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Our top 5 travel books for toddlers – flying on holiday
Reading to toddlers about upcoming changes can help them understand and cope with transitions. So to help you explain your adventures to come we have picked out some of our favourites for when we go on a holiday by plane!
Airports and planes can be scary, loud, boring and frustrating for toddlers (and their parents!), but talking about what to expect can help build a small child’s excitement ready to fly away on holiday.
Once you get to the airport we always aim to get to the gate a short while in advance, mainly to spend our time watching the planes moving about, seeing if we can spot suitcases, or people with light-up wands or pilots! It’s also a good way to burn some energy as often there’s quite a long way to walk – and we have always encouraged our toddler to walk through the airport (wherever it is safe to do so).
We suggest:
- Peep inside how a plane works
- This is probably one of our favourite travel books, we read it weekly, even when we’re not going on a holiday! There are so many flaps to lift, and different parts of the plane to explore, and it’s quite a long read so you can come back to it time and time again. It would also suit children up to at least 6, as there is so much to explore.
- That’s not my plane
- Everyone loves a “That’s not my…. “ And the plane one is just the same! More for younger readers, as it doesn’t explain much about what is going on, and is a short read, it would be fantastic for younger children as an introduction to planes and airports.
- Busy world; Airport
- A book for slightly younger readers, but it still engages my toddler at 2.5 years old, and is a good one for talking through different parts of your holiday – including the airport. There’s so many things to move, spot and talk about, that I think this is a winner.
- First sticker book: airport
- We love these First Sticker Books, although I would say they are more suited to 2 years plus. We had these when the toddler was younger, but he just didn’t seem as engaged as when he had stickers from Peppa Pig (see below) or Cbeebies magazine.
- Peppa Pig: Happy Holiday Sticker Activity Book
- You either love her or hate her, but Peppa Pig is a staple toddler character and you can’t seem to escape her even if she’s banned from your TV at home (I think you can guess which side I am on…). However, her sticker books are great, and this kept my son busy for nearly an entire flight to Spain, which I think is a win! It’s not fully focused on the plane/airport as the others, but it’s a fun one with lots of destinations included.
This includes some affiliate links which may provide me with some commission if you click through, but will not cost you anything! We only provide truthful and honest reviews of things, and will never share anything that we do not love!
We purchased all copies of our travel books ourselves.
- Peep inside how a plane works
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Tales & Trails – Gatton Park
Today we went to Gatton Park for their Tales and Trails event – the story was the Scarecrows’ Wedding!
Such a fun morning – and so much to do. Perfect for ages 2-4, and maybe even a bit older.
What did we do?
👂We listened to the Scarecrows’ Wedding story
🌸 we made some beautiful pink flowers
✅ we went on a hunt around the gardens to find the things on our lists from the Scarecrows’ Wedding
👒 We finished off with a tea for me (yay!), a biscuit, and making our own scarecrows to take home!
And all only for £8.50. It was such a fun morning!
It’s a blend of a playgroup and forest school, so was really engaging for my 2.5 year old… although I think his highlight was the bourbon biscuit!
We also had really weird weather, it was freezing but then completely warming up as we headed to the car! The 2 year old is wearing his Polarn O. Pyret waterproof fleece which was perfect for today!
Nb. This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you.
We paid for this experience and the fleece ourselves.
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Spring Fun at Godstone Farm for Toddlers
Godstone farm is a perfect day out for a toddler, especially in the spring when the daffodils are out, hopefully the sun is shining bright in the sky, and the newborn lambs are snuggled up cosily with their mums.
Nestled in the Surrey countryside, just outside of the M25, Godstone Farm is easy to reach from Surrey, Kent, Croydon and London, although it’s probably best to travel by car, as you need to travel to Oxted or Redhill and catch a bus from there if you want to go by public transport.
We’re lucky enough to have a pre-schooler pass, and normally spend about 2-4 hours at a time here, but there are still corners of activities that we haven’t seen, or bits we haven’t explored for a few visits, so you definitely could spend a full day there!
How busy was it?
We visited on a warm sunny term-time weekday in March, so crowds were fairly low. There were a few school groups, and lots of families, but we didn’t feel crowded at all. The farm opens at 9:30am, but the play barn (with the amazing soft play) opens at 10am. We spent time roaring at the dinosaur trail, playing in the sandpits and on the multiple (at least 10?!) slides and counting how many lambs we could see. The pigs were snoozing in the sun, the donkeys were eey-oreing away and the kids were running around having so much fun!
Our top tips for a Spring Day at Godstone Farm:
- Bring suntan lotion – there’s limited shade and it can get hot even on spring days
- Be ready to count the babies! There were lots of lambs, some baby guinea pigs, and the crias (baby alpacas) have grown up a bit and been moved into the fields.
- The animal encounter areas and reptile house sometimes close around midday, so keep an eye on timings on the map that you can pick up at the gate.
- The nicest toilets are in the play barn (where the soft play is). i think all the toilets are child size though – so great for your toilet trained toddler, but can be awkward as an adult!
- Baby changing in the play barn is quite out in the open – the baby changing at the bottom of the farm (by the cafe) are more private, but can be chilly.
- I like visiting the farm anti-clockwise, so going into the new animal barn to start (and seeing if there are any babies!) followed by feeding the alpacas and highland cows. These alpacas always look like they want to have a chat with you!
- Make sure you keep enough animal feed for the goats at the end of your visit!
- Buy at least two bags of animal feed – I give one to my son, and keep the second in my pocket in case of any spillages and for the animals towards the end of the route
- Don’t forget to visit the DINOSAURS! We always make sure to go around twice, as the first time we sprint past all the other dinosaurs to make sure we roar loudly at the T-Rex!
The Farm map can be found here, or below. (all rights to Godstone Farm).
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My top 5 tips of travelling with a toddler
Firstly – take a deep breath!
I’ve always found that the worry before going on holiday (especially the worry about the flight – will they sleep? Will they scream for 14 hours straight? Will they vomit or wee everywhere?) is so much worse than the actual travel itself.
My top 5 tips for travelling with a toddler
1. Give yourself, and your toddler grace.
You will do the best you can, with the best you have in front of you. As long as you have prepared snacks and activities in advance, the rest is out of your hands and you can only apologise to your neighbours! You can’t control the weather, their sleep, when the flight takes off or who you are sat next to, but in my experience people have mostly been welcoming and helpful when we’ve travelled with a baby or toddler.
2. Pack snacks.
Then more snacks, then even more snacks! If you’re flying long haul, it’s likely the food isn’t going to suit a toddler, so bring a packed lunch too. If you have any allergies, remember to book your special dietary menu well in advance, and at least 3 days before you are flying, otherwise food will be limited.
3. Bring new toys, or toys out of retirement
Bring sticker books, new books, and some new small toys. Or hide toddler’s favourite toys for the week before the trip, and bring them out on the plane.
We love the Lovevery boxes, which have lots of fidget type toys, so we always keep some of the smaller toys to one side before a holiday. There is also the benefit that the tray table and the seatbelt buckle can bring so much joy to a small child!
4. Headphones and screen time rule
Bring headphone splitters and toddler headphones. We use a pair of tiger child headphones that my son loves (regularly wears them around the house!). Practice using the headphones at home in the week or so before the flight, so there are no surprises on the flight.
On flights, screen time can not be an issue, and using toddler-friendly headphones means that not everyone has to listen to the Bluey theme tune on repeat!
If you’re on a long haul flight with entertainment, you can often check the entertainment guide before your flight, so you can have a plan on what to watch / what will be toddler appropriate.
5. Promises…promises…
Do not promise anything you do not have control over/may not work.
We had one tantrum on our long haul flight to Japan, and that was promising some episodes of ‘Something Special‘, but when we came to launch it on the ipad, our BBC Iplayer app decided that the programs we’d downloaded needed the internet to be opened, despite them working with no problem in the airport, on airplane mode….
Once you’re on the flight, sit back, reminisce about flying pre-baby, and resign yourself to the fact you will walk to and from the toilet or galley at least 15 times in the flight! We use this time to get to know the flight attendants if they have time, and find out more about their favourite destinations, or how long they’ve been flying.
And, if it’s any consolation, I once had someone have a go at us for taking a 20 month old on a 14h30 flight from Tokyo to London, and how it will ruin his trip – so there will always be that one person who wants to take a little bit of sparkle from everyone else’s day. If you can, ignore them, and carry on without ever thinking about them again (they’re just jealous their parents didn’t take them on fun adventures!).
If you have any questions or suggestions – let me know! Drop a comment below, or contact me here.
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