toys on a plane for the under 5 set
Monday, December 21st, 2009
On this last (18 hour) flight from Johannesburg to JFK, I was prepared with a vast array of distractions for the kids, everything from child-sized headphones (good), sticker books (so-so), leapfrog leapsters (good), leapfrog tag books (great), coloring/activity books (great), magnetic dress-up dolls (useless), and various bits of Dora and Bakugan paraphernalia (not bad).
The surprise run-away winner for both for my almost 5-year-old boy and my 2 1/2-year-old girl was the Fisher Price Trio. Snapping the pieces together is odding satisfying, and the parts are just big enough not to get lost. After kids have been on a plane for several hours, it’s about all the concentration they can handle. I am definitely hiding this until the next plane trip and buying the deluxe version.
If you do bring child or adult headphones, note that you should buy a 2-prong adapter jack for the airplane just in case. They are just a few dollars and are sold in every airport gadget store.