Travel Activity Packs

October 10th, 2022

I’d mentioned my wife puts together these great activity packs when we travel to keep our kids engaged. Whether its at a restaurant (so we have peace and quiet), in a car, or a train but mostly on planes. I’ve tried to convince her to sell them – but to no avail.

The packs get adjusted based on the mode of transport, and if we’re on a bigger trip, she’ll keep activities back, to keep them fresh and engaged with new things. And everything is washable.

On our recent trip they included things like:

  • Lego dot bracelet, that they put together on the plane. Aldi/Lego.
  • Dinosaur figurine, which they constructed and put stickers on. From FlyingTigerCopenhagen.
  • Happy Meal toys, can source from eBay.
  • Water pen books, you fill a pen with water, and they can paint in the picture. Endless re-use. Or Magic Ink books, but they’re single use. Water Wow by Melissa and Doug. Or FlyingTiger has some.
  • Scratch & reveal books. From FlyingTigerCopenhagen.
  • A small pencil case, with a mini notebook and washable crayola crayons. And usually some stickers, to go in the book.
  • A new book to read.
  • Reusable sticker books.
  • Miniature soft toys, or small plastic animals (like insects, bugs). Matchbox car. A little toy to play with, that’s also quiet.
  • Magnetic dress up like Petite Collage.

When they were smaller:

  • Something can put stuff in/out of, zip ouch, with pom poms, in/out of. Or old wallet, with coffee cards for in/out. Old milk bottle, miniature pegs and colorful rainbow erasers in/out.
  • Threading games.
  • The plane itself yields a few activities, plastic cups, the flight safety manual, sick bags, blanket or headphones.
  • Busy books.

When they’re a bit bigger:

  • Mini pots of play dough.
  • Travel magnet games, like snakes & ladders.
  • Mini pick up sticks.

Initially she used oversized travel document holders (A4 size) that had buttons to close to store these in. Then once they were bigger, a drawstring bag each, with their names sewn on. And we also put their headphones in each of their bags.

Most of these items cost $1-$5 each, so are not terribly expensive. Some of the magnet/reusable stickers can be a bit more pricey but they last for years. Dollar stores are good places to look to fill out the bag – stickers & small toys. Ebay. And then Amazon. Aldi often has little toys as well in their weekly specials if one is nearby.

The bags will also have snacks or treats in them. Something they like and something new.



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