12+ Toddler Plane Activities to Entertain Your Little One

If you’re going to be flying with a toddler anytime soon, you have come to the right place. I have taken our toddler on many trips, including an international one to Iceland. We have survived and actually enjoyed all of them. She has been a great traveler since she was 6 weeks old, and we have found a lot of things to keep her occupied on the plane. These toddler plane activities will help you and your toddler have the best possible flights together.

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Quick Tips for Flying with a Toddler

  • Try to relax. I get that flying with a toddler can be extremely stressful. But everything is harder if you’re stressed. And your kiddo can sense it too. Deep breaths, you’ve got this.
  • Have all your documents (passport, drivers license, boarding passes, etc.) ready and easily accessible.
  • It’s worth it to have TSA Precheck. Your kiddo can come with you, you don’t have to remove your shoes, and it’s typically faster.
  • Don’t forget any important items. Keep a Packing List on your phone and check it right before you walk out the door.
  • Talk to your toddler about the travel day ahead of time. Explain that they need to listen really well in the airport, tell them we have to use quiet voices on the plane, and let them know that they’ll have to be buckled in on the plane. I promise it makes a difference.
  • Get to the airport early but not tooooo early. Leave room for bathroom trips, etc., but try not to spend an extra hour or two in an airport with your toddler.
  • Let your kiddo walk a lot before your board your flight. They’ll be sitting for the duration of the plane ride, so it’s nice to let them move their legs before it.
  • Read all my Toddler Travel Tips ahead of time.
  • Don’t worry about screen time. Just worry about keeping your toddler happy. But I do recommend saving the tablet until later in the flight. Once our little one is watching something, she typically doesn’t want to switch to a book or toy, so I try to exhaust all these other toddler plane activities first.

Now to The Toddler Plane Activities:

mom and toddler on plane

Here we are enjoying a 3 hour flight together 🙂

Small Wrapped New Toys

Toddlers love unwrapping gifts, and whatever is inside will feel more special to them. Wrap small toys and give them to your toddler when you’re on the plane. You can use the dollar store for these!

Play Doh

We usually bring 2-3 containers of play doh and the little play doh knife and that’s sufficient. It’s small to pack, cheap, and easy to play with on the tray table.

Snacks

Yes, snacks count as a toddler plane activity. Bring something new that you wouldn’t normally give your kiddo, and they’ll find it exciting. Try not to do too much sugar, though. Nobody wants a hyper toddler on a plane. We use these hard-to-spill snack containers.

You can also play games with your snacks. Pack some puffs and count them, hide them in your hand and have your toddler guess which one they’re in, or pretend to feed a stuffed animal if you brought one.

Poke-a-Dot Book

These books are always entertaining for our little one. I’ve worried about how loud the popping noise is, but the white noise from the plane usually drowns it out.

Play I Spy

No items required for this one. Tell your toddler you spy different colored items, let them guess, and then have them spy new items.

Magazine

We were gifted a Highlights Magazine subscription, and they really entertain our toddler. If you just want one, try a local thrift store. They’re lighter weight than full books and have more activities than just stories in them.

A Favorite Book

I’d limit the number of books you bring because they can get heavy. But if you have one that always calms your kiddo, bring it.

Drawing Tablet/Drawing Board

We have a cheap magnetic drawing board that our toddler loves, but I know they sell fancier ones too. You don’t have to worry about a mess, and your little one can get creative.

Reveal a Picture Water Books

These little books only require water, so they won’t make much of a mess. As they color the picture with water, the images appear.

Fidget Popper

These are cheap and lightweight – may or may not entertain your toddler for long.

The Plane Window

Pulling the window shade up and down can entertain your kiddo at times. And make sure you look out the window to spot trees, other planes, clouds, etc.

Sticker Book(s)

My goodness do toddlers love stickers. We usually bring a reusable sticker book and a regular one. These keep our kiddo distracted for quite a while.

Paper and Washable Markers

We bring good ol’ computer paper and washable markers. Color with them. And have wipes to clean up any stray marker drawings 🙂

Toddler Headphones

They make headphones that limit how loud they get, so you protect your little one’s ears.

A Tablet with Toddler Activities

Download a movie or TV episodes or toddler games ahead of time. Save this activity for last 🙂

We just use a regular kindle for now. We may get her a kids’ tablet at some point, but we haven’t done that yet. If you have recommendations, let me know in the comments!

Portable Charger

For your phone and tablet. You don’t want to run out of battery in the middle of a long flight.

Toddler Plane Activities

These toddler plane activities are what help us to survive flights, but please let me know if there is anything I missed! I’m always looking for new ways to have an enjoyable time on the plane with our toddler.

Happy Toddler Travel!

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