1. Senny Books: We had a three hour flight recently and this Senny Book kept Emery (who is almost 2) occupied for most of the flight. This little busy/quiet book is a MAJOR win for our upcoming trips this summer. A Senny Book is a book made out of different textured fabric and other materials such as buttons, snaps, and zippers to help your child develop their gross and fine motor skills. This sensory toy is also perfect for working on color recognition, cognitive skills and imagination. My girls love the garden page in their book where they can pick the veggies and put them in the basket. It’s the perfect travel size and weighs almost absolutely nothing– so easy to pack for traveling.
2. Dr. Pops suckers: I almost always have a sucker in my bag for “emergencies” when we are out and about. If I can tell that one of the girls is on their last leg, and about to completely lose it–a sucker seems to always save the day. When we fly, I usually just have the girls take drinks from their sippy cups during take-off and landing to help with their ears and the changing altitude, but sometimes they aren’t thirsty so I offer them a sucker to help with this. I recently found these little tricky pops that the girls still love even though they don’t know they are actually good for them. They are all natural, with no artificial colors or flavors, and no preservatives or sugar. Made with real honey & eucalyptus oil AND they give them a daily dose of vitamin C while helping their immune systems.
3. Babyganics antibacterial travel wipes: I really try to keep the girls hands germ free as much as possible while traveling. Aiports just gross me out, especially this time of year when every sickness out there seems to be circulating. When we get our seats on the plane, my husband and I always make sure to wipe down our seats, trays in front of us, back of seat–pretty much anywhere we think that the girls might touch during the flight. These wipes are antibacterial, safe for kids, and awesome for just clean-ups too. On our last trip, there were multiple times that restrooms were out of soap, so I was thankful to have these to wipe their hands until we could actually get to a sink with soap.
4.play wallet: I saw this idea on Pinterest about a year ago and we still take these wallets with us when traveling. I found clearance wallets at Target for the girls, or the one I linked on Amazon is only like $10. I filled the girls wallets with old club cards, empty gift cards, and play money. Emery especially loves to take the cards all out and put them in different slots and Adelyn just begs her dad to give her real “dolla” to put in hers. Easy to pack and easy entertainment.
5. Snacks are a must when going anywhere with kids. I buy different things every time we travel, but always take fruits snacks–never forget the fruits snacks. I typically try to buy items that won’t get too sticky, are easy to clean, somewhat healthy and filling, and maybe contain a little protein. I found a few that I have bought on Amazon from our past trips which are all linked here: Pure Organic banana and strawberry sandwiches, dried apple crisps, almond butter packets, Bobo’s Oat Bars, dried coconut chips, fruit/veggie packets, variety nut packets, and fruit snacks.
6. When we travel, I always make a trip to the dollar store before to buy cheap toys that will entertain them during the trip but can be thrown away when we get home. I have recently found a few great small travel toys on Amazon that we pack in the girls’ backpacks each time we go on a trip: tangle fidget toys, doodle pro clip on, baby travel flash cards, scratch art on-the-go, reusable puffy mermaid sticker set,
7. Ziplocks are such a lifesaver when traveling with kids. I pack all of their outfits in gallon sized ziplocks so that I can just grab a bag for each day from our suitcase. I also use the ziplocks in my carry-on bag to separate different items so they can be reached easily. One bag with diapers, wipes, and changing pad, another with all the snacks/suckers, one with antibacterial wipes, hand sanitizer, chapstick, comb, and pony tail holders, and the last one with their toys. I also pack a few extra bags for dirty diapers to be thrown away in, if one of the girls didn’t finish their snack or breakfast, or if we need to collect trash.
I hope you can find a few of these items helpful for your next trip! What tips do you have for traveling with kids?