Need Your Favorite Dvds to Engage My 2 Year Old Toddler on 12 Hour Flites

Just a little FYI-
We travel quite a bit, and unless you have some great headphones for your son, he won't be able to really hear the DVD player. You will need the headphones that are for flying (the little ones that come with the DVD players will not work).
You will need to get him used to wearing the headphones now, as well.
Some things we use for flying:
-Crayola Magic Wonder coloring books (the markers only work on the special paper)
-Bubbles- the little ones that you get at weddings (you can get these at Party City and such)
-Puppets- this may sound silly, but I would put on puppets and just play with my son on flights. He LOVED it and it kept him entertained very well (especially if he was getting fussy).
-Stickers- the little ones you can get in a book (look at Walmart in the school supplies area). You can let him stick them on your arm, face, etc... My son loved it- cheap entertainment.
-Books.
-snacks, snacks, snacks- all finger food, dry stuff

Best wishes,
R.

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I am in agreement with one of your other responses that says to give up the educational for entertainment factor on this sort of occasion. A flight this long could be very painful and a movie that is something different and totally about entertainment might help keep the flight on a mellow level. You may even get more than 15 minutes out of him. = )

Good luck and enjoy your vaca!

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We've taken our children to Hawaii a couple of times (about an 8 hour flight).
The first time was when my daughter had JUST turned 2. Our favourite things to play with were small plastic animals. I know that sounds crazy but it was my mother in law who actually gave them to us. She gave us 6 little animals and my daugher played with them CONSTANTLY on the plane and while in Hawaii. We also brought along pipe cleaners. Those were a big hit. We made a lot of pretend play items on the plane like people, a house, princess wands, etc.
We also made sure to bring along 3-4 different snacks to pull out during the flight.
As for videos, I agree that it might be time to introduce him to Disney movies such as Cars or Toy Story. Something with some action that will keep him entertained. If you end up letting him watch Cars or Toy Story and he likes them, you might also bring along new Lightning McQueen and Mater cars or Woody and Buzzlight year plastic figures so that he can play with the charactors once he's seen the movie.
Good luck on your flight!
D.

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A 12 hour flight is a long time to be on a plane. If your 2 year old only pays attention to Leap Frog & Baby Einstein for a short time, it might be a great time to introduce the world of Disney movies. There are a ton out there, but one that sticks in my head is the Bee Movie. It actually teaches you about bees and pollenation. Toy Story/ Toy Story 2 are also classics and are very entertaining for kids (& adults). Aside from movies we always love Color Wonder products. For a plane ride, I would recommend the Color Wonder markers and coloring pages. The special markers only work on the special paper ...perfect for a two year old or any age when you don't want them making a mess. Get him/her a small backpack of their own and pack new things, snacks, and of course the favorite "guy" to go along. New things will keep them busy longer, but an old friend will help once you get to your destination and something familiar is needed. Good luck!

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I know most moms hate it because how dumb the show used to be but I'm telling you what! Barney is the B.E.S.T.!! My daughter got hooked on Barney at 11 months old and is now almost 3 and still watches it every day! It's so engaging to them and so educational. My daughter learns manners, numbers, colors, shapes, hygiene, and the list goes on and on. It's really a cute show now and the only thing that ever settled my little one down. My non-stop nephew (who's 14 months) will sit and watch it now.

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Elmo's World ... each section is about 15 minutes. THey are perfect for that age, some of the show on one DVD are Up/Down, Fast / Sow and Oped / CLosed, another has body parts - Ears, Hands, Feet things like that.

Not sure what else for that age, Wonder Pets is cute, and again each section is 15 minutes. Little Einsteins may be a little too advanced
at 30 minute episodes.

Good luck!

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Curious George (they sell collections of the TV episodes), Little Einsteins, Thomas and The Wiggles.

Just a note as we travel a lot and allow my son to use his DVD player only on airplanes as a special treat so he is very interested in it - my son prefers the headphones that go over your ears vs. the ones that go in your ears. The ones that go in your ears bug him a little and he has a hard time keeping them in sometimes. They sell kid size versions of the ones that go over your ears.

Also, we used sticker books a ton on flights. You have to do it with them, but it really keeps their attention for a long period of time. Get one where there are bunches of stickers and pages with where they go. Again, we used to reserve these for flights only so it is something novel and keeps their attention.

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Just a little info here - most two year old's attention spans are short no matter what. He most likely will not make it all the way through an entire movie or even 30-45 minutes, until he is older.

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At 2, none of my kids would watch a whole movie. Nick Jr. has DVD's with multiple shows on one disc. I always took a Baby Einstein music video for the youngest kid (they're 9, 7 and 3 now) to watch when they get tired, but are too excited to sleep. The music and toys floating around helped them unwind. Elmo's World was the big hit on our trip last summer. He watched Little Einsteins about 2 1/2. Cars, Toy Story etc, didn't interest him at all until after he turned 3.

Finger puppets to act out a story you know well (like Goldilocks) can work well.

Good luck.

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My 23 month old son LOVES to watch Thomas and Friends. You may let him watch that before the trip and see if it catches his interest.

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Wow-there are so many! and they will be new to your son since his viewing has been so limited. Try Thomas the Tank Engine-my older son LOVED these. Also-the Little People toys have the cutest videos for that age(at least they used to). You could even try the Teletubbies.

Sounds like you want what your son watches to be educational, which is fine. But for this trip I would suggest that you broaden your scope to include videos that are entertaining.

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Nilck Jr. has some videos with a mix of the shows which I like better then ones with one show only. My daughter likes the Celebrate Family, but they have more, she is also in love of Ni Hao Kai-Lain.
I also recommend a doodle board my daughters like Ni Hao Kai-Lain of course.
Books: Go Away, Big Green Monster, Little People and they have this fun bugs like School Bugs, and Touching Bugs my daughter likes to read/play.
They also have a Cheerios book and is very fun but I think it would get kind of messy in the travel.
My older daughter has a Nintento DS and "sometimes" she let her sister play with it and the 2 year old LOVES it, of course she is not old enough for one but she likes to draw on it and actually have become amazing good at knowing what to do to get to that funtion.
Pretty much any new toy will give you some time too, even stuff animals like dogs or cute cats or whatever your kid likes most.
Good luck and enjoy your trip.

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J.,
My 2 1/2 yr old LOVES Little Einsteins & Mickey Mouse Club House. He could sit & watch both of them all day if we let him. We dont. He maybe gets to watch 1 episode a day. Both have a little bit of an educational flare to them. For some reason though, he is addicted.
Good luck!
H.

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Don't let that previous post scare you. My parents emmigrated here from Europe and knew only a little English when me and my brothers were young. So they plopped us in front of Sesame Street everyday and we knew how to read by the time we entered Kindergarten - we all have a college education and well paying jobs - no learning disability either!
That being said - as long as it is educational, you are okay. My kids loved the Wiggles, Thomas, Little Einsteins. But like others have said, the attention span will be limited. What has helped me was to pack a brand new toy that they don't know about and surpise them on the flight with it.

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Lady and the Tramp
Incredible Journey
We recorded cartoons too

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for a 2 year old i would NOT do disney, they are too scary at that age and boring in parts. I would stick with thomas, and elmo, Music Cd's might be another good idea, Raffi is our favorite, that way he can listen to short little songs and finger plays, i would let him listen at home so he gets familiar with them. Another idea is bringing a big pack of stickers. at that age they like to stick them all over themselves, you can say put the blue sticker on your nose etc.
He might be a little bit young, but we went on a big car trip and i wrapped a little gift, fruitsnacks, a hotwheels car, stickers, even some toys from home, etc and at each point in our trip, usually half way between meals, i would let him unwrap a gift,
guess that's alli've got, hope its a great trip.

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ok here's the thing. educational "quality" videos are great for every day, but this is kind of a special circumstance. i vote that regular movies are okay for this one special time. some suggestions: Happy Feet, Wall-E, Finding Nemo, Robots. My son loves all of these and started really liking them at about age 2. we watch a movie about once a week, on saturdays, it's our special movie, cuddle, hang out time. it's the best. and these movies were the first ones he started sitting through. they are still to this day some of his favorites. good luck!

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at that age my kids slept for the most part. then spent a lot of time using doodle board. then we'd play games, i'd make a bad drawing and ask them to guess what it was. after the right guess i'd talk to them about what i had drawn.
movies: hm at that age my kids really didn't watch long movies. their attention spam was way short for them to be able to engage with a movie. so anything 0 min. like get a few dvds of backyardigans, or shows he really likes. maybe finding nemo was good at that time. i can't remember. but chances are your toddler will sleep for the most part.
my kids have always always always behaved much better during flights then hm at home, outside, park, public places :). they find the airplane atmosphere soothing. on the other hand, the few cases of them crying i have offered earplugs to nearby passengers. that goes a long way. i always bring a pack of 12 earplugs and immediately offer to 'neighbors' on the airplane. and have found afterwards they'd go out of their ways to help me out.
our longest trip at age 2 and 3 was 23 hrs. i thought i was not going to survive :)

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When we fly, the rules are a bit more relaxed. Buy some movies he doesnt get to watch at home and just remember he wont sit for the entire time. My daughter's first movie she loved at 2rs was Garfield. Still loves to this day. Before that i had bought the Curious George dvds that had alot of espsoids on it. They arent annoying and she learned alot from it. Mickey mouse show. OUr friends's boy loves Thomas the train. Milo and Otis

Also, put dvds in the plastic cases for computer cds not the cd cases for music. I found the later scratches them or being with the heat makes them not work.

Being a developmentalist, I just want to warn everyone that reads this about the dangers of staring at a screen for any length of time. What happens with a developing child's vision is they fixate on the screen and they are seeing in 2-D instead of 3-D like using blocks or crayons or playing. This will impact your child in a very bad way when they get to school because they will not have the eye movement to sustain reading and writing. Learning disabilities can be prevented by not allowing screens to enter your child's life.....even if it's for a flight. There are tons of other ways to occupy a 2 yr old. Please consider.

It's kind of an investment if you're not lucky enough to catch a deal on amazon or at Costco (which carries these time to time), but check out the Scholastic Storybook Treasury DVD library.

Scholastic (children's book publisher) has taken their best selling and award winning children's books and has brought them to life through animation and fantastic narration by contemporary actors and authors.

My kids love these DVDs, and so much so, we've checked out just about every book featured on the DVDs from the library or have bought a copy to keep as their own.

Some titles include Knuffle Bunny, Curious George, Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Gorilla, Corduroy, Giggle, Giggle, Quack, Quack, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Click, Clack, Moo, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Mike Mulligan, Make Way for the Ducklings, Pete's a Pizza, The Teacher from the Black Lagoon, Miss Nelson has a field day, Space Case and more.

go to www.newkideo.com to see clips and to order online. Some stores like Walmart carries these from time to time too.