A restaurant table, a plane seat and a car seat are three of the hardest places to keep a small child busy without a screen. A coloring kit that fits a bag, what goes in it for each place, and the timing that makes it last.
Why coloring travels well
Of the quiet activities for toddlers at a restaurant, coloring is one of the few that work sitting still, at a small table, with nothing to fall on the floor and get lost. It needs no talking, so it suits a plane at night; it needs little space, so it suits a tray table; and it ends in something finished, which buys you the next five minutes as the child shows it off.
It only works if the kit is small and the pictures are simple. A thick book and a tin of sixty crayons are a mess on a restaurant table, and a detailed scene cannot be finished before the food comes.
What to pack
Keep the kit in one zip bag that lives in your bag:
- A few pages, not a book. Three or four pictures with one big thing on each. A slim book is fine; a heavy one is not. Pages cut or torn from a single-sided book are perfect, because nothing is lost on the back.
- Four chunky crayons. Fewer than at home, chosen to go with the pictures. Triangular crayons do not roll off a tilted tray or table.
- Something firm. A small clipboard or a hardback book to lean on, for laps, car seats and wobbly tables.
- A spare. One page held back for the moment the first runs out.
Crayons are better than markers away from home. They do not dry out, they cannot leak in a bag, and there is no cap to lose under a seat. If you do take markers, take broad washable ones and a sheet of paper to put behind the page.
At a restaurant
Timing matters more than the kit. Bring it out when the waiting starts, after ordering, not while you are reading the menu, and put it away when the food arrives. A kit that comes out only for the wait stays special; one that is out from the moment you sit down is finished before it is needed.
Many restaurants give children a paper placemat and crayons. Use it first and keep yours for later.
On a plane or a train
Tray tables are small and they tilt, so triangular crayons earn their place here. Keep the kit in the seat pocket, not the overhead locker, and bring out one page at a time. On a long trip, keep some pages back for the second half; a page saved for after the snack is a page with something to look forward to.
In the car
A clipboard on the lap of a child in a car seat works for short trips, if they are not prone to motion sickness; stop if they feel unwell. Do not leave crayons in a parked car on a hot day, because wax softens in the heat and a melted crayon is hard to get out of upholstery.
Bring it out next time
Restock the bag at home with fresh pages, and keep the finished ones. A toddler who colored the puppy at the restaurant will want to see it again, and a finished page from the trip is something to show grandparents at the other end.
If you want one of ours
This part is about our own books, so weigh it accordingly. Little Lantern Coloring is printed single sided, so pages can be cut out for the travel bag without losing a picture on the back, and each is one big thing a three year old can finish at a table. Farm and Garden, for ages 3 to 6, goes on sale in November; the puppy above is from it. Its page also sends four of its pictures free by email, which you can print for the bag.
