Flying on vacation? Remember the toys for the plane!
I don't know how it was for you, but before I had children in my life, the only thing I was interested in before a plane trip was how many meals would be on board and where the stewardess and my wine were. Two children later, I am mainly interested in how long the flight lasts, whether there is a sleeping basket for infants on board, and how much stopwatches cost for the other passengers.
My daughter first flew on a plane when she was two months old and it was her best trip - she slept through the whole thing including the airport check-in. Later, however, she stopped sleeping around the clock and I had to come up with a few tricks to keep her occupied during the trip if she wasn't sleeping.
Stacking tower
Before traveling, it's best to stock up on some new toys that your child will only see on the plane. One such toy is the Janod Pyramid, which consists of 10 stackable cubes. 10 cubes is just the right amount for a child to occupy for half an hour and as many as a parent will be able to find later on the plane. Just spread the table on the backrest, sit the child on your lap and a moment of peace and quiet assured.
Oogi Bongo creative toy
Oogi is a creative toy that consists of a head and two legs on suction cups. Thanks to the suction cups, the child can attach the Ooga to the window, the backrest in front of him or the armrest - and he won't be able to attach it to the head of the passenger in front of us.
Oogi Bongo's cousin is Oogi Junior Glow. This model also has suction cups, it's malleable and you can fly it out of the plane - plus it glows in the dark! So if your flight is scheduled for the night or late evening, Oogi Junior Glow will give encouragement to a child who feels a little lost in a dark plane.
Magnetic puzzles
If you have hit upon a child with a penchant for conceptual play, the puzzle is sure to appeal to him or her. It's best to choose magnetic ones that won't fall during turbulence and you don't have to worry about losing them (in my opinion, all children's toys should have a piece of metal inside them. I would then walk into my children's room every night with a big magnet and have all the toys in one place in a second.). Janod's product range includes, for example, the Merry Garden magnetic puzzle, but if your little one is not going to become an avid gardener, he or she can always become an avid fisherman with the Janod Merry Fish magnetic puzzle ;).
Small toys
Small toys that a child can hold in his or her hand and take with him or her on trips to the restroom or trips on an airplane also work well. One such toy is the wooden acrobat crocodile from Cubita. All parts of the crocodile rotate, you can ride it on the carpet in the plane, on tables or handrails. At this point, I advise against all playing toys - well, unless you get a cardboard box included with the toy, which you put over your head when the time comes.
Stickers
When someone asks me what to buy my child and I want it to be a small thing but one that will make him happy, I always talk about stickers. Stickers on an airplane are a salvation, but you need to make sure they are stickers that can be peeled off without leaving residue on the surface - well, and you need to be aware that peeling off stickers is a job for the parent and not the airplane attendant. Stickers that we can give to the child on the plane without fear are, for example, reusable decorative stickers Owl on a Branch from Roommates. Although the manufacturer recommends them for decoration of the apartment, but I think that the plane will also look good with them and, most importantly, they can be removed without damaging the plane, as well as the sticker. Which means that the 44 stickers in one packet can be used by a child, for example, 3 times, which means that he can stick them 132 times which gives us at least a quarter of an hour of peace ;).