Traveling with small children can be so rewarding, yet many parents get nervous about the prospect of flying with a baby or toddler. I get it… even though I had frequently traveled with my children, I was still nervous before many flights with our small kids. I didn’t want to be one of “those parents” with a crying baby on the flight or having our toddler run up and down the aisles.
Given this natural fear, I get a lot of questions from my readers about how to entertain a baby on a plane and the best airplane activities for a 1 year old or toddler.
You’ve come to the right place. The following recommendations for entertaining a baby on a plane or plane activities for 1 year old, come from my real-life experience flying with our babies and toddlers. Whether it was a short-haul domestic flight, a long haul flight to Europe or an overnight flight to Asia, I’ve been in your shoes before and I am here to help.
In this post, I share my favorite airplane activities for little ones, starting with flying with an infant, working my way up to flying with a toddler. I confidently recommend these plane activities to you as I’ve seen first-hand that they work.
Are you nervous about your first flight with a baby? I was too! I can help make your travel day easier with my tips for flying with a baby.
This post contains compensated links.
How to Entertain a Baby on a Plane
In this section, I begin with how to entertain a baby on a plane, starting with simple recommendations for flying with an infant, all the way up to activities for a 1 year old on a plane.
Best Infant Travel Toys (0 to 3 Months Old)
In my experience, the best time to start traveling with your children is when they are infants. Traveling with an infant is so easy since they spend most of their time eating and sleeping. Flying with an infant is likely to be one of the easiest flights you’ll take with your baby.
When you fly with an infant who is between 0 to 3 months old, you really don’t need to worry about bringing any infant travel toys or books. Chances are good that your time flying with an infant will be spent cycling between feeding and watching them sleep on the plane.
Best Travel Toys for Infants (3 to 6 Months Old)
At 3 to 6 months old, flying with your baby may still (hopefully) mean a lot of sleeping, but your baby may start taking more of an interest in a few simple travel toys as well.
Due to their rapidly expanding curiosity, your baby will likely be entertained enough by everything around her on the plane – the seatbelt, the window, fellow passengers, empty plastic cups, etc. But, just in case, it never hurts to have a few baby plane activities in your carry-on.
1. Colorful Texture Toys
Lamaze Sensory Baby Toys
I love Lamaze sensory toys for babies. They are soft, colorful plush toys with engaging textures, crinkly sounds, and chewable parts to keep babies entertained and soothed during flights.
Developmental Bumpy Ball
This cute developmental bumpy ball engages babies during flights with its vibrant colors, varied textures, and gentle rattle sounds, promoting sensory exploration and motor skill development.
2. Teething Toys or Necklaces
Silicone Baby Teether Toy
The Socub Silicone Baby Teether Toy is a BPA-free, anti-drop mitten designed to soothe sore gums. It’s sure to help keep your little one entertained during your flight.
A Teething Necklace for Mom to Wear
My babies loved my teething necklaces! They not only provide a safe and soothing outlet for babies during flights but also feature a stylish design that complements your travel outfits, making them both functional and fashionable.
3. Interactive Board Books
I’ve learned that reading to your child is the single best way to keep a baby entertained on a plane.
Where is Baby’s Belly Button?
One of my kids’ favorite board books, Where Is Baby’s Belly Button? is an interactive lift-the-flap board book that encourages them to discover hidden body parts, promoting both entertainment and learning.
Amazing Airplane – Touch and Feel Board Book
The perfect sensory book for your baby’s first flight! Amazing Airplane is a touch-and-feel board book that allows them to explore various textures while learning about airplanes.
Already have these excellent board books? Find a new favorite for your baby on the baby board books best sellers list.
Best Plane Activities for Babies (6 Months to 1 Year Old)
If you are worried about how to how to entertain a 1 year old on a plane, you can relax as this age is pretty easy. I found when traveling with a baby between 6 months and up to 1 year old, they were mostly interested in playing with all the new & exciting the stuff on the plane.
In all likelihood, your baby will be similar and will be most interested in their surroundings on the plane, like the safety card, the seat buckle and the window shade. Throw in the empty plastic airplane beverage cup and spoon and you’ve just found the best plane activities for your 9 month old without having to pack them!
At this age, other passengers can be pretty exciting too. Most people love babies (yes, even on airplanes), so finding fellow passenger to play peek-a-boo through the seats is a great way to entertain your baby on a plane. When the novelty of this airplane game wears off, take your child for several “walks” down the aisle.
One of my best tips for traveling with a baby is to use snacks as a way to entertain your baby on a plane. I always bring airplane snacks that work on fine motor skills, thus taking a long time to eat, like Cheerios or Gerber Puffs. Spill-proof toddler snack containers are a lifesaver when flying with a baby!
1. Activity Balls
One of my most successful airplane activities for a 1 year old was an activity ball. I loved how this baby toy could hold my baby’s attention on the plane for a long time. It would also make a great travel toy for road trips with a baby. If you have the room in your travel diaper backpack, this activity ball is a great travel toy to entertain your baby on the plane.
Baby Activity Balls
My son would play with the HOLA Baby Rattle Activity Ball for hours! Activity balls for babies are excellent inflight entertainment as they promote sensory exploration and fine motor skills development.
Sensory Teether Toy
The Manhattan Toy Winkel Rattle & Sensory Teether was another favorite travel toy in my family. The vibrant, pliable loops and gentle rattle sounds, captivate babies keeping them entertained for long periods of time.
2. Sensory Toys
Similar to the activity balls, these amazing sensory toys are designed to capture your babies attention, all while promoting sensory exploration and fine motor skills development!
Fat Brain Toys – Dimpl Sensory Toy
This colorful and compact sensory toy features five vibrant silicone bubbles that babies love to push and pop.
Fidget Popper Sensory Baby Toys
This cute little fidget popper sensory toy features six vibrant silicone bubbles within a butterfly-shaped frame.
Fat Brain Toys – MiniSpinny
The Fat Brain Toys MiniSpinny is a compact sensory toy featuring three vibrant propellers that spin down a corkscrew pole.
Bring along a couple of fun travel themed board books and you should be all set with your 1 year old plane activities.
How to Entertain a Toddler on a Plane
It should come as no surprise that traveling with a toddler on a plane is completely different than traveling with a baby on a plane. The more mobile your little one gets, the more time you’ll spend entertaining your toddler on the plane.
The key to ‘surviving’ a flight with a toddler is to have a good variety of airplane activities for your toddler to cycle through. I don’t mean that you need to completely fill your carry-on bags with toddler toys, but just make sure you strategize about your airplane activities for your toddler, and make sure they easily accessible during your flight.
In this section, I cover the two main stages of flying with a toddler:
- Activities for a 1 year old on a plane, and
- Airplane activities for an 18 month old.
Best Toddler Airplane Activities (1 Year to 18 Months Old)
Having flown with babies and toddlers of all ages, I can tell you the most intimidating age to fly with a toddler is between 1 year old and 18 months old, especially if it’s a long haul flight.
At 12-18 months old, their attention span is still pretty short, yet they are very active. My Flying with a Toddler post, has all my best tips for flying with a toddler, including getting your toddler to sleep on the plane.
So how do you keep an 18 month old entertained on a plane? Thankfully, the plane and all the passengers on it are still going to be quite a novelty and will definitely help entertain your toddler on the plane. Taking many trips up and down the aisle and playing with everything around are great airplane activities for 18 month olds.
In my experience, the best travel toys for toddlers on airplanes are simple toys that are going to be easy to put away and take back out because you’ll be doing a lot of that.
1. Snacks Which Require Motor Skills
I’ve found there are two good reasons to feed your toddler plenty of toddler airplane snacks. Not only will snack time provide a time-killing activity, it will also help stave off a hangry toddler during the flight.
The best snacks for toddlers on the plane are ones that take require simple motor skills and longer to eat, like Cheerios served in a spill-proof snack container.
2. Reading to your Toddler
Reading to my children has always been a big part of our family time and we like to make sure it continues when we travel. Books with plenty of pictures that you can talk about are an excellent way to entertain a toddler on a long flight.
First 100 Board Book Box Set
It’s hard to overstate how important the First 100 Words books were to my children’s development. My kids loved going through these books with me over and over again!
3. A Good Selection of Small Travel Toys
Books and snacks are a great way to entertain an 18 month old on a plane, but you’ll also want to pack a healthy selection of small toddler travel toys as well. My recommendations below are based on my actual favorite toddler plane activities from our family flights with kids aged 1 year to 18 months.
Finger Puppets
Velvet finger puppets are lightweight, colorful, and perfect for sparking imaginative play and storytelling. Plus, I loved how little room they too up in my carry-on!
Buckle Toys
One of the most beloved toddler airplane toys of all time, buckle toys will endlessly entertain your toddler, all the while teaching them important motor skills.
Gel Clings
Have a window seat? These reusable window gel clings are a mess-free, colorful toy that stick to airplane windows, providing toddlers with a fun, creative activity.
My First Big Book of Coloring
Hands down, My First Big Book of Coloring was the best toddler coloring book we’ve ever owned. The pictures are big, simple and super fun for toddlers!
Triangular Crayons
Toddlers LOVE to drop crayons! If you’ve ever tried to find a dropped crayon in a cramped airplane, you’ll know why I think the person who invented non-rolling triangular crayons is a GENIUS!
4. Mess-free, Reusable Activity Books
Water Wow! Activity Books
Another one of my all-time favorite travel activities for a 1 year old are the Melissa & Doug On the Go Water Wow! Activity Books. I love how they work with water (i.e. very little mess) and they are reusable.
5. Simple Apps
I also like to include very simple apps in my arsenal of toddler airplane activities. I introduced our toddler to a few simple, yet engaging apps between 1 year and 18 months of age.
Like all travel toys for toddlers, these toddler apps don’t hold attention for long but it’s nice to have “easy to pack” distractions to rotate through.
Peekaboo Barn
A fun way to learn barn animals, Peekaboo Barn simply requires your toddler to tap (or whack) the screen on your device.
Baby’s Musical Hands
My kids loved this fun & creative musical experience app. The app rewards children who touch the screen with music and fireworks. My kids were captivated!
Best Airplane Activities for Toddlers (18 Months to 2 Years Old)
When traveling with toddlers between 18 months and 2 years, you’ll find their attention span for watching short cartoons will start to appear. This is good news for flying with a 2-year old as you can get a break every now and then! If you start to give your child some in-flight screen time, don’t forget to pack volume-limiting toddler headphones for flying.
To keep your toddler entertained on the flight, here are the best airplane toys for toddlers aged 18 months to 2 years. I recommend these through experience as they have helped us get through many long-haul flights.
1. Classic Toddler Toys for Airplanes
Although the development of a typical 18 to 24 month old toddler is remarkably different than a 1 year old, many of the airplane toys I recommended above are still excellent for this age group. I especially recommend buckle toys, finger puppets and Melissa & Doug Water Wow! activity books for toddlers up to 2 years old.
A few fun progressions from the recommendations for 1 year old plane activities include:
Crayola Color Wonder Books
The Crayola Color Wonder Mess Free Coloring Books are a fun step-up from the Water Wow! activity books. The Color Wonder books feature special markers that only color on special Color Wonder paper, ensuring mess-free creativity during your family flight.
Reusable Sticker Books
Melissa & Doug reusable sticker pads are another of my all-time favorite toddler travel toys. These toddler activity books come with several colorful backgrounds along with hundreds of fun, reusable stickers for your toddler to make their own scenes with. My kids would play with these reusable sticker books for a long time!
2. Toddler Books
The benefits of reading to your children are countless. The big benefit of reading to your toddler on the flight is that a good book will engage them and keep them occupied for a long period of time. A good trick I’ve used is to bring a selection of their current favorites, and surprise them with some new toddler books.
A great alternative to packing lots of heavy toddler books in your carry-on is to use the Epic! digital library. I used Epic! extensively while traveling with my small kids – it was a real game changer!
Now that your toddler has an attention span for short shows, you can take advantage of the Read to Me stories. The Epic! app reads these special stories aloud to your child (using airplane safe headphones of course), while highlighting the words.
This is an excellent alternative to mindless Netflix cartoons. Our young kids would ‘read’ these Read to Me stories for hours on end if we’d let them. This feature frees you up to watch a movie or listen to an audio book.
3. Little Baby Bum Videos
Our kids LOVED the Little Baby Bum videos at this age. With over 40 billion worldwide views on YouTube, it seems they have captivated a few other kids as well.
Little Baby Bum videos are colorful, entertaining and educational, and I found it truly incredible for how long it would hold their attention. There’s a wide selection of Little Baby Bum videos on their YouTube channel, but if you are not a YouTube Premium member, you can still download videos to watch on the plane on Amazon Prime Video .
4. Toddler Friendly Apps for Flights
For each new flight with our toddlers, I would continue to add new toddler-friendly apps to my list of airplane activities. I would always do a test run with them at home prior to our flight to make sure our toddler was capable of playing them and enjoyed them.
Again, no single app held my toddler’s attention for very long, but having several apps allowed my toddler to flip between them.
Some of my favorite apps for entertaining toddlers on a plane were:
Sago Mini Forest Flyer
Sago Mini Forest Flyer is likely my kids favorite toddler app ever. By simply tapping the scree, toddlers guide Robin the bird through an interactive forest.
Sago Mini Babies
Our toddlers loved all the Sago Mini apps. The Sago Mini Babies app was another of their favorites, as it allowed them to care for adorable baby characters through activities like feeding, bathing, and playing dress-up.
Nighty Night!
I’d let my kids play this super cute little app close to when I wanted them to sleep on the flight. This fun app lets kids say goodnight to all the animals. I found it a perfect transition into sleep time for my toddlers.
Airplane Activities for Kids over 2 Years
As your little toddler begins to transition into a preschooler, they will get much easier to entertain on the plane. Flying with a 3 year old is easier than flying with a 2 year old, as their attention span allows them to watch a movie (or chunks of it at a time).
For some fun ideas on how to entertain a child over 2 years old on a flight, check out my post on my favorite travel toys for a 3-year old.
Toddler Travel Packs
As you can see, there’s a healthy amount of baby and toddler airplane entertainment options. Rather than do all the individual shopping for the above toddler activities, you can make your life easy with KeepEmQuiet activity packs. Each activity pack is a curated selection of screen-free entertainment tailored to a child’s age and interests.
Easy Inflight Entertainment for You
I love watching movies to pass the time on flights, but as a new parent, I found it hard to focus on a movie and watch my sleeping infant at the same time. On our family flights, I found that listening to an audio book was the perfect solution to keep me entertained while watching my baby sleep during the flight.
Your upcoming family trip is the ideal time to sign up for a free 30-day trial of Audible Premium Plus. You’ll get a free audiobook which you can keep even if you cancel the free trial after your trip. If you don’t wish to keep Audible, simple cancel your free trial when you get home from your trip!
I hope my personal recommendations for the best airplane activities for babies and toddlers helps make your upcoming flight a lot smoother. You’ve got this!
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Celine Brewer is the owner of Baby Can Travel. Not only does she have years of experience traveling with babies & toddlers, but she’s helped millions of new parents travel with their babies and toddlers for over a decade. In addition to writing on her baby travel blog, she has shared her expertise on traveling with a baby or toddler by contributing to articles about traveling with a baby with the Washington Post, USA Today, the Lonely Planet magazine and Pregnancy & Newborn magazine.
Celine also writes about family travel on the site FamilyCanTravel.com, which she co-owns with her husband. Being from the Canadian Rockies, she shares her passion about her home and travel to Banff National Park and area on their site TravelBanffCanada.com.
