Flying with toddlers

Toddlers are not the easiest creatures. Being easy is not in their nature. So, when we decided (last minute change of plans from driving) to fly for our holiday, I was honestly a little panicked.
I had been planning for probably a full week to keep Chloe busy in the truck for the 16 hr drive(and that’s only one way!) I had movies, colouring books, bubbles for pit stops etc. The day before we were going to leave, we had to change our plans to drive because of highway conditions.

After a quick unpack of some of the things I could no longer take or no longer needed, I had to rethink entertainment. Luckily, the 16 hr drive got changed to an hour and a half flight. Not bad at all! And, on Canadian north, the airline we flew on, a meal is served (yes, even on the short one hour and thirty minute flight!) so I knew that would help if Chloe was cranky.

When Chloe was a baby, she went on a plane a few times. By the time she was just over 1, she has been on 7 flights. All which were good except for one. But all were also an hour and a half or shorter. When traveling with a baby, the easiest and recommended thing to do is feed them (breast or bottle) on landing and take off. Not only does it help with their ears, it put mine to sleep for all or the majority of the ride.

For this trip, I checked out the rules of motherhood and for love of cupcakes.

On the day we left, Chloe had to be woken up at 5:30 am. So early for her! I had her backpack filled with books, colouring books, stickers, Dora figurines, Easter eggs with little toys in them, crayons, markers and a homemade activity. In my bag, I had snacks and treats.

On the two blogs I checked out, I read that a sucker can help with the ears on landing and take off. Chloe had never had one, so I knew she would be very happy to try one.

This kept Chloe very, very happy.

Right after takeoff, the flight attendant brought a colouring book and crayons for Chloe. I had brought some anyway for Chloe, but extra was nice since we were going to be on holidays for a week and a half.

Chloe was really excited to colour in the book. New things are exciting.

After she worked on the colouring book for a while, I brought out a book I got at a garage sale for $1. It’s a magnet book with magnetic animals. Chloe thought it was pretty neat.

The next thing I pulled out of her bag was little plastic Easter eggs with different little toys inside. One had a necklace and ring, one had a mini camera, one had a little frog and lizard.

After that, drinks and food came so that kept Chloe entertained for the rest of the flight.

What activities do you do to keep your kids entertained on flights?

All about the north

Around our house, we have a lot of different things from the north. Matt is half Inuvialuit, making Chloe a quarter Inuvialuit. She was born in Yellowknife, NWT, and we lived there for a year.

I got an idea for a northern theme from a recent gift for Chloe.
I set up anything I could find. Books, a colouring book, figurines, art, stuffed animals and ice box.

The first thing Chloe did was start colouring the inukshuk page in her colouring book. During this time, I read to her from a book about polar bears.

Next, I read a book about animals that live on the land and a book about animals that live in the water. For each animal in the book, I would ask her to find the same animal out of her stuffies and figurines.

Caribou

Beluga whale (Chloe’s favorite- she sleeps with that stuffie every night!)

After that, she started reading the books on her own, while I read different books out loud to her.

The first day we did this, we ended by looking at the different artwork she had. We discussed what it was and looked at each piece together.

A few days later, I pulled out ice I had put a bit of food colouring into and had left in the freezer. I put it into a bigger bin and added some water. It had a neat effect.

I also added a bunch of ice cubes to the bin and put it outside. I put out the arctic animals and started placing them in the bin to show Chloe.

While Chloe played with the animals, ice and water, I talked about how certain animals live in the water and how others would go in the water and on land.

Then I noticed Chloe was trying to eat the ice cubes.

So instead, we started talking about ice. We talked about how it felt: rough and smooth, slippery, cold.

I think Chloe enjoyed all of the activities we did. It was educational, fun and important.
And the ice/water bin has inspired a new idea for Chloe and me to try. Stay tuned for another ice/water blog in the near future!