Tips for Traveling with a Toddler

We are getting ready to travel with a toddler again. The first time we flew I scoured Pinterest looking for ideas on how to keep a toddler busy on a plane. Well I packed a bag FULL of stuff. Lesson learned you don't need to take that much stuff. On the way home I lightened my load and brought a few things for him to play with. 

My tip for any trip is to pack new toys. Go to your local dollar store and buy 5-10 items depending the age and amount of travel time. I like to buy dollar items because I don't care if they get lost or ruined. George loves to pull things out of packages, so tissues are fabulous. Post it notes are another fun thing. He can write on them, post them around the car or airplane and move them around. You can also buy stickers to put on the post it notes. 

Above are some newer things I bought for our upcoming trip. He won't know how to fling the chickens, but he will like the rubbery feel. I am thinking once we get to our destination we will have fun flinging them around the condo. 

The little play packs are from the $ section of Target. He loves to pull everything out of the bag. Stickers, crayons, pictures, scribble on the items and shove it all back in. It keeps him busy for a little while. 

George LOVES my wallet. He loves to pull out the cards, hand them to pay for items and shove them back in. I decided to take one of Art's wallets he doesn't use anymore and put in some gift cards, hotel cards and various other cards we had laying around. He has fun pulling them out and putting them back in. One thing I learned was to only put a few cards in the wallet. Keep the rest to the side to replace the ones that he loses. When there are too many cards he gets overwhelmed and isn't interested. 

He is really into books right now. He brings me different books on a daily basis to read. His favorite are books with flaps to open, pop up books and ones that have different textures to feel. I bought him a couple flap books. 

I keep all these toys in a container in his closet, so he can't play with them. I want them to be new exciting toys just for a trip. That way he is excited to play with them. 

I recently discovered Turo a company that can help you make some money while you are on a trip. Did you know at certain airports you can leave your car, park free, earn some money by letting others drive your car while you are gone? Ok this is awesome because I HATE paying to park my car while I am gone. We will be looking into leaving our car in the future when we are gone. Check them out if you are willing to let someone drive your vehicle while you are gone. 

FTC Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I am writing this post based on my experience with the service and all opinions are my own. I am not being compensated to write this post.