Getting Ready For Spring Break Travel

I have headphones with a splitter for my two daughters when traveling. The two headsets merge together into one jack. Brilliant! http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F8V234-WHT-APL-Headphone-Splitter/dp/B0000UV2AW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298923182&sr=8-1

As long as the kids are sitting right next to each other, they make earphoes that splice so there are two sets of earbuds. They are relatively inexpensive, and perfect for two people watching movies on a computer at the same time (my friend and I used to do this on the train).

My most useful suggestion would be a dose of a non-drowsy antihistamine before leaving. My daughter had terrible ear pain on every flight despite all the usual remedies such as gum and candy and sucking - every try to describe to a 5 year old how to pop their ears..yeah..kinda of hard to do. Finally on one flight a physician suggested giving her an antihistamine to dry up the fluid in her ears. She does this before every flight now(she is 19!) and has never had problems that a little gum doesn't help.

Oh I wish I had that car seat/stroller back in those days and I think you have entertainment covered!

We liked to make our own color/workbooks that were personalized for each child. We went online and printed coloring sheets, dot-to-dots, color-by-number, word searches, kids suduko, etc that were themes that the kids liked. The kids were a part of choosing the pages. Be sure to also include some lined paper and plain paper. We put the pages in a 3 prong pocket folder and wrote the child's name on the cover. Then get a pencil pouch and enclose colored pencils, crayons, pencils, fun erasers and stickers. (Don't forget the stickers!) On the trip they can decorate the cover of their folder. Also encourage them to put some stickers at the top of a page and write a story about them. They loved having their special workbooks!
Also...Colorforms are great for little ones! (If they still make them.)
Have a wonderful trip!

I've traveled a lot with my daugher (now 12 years old). When she was younger, sticker books were a big hit. We have a store called Half Price books here in Houston where I'd get the books. The ones she liked the best were thematic. So, for example, there was a book of animals that had scenes and then spots for animal stickers to be added. She had to look at the shape of the spot for the sticker on the scene page and then find the sticker that would go in the spot. I hope this makes sense. The book store had all kinds of sticker books like this-we did animals, dinosaurs, countries, flags, etc. My daughter loved these books.

you can purchase a headphone splitter... i have two different kinds.. one is a wire that splits into two. the other looks like an octopus.. it plugs in and can split to at least 4 different headphones.

good luck

Two words: wiki stix! They are wonderful for travel. You can make so many creative things with them, but they are not messy. My kiddos loved them. Most independent toy stores have them in their craft section. Have fun!

Both Both my recommendations have all ready been suggested but I thouhgt I would throw them out there for another "vote" of toddler entertainment. We traveled at Christmas with a 1 and 2 year old. They LOVED the "I Spy Bags", I saw some on Etsy that were super cute but I just went ahead and made my own. Stickers was the other hit, my older daughter enjoys the sticker books that you match a stick up to the silhouette of the object. My younger one can't get enough of those colored dot stickers. We put them all over our bodies (blue dot on your elbow), sticker twister if you will :) Good luck! I've sworn off flying since they've changed the security stuff which is hard with family across the country and a mom who was a flight attendant (so lots of travel growing up).

Hi Ali

Whenever I travelled with my kids I took this book with us. There are endless possibilities and stories to discuss.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Choose-Pippa-Goodhart/dp/0552547085/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298929658&sr=1-1

I also wrap up small gifts for them and produce them along the journey (either going or returning). They get so excited to have a present to unwrap!

Have a great holiday.

I can't help you with travels ideas. It sounds like you've got it pretty well covered. I only traveled alone with my daughter once when she was 11 months. She was just walking and I was trying to keep her wrangled along with the luggage. But someone mentioned the I-Spy books. If Simon has a Nintendo DS there is an I-Spy Fun House game by Scholastic that might be fun too. I think it is only about $20. I think you can order it from them like you get the Scholastic books at school.

Ali, you might have to buy a spliter for headphones (like at radioshack). Typically, it plugs into the computer and then the headphones plug into that. We just used it on a plane trip and it worked great. Good luck!

before our annual trip to the outer banks, my grandma would pack us a bag of new gadgets and toys. sounds like you have it covered with the old and new books + some new little toys. safe travels and happy trails!

Oh, and I found that my toddler got WAY to warm on the plane. We ended up pulling off socks and shoes during the trip and that helped. Also, plan on lots of walking at the airports.

TARGET - On the back wall with the hanging card style games is a padded pack of tear off games: Hangman/Tic Tac Toe/Dots and squares. I keep these in the glove box of the car and brng them out for resturant stops. They are small enough to put in your bag for quick a "go to" short entertainment.

The Great (animal/dinosaur/Undersea/History/City) Search books from Usborne. They are these great awesome books I got from Usborne books a gazillion years ago when my boys were tiny. Now they are 19/13. But are so so worn out and loved. Great for trips. Each double page spread shows a very engaging colorful scene full of the topic and you have to find a certain # of each kind. For instance in The Great Animal Search, first page is Back in Time emphasis in North America million years ago. Got to find 6 Dromaeosaurus, and lots more. What you need to find is depicted around the large scene. The ones we love best are illustrated by Ian Jackson. They are not heavy, they are soft-bound ~50 pages oversize. Would easily fit in knapsack. Mine are taped up all over the binding. (saving for grandkids in distant future).

Sounds like you have lots of good ideas! Since my 5 year old does not chew gum, I take ring pops for her to suck on during the descent to help her ears.

Model magic by crayola. It is non toxic. Its great for fine motor skills & artsy play. It won't get into the carpet or seats like playdoh. you can mix then for different color combinations. My kids knew this was a special plane treat & totally loved it.

I remember when I was little my mom had a magic purple bag for my brother and I (kind of reminiscent of Barney). Whenever she could tell we were getting antsy, she would pull a new surprise (legos, playmobil, candy, activity book, travel board game, puzzle... etc) out of the bag. Each new surprise would last us for awhile, until it was time to replace it with a new one!

Good luck with your trip!! Hope to see some pics taken by the kids - kid pics always have such a great perspective. So fun to see the world through their eyes! :)

Hi Ali, my youngest is five, so I'm not sure anymore about coloring books for that age. My girls love making fingerprint pictures with washable ink pads. I can't remember if they were doing this at two or not. But the Ed Emberley books are awesome!

http://www.amazon.com/Emberleys-Complete-Funprint-Drawing-Book/dp/0316174483/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1298938008&sr=8-4

And I don't know if Simon is into science, but the Fetch with Ruff Ruffman series on PBS is AWESOME. Sooo entertaining and educational. My 3rd grader is really into this. There are 5 seasons I think and available on iTunes. They are part animated, part educational challenges with real kids, and part reality show. The kids earn points on the challenges, and a winner is declared at the end of the season. SUCH a cool show. I bought Season 1 for my girls, and they watch it on my ipod when we are doing any extensive waiting around.

Good luck to you!! I hope you enjoy your time off.

We recently had this gal come to speak at our MOPS group...lots of great tips: http://www.jetwithkids.com/about_ourStory.html

Next time you should extend your stay a bit and do a class or workshop or something! I live in NC - can you tell?

My travel tip is always lots of empty ziploc bags but you have that already!