Pixel. We also didn’t get her any headphones and don’t have Disney plus- I don’t know which streaming apps let you download. The Boy owns all the Amazon movies and he’s not coming. I know some kids will watch silently, not sure if she will.
We do games like dinosaur dig and drawing apps (we downloaded more but they only play those on the plane. Maybe khan academy kids was broken).
Youtube premium lets us download and so did old netflix but not new cheaper netflix. A month of youtube premium would be worth it for downloads. No idea if you still have time to prep but… We also do a toy or sometging per hour or half hour. Colouring, water colouring, 2 toy cars, a fidget toy, a few figurines. Snacks
My SIL is using polly pocket as a supervised potty toy - something high value and unsafe could be great on a plane.
And even when we’ve brought enough our kids haven’t really worn headphones - we ask in front behind and beside if they mind/to tell us if they want it turned down and then do regular low volume. One person out of maybe 8 flights said no, but his mom made him say yes because she understood the risk involved. Most people choose low volume kids shows over high volume kids
With a 2 year old, I vote both! But I’m also def “you should prefer to see me walk my kid up and down the aisle a bunch, versus hear their screaming allllll through the plane” lol. Random air squat and lunge “competitions”, holding hands while squatting together, all sorts of silly body moves keep the wiggles at bay.
Larva at 2.5 had never watched a show on silent until we flew for the first time, but absolutely refused to wear the brand new headphones I got her. She sat through one in-flight movie without sound (while still on the tarmac—we were so delayed ) and then one of her downloaded movies also on silent. Maybe you’ll have similar luck.
I also got a lot of mileage out of the art app Procreate. We discovered a lot of interesting features during the return flight.
Check out the kids section of the free in-flight videos. American Airlines has a really simple but enrapturing dancing fruit video that both my toddler/preschooler were obsessed with for a 7-hour flying day.
We fly Frontier
Oh drat. Ok, the only other idea I have is the PBS kids app apparently has free video downloads. Also, my 1.5yo is mesmerized by videos of our family members goofing off. Even a 2-min can repeat 20x before he gets bored.
Ooo that’s a really good one! Record some videos of the boys doing silly things to entertain her that she’s never seen before.
Larva got some money from Grandma for Christmas (“dollars!”, she exclaimed—reader, it was no mere dollars). I immediately swapped them for an equivalent number of bills in denominations two orders of magnitude smaller, and part of it has gone to setting up cash in hand for the birthday allowance.
Some of it is earmarked for her 529, but I’m dithering on whether and how much to give her for spending money. I remember getting $20 for Christmas many a year and tossing it in my stash (stache?), but I was preteen/young teen by then. What’s a reasonable amount of money for a 4.5yo to carry around in her new Bluey wallet from Christmas?
I would only let my kids have as much as I would be willing to replace if they lost it. So probably $10-$20.
Pipsqueak got $25 from my grandmother for Christmas. We usually only let her carry around $2-3 but I keep the rest in my wallet with a sticky note on it and she can ask to spend it whenever she wants. (My grandma specifically gives spending money to everyone with a request to buy something frivolous or fun rather than save it).
This. My nine year old just got $20 cash from grandma and stuck it in his pocket, we quickly strongly suggested a parent hold it for him.
An excellent point!