Activities for the Plane

I’ve just about finished packing the kids’ goodie bags full of fun activities and treats for the plane. 

The dollar shop is a great place to find small toys and games.  A travel version of Trouble and a spiralgraph set should keep the girls busy for a bit.  The boys will like the squishy balls and toy helicopter.  The bags are filled with coloring books and crayons, story books, colorful pens and snacks. 

For the girls I made homemade activity books.  I printed some coloring pages I found online. I made tic-tac-toe, make-a-square and hangman game pages.  There are color photos of some of their favorite rides in Disney, wordsearches and math worksheets (yes, they actually choose to do these on vacation!).  The girls are interesting in learning more about the atmosphere and weather.  I think an airplane is a great place to study these – when you’re out there IN it!  I included pages about the atmosphere and clouds in their books.  Hopefully the weather will be good and the girls will be able to spot many different types of clouds on the way to Florida.

Finally, I’ve packed up supplies for my favorite airplane activity – painting!  I find that painting keeps the kids’ attention longer than coloring.  Back before 9/11, I would just bring a small, child-sized water bottle with us.  Now I have to bring the water bottles empty and fill it in the restroom just before we board.  Huggies disposable changing pads are the perfect surface for painting – the back is waterproof and the top surface is absorbant.  Small children do well with ‘paint with water’ books like the one I’ve packed for Zee.  In addition to those, the girls will also get a few watercolors and several small sheets of paper to create their own mini-masterpieces.

Just about everything is packed now…. except for clothing.  With our trip quickly approaching, I’d better get to it!