Need DVD Recommendations for 2 Year Old on 5 Hour Flight

Why do parents now always think of the DVD sitter? How about books, crayons, beads that can be strung on a shoe string??? Inexpensive toys from the dollar store? Children need to use their imagination, fine and gross motor skills.....

Lots of good recommendations! My daughter loved a DVD my Mother-in-law had gotten called Little Brown Bear. It has several short episodes. My daughter also likes a Winnie the Pooh dvd that has several short stories. Best of luck!

My kids have loved all of the Kipper the Dog DVDs, which have short episodes just like the Little People ones do. The characters all have English accents, too, which is so fun to hear little kids imitate! Hope that helps!

I know you were only asking about DVDs, but thought I'd give some other ideas that worked for us when the kids were little, 2 or 3 yrs:

a pack of colored popscicle sticks/craft sticks
(wouldn't think they'd be such a big hit, but they were a great time killer for us, I guess because the kids hadn't ever played with them before)

paint with water book
(the results aren't much to look at, but getting a half cup of water from the flight attendant & using a paint brush to smear a little preprinted color around...it was worth a few drips here & there)

dollar store water game with a push button
(don't know what it's called, but you pour water in a hole at the top and when you push the button it makes little pieces get squirted up to hang on hooks)

a walk up the aisle to exchange toys with another child on the flight

Happy travels!

I Dig Dirt!! Curious George. our 2 year old son also loves snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding and surfing videos, so if you're into a sport like that. of course, Thomas the Train. movies he likes but can't yet finish are Babe and Madagascar II.

on a flight, i've noticed he'll watch for a little bit (mom and dad get a break) and then we turn off the DVD player and read a book, play stickers or with another toy, and then go back to the movie.

What about episodes of Sesame Street? Since the skit is always changing.

Wonderpets also has like 10-15 minutes episodes and they can manage to watch one or two of those.

I personally cannot understand why, but my girls really enjoy the Thomas the train episodes. They each run like 10 minutes and they would spend the day watching them back to back if I allowed it.

We have a great video of episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We also have the Leapfrog Letter Factory that my son loves to watch. He also loved watching Blue's Clues and Maizy. Be sure that you take headphones with you though. ;) Where do you live? I am in south SJ and you are more than welcome to borrow some videos if you'd like.

Hi Marieka,

First of all, don't let the other mom's spread their negativity onto you by telling you not to rely on DVDs for long flights. These mom's obviously don't take long flights with children very often. As someone who flies between Europe, the US and Australia with my little boy often, I know that the imagination toys like crayons, books, pipecleaners, matching games, etc are essential, but when we're on a 25 hour flight between London and Sydney, a little relaxing mindless 'TV time' is good for us both.

As for what works best for us - the Disney movie Cars (as others have mentioned) is THE favorite, the Winnie the Pooh movies (Piglet's BIG Movie and the Heffalump Movie) are currently in the top 10, the Curious George Movie or episodes from the cartoon series if you can find them on DVD are popular with my 2 year old, and Sesame Street is also great and easy to dip in and out of if his attention span is on the short side.

I know what I just said about using DVDs, but I've also had great success with the Richard Scarry books. The pictures are fantastic and my little boy will sit and look at the details for 20 minutes at a time.

Good luck. Relax. Enjoy your flight and your trip.

All the best, D.

My daughter is two and loves Elmo's world, Blues Clues and Barnie. My friend said Mary Poppins is a great movie for that age too. Her kids liked all the music and that there are cartoons and real people.
Enjoy your trip.

My 3 yo son is obsessed with "There Goes a Truck" and "Mighty Machines" movies. These movies are about real heavy equipment. He loves big trucks and tractors, so he's in heaven. He would watch these movies over and over and over if I would let him.

My kids love Veggietales and anything Elmo. Both have short episodes and plenty to choose from. Good Luck!

My 2 year old love Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse Club house, those 2 have worked for us in the past. I have a friends daughter that loves Word World.

familytv.com has "gentle movies like Franklin.

I know 5 hrs seems like a long time espec if you have an active child as I do. If your child is one that needs a lot of stimulation think about tactile things he/she can do too. Movies are only so good for so long. You'll also need plenty of snacks and maybe a baggie of play dough.

And then, there are always good ol' fashion books.
Good luck!

Our number one request for videos in childcare is for Theodore Tugboat. It has three or four different short episodes and the kids never tire of it. Almost anything involving transportation and/or machines seems to be popular with a two year old.

When my son was not quite two we took a long flight. I got him a Thomas the Train video that had a train included. He Loved it and watched it over and over. It has three episodes. ( He is now the biggest Thomas fan you can imagine) On the same trip I got him a blues clues (room) "Alphabet Power" DVD. He also Loved that. "Blue's biggest Hits" has been a favorite around here. No long episodes and lots of variation so it really keeps your attention.

the wiggles, little bear

Hi Marieka-
My 3.5 yo and 21 mo old girls seem to enjoy the Baby Einstein series; and also Elmo videos. Dora (and Curious George, too) are recent favorites. These are all short 20 minutes or so. Occaisionally a longer movie will hold their interest - the usual suspects there...Cinderella, Little Mermaid; they also enjoy Charlotte's Web (Farm Animals!) and Madagascar. Since you have a little boy, maybe Thomas. We recently tried to watch Nemo and it was too scary for the 3.5 yo. Good luck!

Our portable DVD player is a life saver!! Car rides, if we want to watch our one tv and my 3 yr old wants to watch his dvds.
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Thomas the Train
Veggie Tales
Signing Time or Baby Signing Time

These are his top 4 favorites and we have several in each catagory.

Good luck!!!

Hi Marieka,
Also have a 5-hour flight coming up, so know where you are coming from!

My 22 month old and 12 month old both love Baby Einstein, and could watch it anywhere, everywhere. It's not fast-paced at all, and about 25 minutes with some bonus features. Just got for my oldest the one about words and the one about shapes....he loves them. Rent them from the library if you want to check them out first!

I would highly reccomend The Wonder Pets. It is sweet, funny, musical and my 2 year old son loves it. If you have not heard of it or seen it it is on Nick Jr.

I would also second the suggestion of Calliou and Bob the Builder.

Enjoy your trip!

Greetings Marieka: I have seen that my Grandchildren like anything with Care Bears, which are short and have a good message, Veggie Tales are the same thing, Nemo ( which one can only watch so often) and anything Land Before Time. My daughter in law also got some Animal Planet things that move along quickly and have wonderful background music. Just be aware that those around you are going to have to listen to this as well so watch it at home before you leave to be sure it will keep the interest. Is your son into Elmo and the gang on Sesseme Street?? Good Luck and have a safe journey, Nana G

My 2-year old daughter loves Handy Manny, which shows short episodes. She also LOVES My Neighbor Totoro, a full-length animated movie by Hayao Miyazaki. It's really wonderful and amazing and teaches some important values without being overstimulating or commercial obnoxious.
Both would probably be available at the public library and definitely through Netflix.

My toddler loves the "Cars" and "Ratatoulle" disney movies and they are entertaining for parents too. He also loves the mighty machines dvd's they have ones about construction sites and race cars and city machines, These ones have episodes about 25 minutes long
hope this helps

My son loves handy Manny and Bob The builder. He loves tools! My husband and I prefer Handy manny. It just seems a little better.

Both have several episodes on the same DVD.

There are also little einstine videos my son likes them if anythign with tools is not available.

My girls, almost 3 and 23 months, love Mickey Mouse Club, Thomas the train, and Blue's Clues.
Also movies like Cars, Shrek (especially the third), and movies about animals are a big hit in our house also.
Hope you find something that works for you and have a good flight!

lots of recs but the only ones i would suggest is/are leap frog letter factory, words factory and math circus. these DVDs are made really well with catchy songs and are all "cartoon"ish. to stimulate my boy's mind, i introduced these to him at 2 and by 2.5 he was writing and sounding out words and at 4, he now reads level 1 books on his own. it's very educational and addictive. good luck.

CARS!!!! My 2 year old twin boys are absolutely NUTS for it! Also- Anything Diego or Wonder Pets have been a HUGE hit! Good luck and have a wonderful trip!

My children have all loved "Baby Songs". There are several different ones. I think they like it so much because it shows little ones doing things they can relate to and the songs are really sweet. It's sorta real life for little ones. About the things they are learning and doing. My 4 year old still enjoys them. It really keeps there attention. Good luck.

at that age, my daughter liked Dora (Deigo for a boy if Dora doesnt work), Little Einsteins (not baby Einseins), Baby Songs, Sesame Street,and Max and Ruby as well as just about anything on PBS.

Hope that gives you some ideas!

My two year old loves Finding Nemo and Bolt. Toy Story is also good but he would watch the others over and over if I let him.

Lots of good recommendations so far. However my son did not have the attention span nor the capacity to understand the CARS movie until over 3 yrs. It is a fast paced ,busy movie. He is a Thomas the Train and Caillou fanatic.If you have Comcast On Demand go under the Kids section and then under the PBS Sprout section and you will find free episodes of various PBS programming. You can try some of the programs out to see what he likes. THey have Thomas, Caillou, Barney, Fifi, Sesame STreet and lots of others. Once you have an idea what he likes you can either borrow these things from the library (our library has Caillou and I'm sure much more) or you can buy what you want. PErsonally I'd recommend more Little People episodes, Barney, Fifi and the FLowertots, and Caillou. TAke several different DVD's becasue even if a 2 yr old likes something, he can't watch it non stop. Happy traveling!

My two year old also loves the little people DVD's. I have found that the Max and Ruby DVD's are also appropriate and are a series of short stories similar to little people.

I've flown on quite a few longhaul (i.e. 10 hour plus) flights with my now 19 month old. I haven't done the DVD thing yet. If there is personal entertainment I have set him up with disney channel or similar (without sound) for a bit. I fill a backpack with toys and books. A coloring book with stickers seems to keep him busy. He also enjoys flicking through the flight magazine and safety card (!). I tend to get him new books and toys for a flight. I keep rotating through the toys to entertain him. He also enjoys walking up and down the cabin and saying hello to people (obviously a bit easier on larger planes).

E.