Games and toys for little boys
I'm working on a packing list right now, and brainstorming what in the world will keep A (and us) occupied in the hotel room for a week, and on the plane for 12+ hours.
So far I've come up with this:
Cards and dice (no idea what games we'll play, but at least they're versatile)
Jacks
Hopscotch (bring roll of masking tape)
Finger puppets
Coin toss (masking tape square on the floor)
Ipod with Russian fairy tales or music
Couple of videos loaded on to my laptop
Memory game
Puzzle or two
Crayons
Activity books that don't require reading
Beach ball
Stickers
Russian/English picture book
Sewing card or some other craft that doesn't require glue
Obviously most of these will only work in the hotel room and maybe the Airport Terminal, but I'm hoping that a good dose of Melatonin will help him sleep most of the plane ride. I'm saving the fairy tales and movies for then.
Searching online for this kind of stuff is hard because we're really not able to communicate anything, and I don't think he can read Russian either.
Help me out with some awesome ideas. The smaller and lighter to pack, the better.
So far I've come up with this:
Cards and dice (no idea what games we'll play, but at least they're versatile)
Jacks
Hopscotch (bring roll of masking tape)
Finger puppets
Coin toss (masking tape square on the floor)
Ipod with Russian fairy tales or music
Couple of videos loaded on to my laptop
Memory game
Puzzle or two
Crayons
Activity books that don't require reading
Beach ball
Stickers
Russian/English picture book
Sewing card or some other craft that doesn't require glue
Obviously most of these will only work in the hotel room and maybe the Airport Terminal, but I'm hoping that a good dose of Melatonin will help him sleep most of the plane ride. I'm saving the fairy tales and movies for then.
Searching online for this kind of stuff is hard because we're really not able to communicate anything, and I don't think he can read Russian either.
Help me out with some awesome ideas. The smaller and lighter to pack, the better.
posted by Tracy at 5:14 AM
6 Comments:
Color by number books are always popular at our house. Another thing we like in the car is Look and Find books (like Where's Waldo but with any number of different themes)or Usborne's 1001 Things to Find series. Another idea is Magnetic Creations sets (available to Wal-mart or Fleet Farm) which are self-contained sets that contain 3 background scenes and about 40 magnets to place on the scenes - like Colorforms only with magnets. They are around the size of a DVD case and cost about $4.
Some suggestions:
- Magnadoodle
- Hot wheels/matchbox cars or miniature Tonka toys.
- Set of small plastic animals or dinosaurs.
- Yarn to teach and play string figures (instructions for cat’s cradle and jacob’s ladder can be found on the web)
- Pipe cleaners can be entertaining to make things on the airplane.
- Dry erase markers and a small whiteboard.
- A book of simple origami for kids (plain paper is fine for origami).
- Check out this web site for other paper crafts/toys that you could print to make at the hotel. http://www.thetoymaker.com/2Toys.html
Plan on rotating toys in and out on the plane trip. Don’t show him all the activities at once; try to keep a couple of new and novel items in reserve to pull out periodically on the plane trip home.
Just a word of warning that playing hopscotch in the hotel room on an upper floor might disturb guests on the floor below.
I know my son, although younger, loves to open envelopes and find out what's inside! He also likes to attempt to copy us when we fold the junk mail into planes and stuff. Another idea is those Koosh rockets. We had them in the dorms and it actually was riotus fun in the halls. You might think this is silly, but I would also recommend some goofy dance or exercise DVDs, like Richard Simmons. Kids love to move around and copy other people dance, plus it's fun to watch them imitate the moves =)! My summer school kids loved to build with simple things like gumdrops and toothpicks, or pretzels and marshmallows. The best part of that is eating it!! It was actually a math activity about dodecahedrons or something...anyways, just some random thoughts I had...I am a planner and LOVE the fact that you are planning this stuff ahead...plus I like to think of all the adventures waiting to happen! Love you guys...
Oooh, great ideas everyone - thanks!
I'd like to second the recommendation for Magna Doodle, and only the actual brand name one, as the cheap ones are not that much cheaper and are nowhere near the quality.
We love silly putty.
Eye Spy books are great and come in all levels of difficulty, Where's Waldo is fun, too.
I always like etchasketch. It's the thing where you write on this wax like paper with a fake pen and then when you tear the paper back, it magically erases. UNO is fun, too
Post a Comment
<< Home