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Friday, May 29, 2009

Activity Packs

I first saw these activity packs for traveling here (sorry, I couldn't find the exact post she made about them, but she does have a search feature, so if you are interested, do take the time to look at her post about it because she did a wonderful job with her kits), and knew it was something I would like to try one day when our family had a chance to travel, so I filed the idea away for a while, and was finally able to try it this week on the kid's first airplane ride. The trip included two plane rides, the first for about 4 hours, and the second close to 2 hours, so we had plenty of time to see what worked and what didn't.

I managed to fit quite a few activities into these two tiny backpacks, and the kids were able to carry their own toys for the entire trip. We also came home without having lost any of the pieces--amazing!
Here are the activities in their ziplock bags. I stuffed half into Miss O's backpack and and half into Little Bean's backpack. In addition to what you see here, I included their tiny blankies and some silly putty (the silly putty was a big hit with the both of them).
In one bag, a tiny potato head and some parts. This was brought out only once and only for a few minutes; I've definitely decided not to hang onto these much longer:
Some colorforms--silly faces. This is part of a new game I purchased on Amazon for them. They enjoyed this one both on the plane and at the hotel.
A purse filled with goodies. This was a favorite with Miss O. She played with the contents for over an hour on one flight.
Stringing. I thought I'd give this a whirl, but Miss O only played with it for a few minutes, and Little Bean, not at all.
A magnet board and some fish and silly face magnets. The silly faces didn't get played with at all, but Little Bean played with the fish magnets for a LONG time on the way home.
Rush Hour. I thought Little Bean might enjoy just playing with the cars or arranging them according to the cards. He did try this a few times, but not a whole lot.
A mini homemade felt board and some felt. This came in handy several times, both on the plane for Miss O, and in church last Sunday for Little Bean.
What kinds of things do you bring on trips to keep the kids busy?

8 comments:

Gidget Girl Reading said...

we play that car game online where did you get the toy car game?? my 2 girls would love it??

Annette W. said...

We'll be traveling for July 4. I plan to make nothing, bc Meghan doesn't like my homemade things as much as I'd like. But we'll probably have some toys that have been set aside. The silly putty is a good idea! A mini doodler will go...don't know what else.

Unknown said...

The car game is called Rush Hour--there is a Junior verson and also a train version. I got ours on Amazon, but I've seen them at Target and at the major chain bookstores as well.

Michelle said...

Cute ideas...I love the silly face game. I actually had it when I was little and just recently got it for my Nephew! It is a great game!!

Gidget Girl Reading said...

cool thanks! I'll have to check out target and barnes and noble!

heldam said...

We've used popsicle stick puzzles (always a hit b/c they're always new since they are so easy to make), we have a chalkboard which is always a hit. I've seen chalk fabric on the blogs lately, bet that would be cool. We also have a small tanagrams board that is a perennial favorite. I also always include little craft kits from the dollar sections of Joann's/Michaels. This summer I plan to add a new item I saw over at Chasing Cheerios-- laminated dot to dot and mazes.

Dewey Dot said...

i love your ideas! we're getting ready for a trip and i'm busily looking for inspiration for packs - found some here! thanks!

can i ask where you got your magnet board from? i'm looking for a small portable one but haven't come up with a good, easy answer yet.
thanks again!

Unknown said...

Dewey--the magnet board was from another toy that we already had. Around the house we use cookie sheets, so if you could find a mini one, that would be perfect, or get some stick back sheets of magnet and stick it on a piece of cardboard, that would work too. Hope that helps!

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