We’re taking a short holiday now, and I usually put together an “entertainment kit” for Noah when we travel, because we don’t usually let Noah use gadgets. He is down to only one nap a day, so if we’re on a long flight, we need sufficient things to keep him occupied, especially if our flight time doesn’t coincide with his nap.
Here’s what I usually have in his “entertainment kit”. I use an A4-sized zip pouch from Daiso as it’s big enough to contain a wide variety of items.
1. Colouring/Activity Sheets and Coloured Pencils I usually print some colouring sheets of his favourite characters, and he scribbles on them with the coloured pencils. He isn’t a fan of colouring, but will colour when it’s a character he likes, so I prefer printing these sheets for him, as opposed to giving him a colouring book. I also pack a small box of coloured pencils and a sharpener, together with some blank paper, as he sometimes likes to draw or ask us to draw pictures for him.
Disney fans will like the colouring sheets from the official Disney website, and this other website that I found. Older children may prefer something more challenging, like these activity sheets.
Everything he needs for colouring/drawing
2. Sticker Books These sticker books from Daiso are very handy on car-rides and bumpy flights, when colouring isn’t an option. The quality isn’t fantastic, but hey, it’s $2! I usually buy a stash, since Noah goes through them pretty quickly. He used to have difficulties peeling the stickers out, and when I was telling MummyEd about it, she let me in on her secret: peel the “frame” of the sticker sheets out first, so that it’s easier for little fingers to get the stickers.
Sticker Books
Peel the “frame” out to make it easier for younger children
3. Button Snake I made this button snake for Noah quite a while ago, and although he’s quite good with it now, I still bring it along sometimes, as it can keep him occupied for a while.
Button Snake
Working on the Button Snake at the Penang airport
4. Cars Noah loves cars, and always carries at least one car with him whenever we go out. When we’re waiting for our meals, we push the car across the table to each other, and Noah loves it when we create “parking lots” with our hands, for him to “park” the car. It’s good for his hand-eye coordination too!
Recently, I discovered this awesome (and free) letter tracing roads, and printed them out for Noah. He has some smaller cars that are perfect for this activity, and he does have fun “driving” on the roads, so I’m quite pleased with it.
Cars
“Driving” on the letter tracing roads
5. Books Noah loves reading, so I pack at least one book, depending on how long our flight is. I try to bring a book that is related to our trip, so that we can read it before and after we visit the particular tourist attraction. This time round, since we plan to visit the aquarium and safari, I brought these Ranger Anne books. (Check out my review and giveaway of these books HERE.)
If you’re going on a long car-ride, these read-along books and CDs should keep your child quite entertained. Noah has stopped asking, “Why take so long?” ever since we’ve started playing him these CDs, and even narrates bits of them to himself when he’s playing on his own. Great way to help him learn some story-telling skills!
Books
It seems like we’re lugging around quite a bit of things just to keep him entertained, but we prefer giving him these, instead of just handing him the iPhone. The latter might be a lot more convenient, but it’s our personal preference to keep him engaged without the use of a gadget, as far as possible. It’ll be a whole different story when he discovers the in-flight entertainment, but until he does, these can generally keep him occupied on flights and while waiting for our meals outside.
Noah’s “Entertainment Kit”
What do you usually bring along to keep your child entertained? Do share your ideas!
PS. For more great busy bag ideas, check out this post!
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