the dog. I bet if I sat next to him on a plane and let him put Band-Aids on me, he would be in heaven. I'm sure a whole box would keep him occupied for a loooong time. You could get character-themed ones, and talk about each character to kill more time.

[lilac05]

In addition to what has been mentioned:

Pipe cleaners (they take up no space & weigh nothing, but you can spend a long time creating things with them!)
Color Wonder markers
A new book (bonus if it's a flap book)

I always hit Dollar Tree before a trip on a plane.

[Deleted]

I hit the Dollar Store for fun new stuff to keep her quiet on our long road trips and church.
For us the key is just a constant stream of different stuff.

Things that haven't been suggested:
Mini lego kits, mini playdoh.
Magic Ink Books (cheaper than color wonder, same difference)
Dollar Tree has mini stampers she can do on paper and are easy to transport as the ink is built in.

A new app/game will also entrance my kid longer than a show.

[sparty04]

We downloaded some puzzle apps on our kindle that DS likes. He can do most of them at age 2

[Ashley&Scott]

M loves playing the app Toca Train at the library. It's $2.99.

Books, movies, stickers, color wonder travel pad

[romigu]

Thanks everyone! The flight went very well. I bought mini puzzles, stickers, snacks and downloaded frozen and cars. Surprisingly, the movies didn't hold his attention as well as the toys but we survived. The drama happened at the airport when we were held up by TSA because of my metal ring on my SBP sling and DS1 threw a tantrum on the floor of the little containment room. Then he opened the emergency door at the gate and set off the horrible emergency alarm and we were mean mugged by the entire flight of people waiting.