Well as you might have noticed from my last week’s posts on Instagram I have been a bit distracted around here so I am just getting around to doing more blogging again as I start to feel more normal and less tired in the second trimester!

One of the things I stressed out about the most before going to Hawaii with Emsley was how I was going to manage the 7.5 hour flight from Edmonton to Maui. And by manage, I mean keep my then almost 20 month year old content and not screaming her head off on the plane. So I did my research ahead of time. I asked other parents their opinions on toys and spent many evenings wandering different stores or perusing online shops to find the best suited toys for travelling. A lot of the time I heard, “Bring the iPad!” which we did but to be honest, didn’t use all that much. We are pretty strict with the amount of screen time Emsley is allowed to watch on a typical day at home so I knew it likely wouldnt be the be all end all for our traveling plans. We did however buy Emsley headphones for the plane in case she did want to watch a movie but just like I suspected we didn’t use them or the iPad very much.

We literally dedicated an entire carry on bag to Emsley’s travel needs and I don’t regret it one bit! (Granted it was my husband that had to carry it! :P) Between all the toys and snacks that I packed we were fully equipped for whatever situation arose.

These picks don’t include all the toys we brought with us but sum up the most favourited ones by Emsley.

1. Moana Stuck On Stories: I had heard the suggestion of bringing window clings but I found these instead at Marshalls and was very happy with them! They come with a play mat but I ditched that at home and just brought the characters. Each character has a little suction cup on the back of it that makes it easy for little ones to apply to the window as well as take off. The characters were organized in a plastic mould for packaging purposes but I decided to keep that piece so I didn’t lose them. That worked in my favour as the plastic mould doubled as a puzzle board for Ems as she enjoyed putting all the characters into their spots.
2. Magnetic Dress-Up: I didn’t bring all the magnetic pieces from this dress up doll kit as they are quite heavy but I brought a few options along with the main doll and it seemed to do the trick. Ems thoroughly enjoyed taking the pieces on and off of the doll.
3. Lil Gadgets Headphones: These are the headphones we bought for the plane and although we didn’t use them that much we were happy with them. They allow for volume restriction, were reviewed well online and are in the middle range for pricing.
4. Magnetic Drawing Board: I found a small magnetic drawing board or what I called a magna doodle when I was growing up like this at Marshalls and it was the perfect size for both travelling and Ems’ little hands. She loved to draw herself, ask us to draw for her and erase it. We now keep it in our diaper bag to use as a restaurant toy when we go out!
5. Take-Along Shape Sorter: We have the Fisher Price block sorter at home but I bought this one as it was marketed specifically for travelling. I wasn’t exactly sure why it was but it turns out that it is super light. Emsley loved this toy the most, bringing much entertainment on the plane, in the car as well as when we were hanging out in the hotel or condo. It has more complex shapes then the one we have at home and she really enjoyed the zipper pull on it too.
6. Books unfortunately are pretty heavy but I brought about five with me anyway. I brought some old ones that I knew she would love as well as a few new ones in Easter themes that had moving pieces or flaps so they were a bit more interactive.
7. Play doh is always a hit and although it can be sort of a mess it was worth it to bring. We have a beach Play Doh set at home so I took a few pieces from it as well as two colours with us to let her play on the airplane tray.
8. Imagine Ink: This Frozen colouring book has a white marker that makes colours appear when used on the special paper. What I liked about it is it didn’t make a mess and because it was white, I didn’t have to worry about it getting on her clothes.

Another thing I didn’t post in the picture but is worth mentioning, although I’m sure lots of parents already know it, is stickers. Bringing a bunch of stickers in shapes theat excited her such as stars, moons, or hearts plus a notebook she could put them in was a great plane activity but that we also used lots while we waited for our food in restaurants!

So that sums up the top 9 travelling toys I found for our plane ride from Edmonton to Maui which made for a very happy and content little girl on an almost 7.5 hour flight to Hawaii! If you guys have any other suggestions for parents, comment below and share away as I know how much I appreciated hearing other parents opinions on what worked for them!