# Coloring at a restaurant or on a plane: what to pack for a toddler
By Nora Ember, Lantern & Ladder · Updated 28 October 2026
**The short answer:** For a toddler at a restaurant, on a plane or in the car, pack a small coloring kit: a few pages with one big picture each, four chunky crayons in a triangular shape so they do not roll, and a clipboard or tray to lean on. Keep it in the bag and bring it out when the waiting starts, not before, and put it away again before it runs out.
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](/series/llc/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.

## From the book
Farm and Garden's pictures are one big thing each, small enough in effort to finish at a table before the food comes. [Farm and Garden](https://lanternladder.com/series/llc/farm-and-garden.md)

## Related guides
- [Quiet time without a screen: coloring a 3 year old will finish](https://lanternladder.com/guides/screen-free-quiet-time-for-3-year-olds.md): Set it up before you need it, give one page they can finish, sit with them for the first minutes, and stop while it is still going well.
- [Markers for a 3 year old: what age, which tip, and the page behind](https://lanternladder.com/guides/markers-for-3-year-olds.md): Once a child stops putting things in their mouth: broad washable markers with ventilated caps and a non-toxic seal, on a single-sided page.
- [How to choose a coloring book for a 3 year old](https://lanternladder.com/guides/how-to-choose-a-coloring-book-for-a-3-year-old.md): Look inside: one big thing a page, lines that survive a crayon, no space narrower than a crayon, blank backs, and an age band that starts at three.
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Page: https://lanternladder.com/guides/coloring-for-toddlers-at-a-restaurant
Lantern & Ladder, Utrecht, Netherlands. info@lanternladder.com