In a few weeks, we will be travelling to Europe. I will spend the summer back ‘home’ in Germany with the kids. I want to escape the Dubai heat for a little while. Just like thousands of other expat mums.

Just like thousands of other expat mums, I will get on a plane. Buckle up in my airplane seat. Take a deep breath. And hope for a calm and stress-free flight. With no major toddler tantrums. Poo explosions. Or spilled drinks.

My little ones are one and (nearly) three. They are probably less scared of airplanes than I am. Both of them were only a few weeks old when they travelled overseas for the first time. But even though they don’t mind being on a plane, they can get bored relatively fast. Ok, really, really fast.

So, before every flight, I put together some sort of ‘airplane survival kit’. It includes spare clothes for all of us. Pretty huge amounts of food, all packed in small boxes. My kids’ bedtime essentials (white noise, bedtime books, musical box, cuddly toy and Co.). And lots of activities to keep them busy.

I usually let them pack some of their favourite toys but also get some new ones, which they can discover, one by one, during the flight.

This year, I’m really pleased with the little surprises I found for them. So, I thought I’d share some ideas with you:

Busy Books by Happy Hands Dubai

Let’s start with the Ferrari among all airplane activities for babies and toddlers: a personalised busy book. To be very honest with you, a few weeks ago, I didn’t even know what a busy book was. Or that something like this was available here in Dubai. That was before I met Ankita.

Ankita runs Happy Hands Dubai and makes the most beautiful, hand-stitched activity books for toddlers and children from the age of 1. All books are child-friendly, made to order (count about a week from order to delivery for standard orders) and can be fully personalised.

From sorting shapes, colours and numbers to learning the alphabet and how to read the time on a clock, there are plenty of different activities to choose from. And Ankita is happy to explain them to you. Each book can include up to 18 pages, plus a personalised cover page.

Busy books are meant to encourage, amongst others, creative learning, fine motor development, hand-eye coordination and alphabet/number recognition. They are perfect to take on a plane as they are super light (the activity pages are made out of felt) and practical thanks to the Velcro that is used for nearly all activities.

The busy books made by Happy Hands Dubai come with a price (they are personalised and entirely handmade after all) but are really worth every dirham. The quality of the work is amazing.

If you are looking for a similar but more affordable option, however, you might be interested in their Pixie Busy Bags instead, which are AED 40 only. Each bag has a different activity theme: Letters and Numbers, I Spy Colours and Pattern World are a few examples.

For more information, you can have a look at Ankita’s Facebook and Instagram pages or contact her directly:

Facebook: @happyhandsdubai
Instagram: @happyhandsdubai
Email: happyhandsdubai@gmail.com
Mobile: 052 804 5934

Fun Flight Packs by Kidore.com

One of my other favourite discoveries are the activity packs for kids created by online kid’s store Kidore.com and mummy blogger Louise from Mum of Boys and Mabel.

All packs (and there are seven of them, catering to children between 0 to tweens) are priced at AED 100 only and include five or more small toys, which can easily be transported in hand luggage. Brilliant!

I got the “Active Baby” and “Arty Superhero” travel packs for my little ones and the first thought that came to my mind when they arrived was “Best deal ever!”. The toys are well chosen (wouldn’t have expected anything else from Louise to be honest) and come individually wrapped – what a simple but genius idea! Had I not wanted to take some pictures of the toys for this post, I would have kept them wrapped and let my little ones unwrap their gifts on the plane 😉

If you want to check out the content of the different flight packs, you can click here.

The following 7 Fun Flight Packs are available:

The Baby (0-15 months)
The Active Baby (15 months – 2 years)
The Toddler
The Kid
The Arty Princess
The Arty Superhero
The Tween Swag

Website: www.kidore.com
Facebook: @kidoreME
Instagram: @kidoreme

Magnetic Tangram-inspired Game from Heguru

Those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that, since a few weeks, Maëva and I are attending ‘Right Brain Education’ classes at the Heguru Centre in Motor City. The Heguru concept of right brain education originated in Japan 30 years ago and is a method of education said to enhance learning ability in kids aged 6 months to 6 years.

But that’s not the topic of this post. I will tell you more about Heguru later.

What I want to show you today, however, is something I discovered during our Heguru classes: a magnetic tangram-inspired game, consisting of different shapes in different colours.

For those of you who are not familiar with tangram, it is a Chinese geometrical puzzle with seven pieces, which form a square. The objective is to use these pieces to form another specific shape of which we only know the outline or silhouette.

The idea behind Heguru’s game is very similar. It has however been simplified for the little ones who either need to place the corresponding shapes on a printed outline or recreate a silhouette by following a visual plan.

I love, love, love this game and it can keep Luca busy for quite a long time. But even Maëva shows quite some interest in the different shapes. The fact that the puzzle is magnetic makes it the ideal activity to keep the little ones busy on the plane.

Another advantage is that you can actually use the magnetic board for other magnets as well. I am planning to take some animal magnets for Maëva, for example.

For more information, you can check out the Heguru website or give them a call on 050 1475732.

Website: www.hegurudxb.ae
Facebook: @hegurudubai
Email: enquiries@hegurudxb.ae
Mobile: 050 1475732.

Reusable Sticker Pads

I have a toddler who is obsessed with stickers. So, we have quite a few reusable sticker pads in A3 format at home (Borders Mall of the Emirates has a nice selection if you are interested). I love the fact that you can invent different stories and use the stickers again and again.

But, for our trip to Germany, I was looking for something smaller. A sticker pad that would easily fit on an airplane’s seat tray.

And here’s what I got:

Since we saw the latest Fireman Sam movie at the cinema a few weeks ago, Luca firmly claims that he will become a fireman one day and spends hours replaying scenes from the film. So, I was pretty excited when I found a small Fireman Sam Sticker Kit at Mattel Play! Town. It includes several sheets of reusable stickers as well as a double sided scene. Can’t wait to see Luca’s eyes when he discovers it!

The second sticker book I got for my little monkey is about careers and real-life heroes. I ordered it from Mumzworld.com and it includes 10 pages with different scenes as well as 100 reusable stickers, mainly work uniforms and utensils.

Wipe-clean Alphabet Cards

Wipe-clean pre-school workbooks are another activity Luca really enjoys. He will start FS1 in September and I think these learning books are a great way to get familiar with the different letters of the alphabet – but also with shapes, numbers and the pencil grip in general.

Here again, I was looking for a smaller version and found these creative learning cards from Faber-Castell at Carrefour Mall of the Emirates. Perfect!

I could share some more activities with you (which probably means that I got a bit too many toys for our flight that only lasts for about 7 hours…) but let’s stop here.

The only thing I would like to add is that there are some really nice ideas for DIY activities on Pinterest as well 😉

Have a lovely summer everyone and a safe flight for those of you who will be travelling.

xxx
Tani

PS: I’d love to hear about other airplane activities for toddlers. Please share any good ideas in the comment section below 😉