We travel often and are at a loss on how to keep our (nearly) 3 year old occupied. Be it at the airport or in the train or car, even 1 hour seems like 3 hours when we don’t have activities planned.. some tips that I have got from other parents.
- Carry Snacks– Nothing does it like a bag of chips or if you have younger kids, puffed rice.. it takes a long time to eat and will keep them occupied for at least 1/2 hr. Forget dirty faces, clothes and floor. If you want a healthier alternative ( U can try, might work) .. give an apple to munch on with the skin.
- Play dough – Buy a travel pack of play dough with the plastic moulds. You get it at Spar for 48 rs. This works best if you are traveling by train. [Not Suitable for kids under 3]
- Carry CDs with Portable DVD player – The philips base model starts from 5500Rs. This has a battery life of 3 hrs and will keep a kid at one place. Make sure that u pack a CD that the kid has not seen in some time.
- Magnetic toys – Really handy in a moving vehicle. From magnetic ludo, snakes n ladders (Lil P’s fav) , Chess (PC’s fav) to building blocks all are available at a toy store nearby.
Speaking about magnetic toys a special mention is this catching game ( Fish game as lil P calls it). Its a big hit in our household. Available for Rs. 150 , The fishes open and close their mouths as they go round n round and one needs to catch the fish with a fishing magnet rod. 
- Be artistic – Carry an empty notebook and some crayons. Draw and color characters from daily activities. Like when we traveled to Goa, on our way back we drew everything from hills, to a beach with sand castles, to ships named santa monica .. and characters from the rhymes that lil P was familiar with. a black sheep, bingo the dog, itsy bitsy spider, humpty dumpty.. and sang the rhymes too ..
- Activity pads – carry something that is age appropriate. From coloring pages to join the dots etc work very well with slightly older kids.
- Books & toys – Though these can be really heavy, carry some that are lying around the house but not used in some time. Video games are also popular with kids above 5 years..
Do you know of any other game / activity that can help me with lil P ?? Don’t forget to pass the info along.
Nice post. I have 2 suggestions. You can give Leapster Video Game which is educational. Your kid is only 3 year old..however if your kid is already video game savvy, you can give Nintendo DS with games. That will keep your kid playing the DS for hours together.
Wow! I salute ur creativity and patience to jot these down 🙂
Will help me a lot in the future 😛
Sigh! I feel like playing with those fishes myself 😛
Hw abt blogging as an activity 😛 By what their Moms do, our children may well start it young 😉
@SG: Ya! I had forgotten abt that.. We haven’t bought any video games yet .. but i can buy it the next time we travel. 🙂 thanks.
🙂 You could try telling stories, I personally use the mobile to access
http://www.indiaparenting.com/stories/
and read away
this is helpful for the nightly dose of 2 NEW stories
@Lohit: Ya! Now that PC has a mobile where I can browse, I’ll start using it too! 🙂 Nice tip.
@ Swaram : Fish game is actually addictive! n a 3 year old might just win over a 33 year old!! both father n daughter have loads of fun! 🙂 its fun for elders to play it too.. actually this game was introduced to a friend of mine in her management class.
yup, I’m noting them too…for the future 😉
My sis never had to worry. Her son was always too happy to travel and would just need the window seat to keep himself occupied.
@Meira: Awww!! You sis is lucky!! *touchwood*
@swaram: ya!! u try telling that to lil p.. i get to hear “mommy shut the laptop” .. mommy “throw the laptop” .. “bad laptop” quite often these days! 😉
Neat! Any tips for a 24 hour flight with a year old? 🙂
@AJ: Some prayers maybe 😉
On a serious note, *Trying to remember how Lil P was at age 1 year* I had bought fisher price toys that lit up when lil p would press or poke. Yup the noice was annoying to other passengers.. but better this than a wailing baby.
hey great ideas. hats off to you for remembering and posting up such useful things 🙂 Since we also travel a lot, shall surely use these tips.
@akamonika: Thanks. Most are tried n tested.