Guest review by T.O.P. reader Kelly.

The airplane ride seems to be the bane of almost every parent’s existence. I’ve seen countless posts on parenting forums pleading for advice on what to bring and how to manage an airplane trip with young children. I have flown with my son six times since he was born, including four trips from the United Kingdom to the United States (varying from ten to twelve hours on a plane at a time). I have tried every combination of things and this product from A Toy Garden was my best discovery. The “On The Go Bag” fits an astounding number of toys in an amazingly small bag that fits quite easily into a purse or diaper bag. The toys amuse a variety of age ranges, recommended 2-8, but with my own 30 year-old self loving the Architect Blocks I’d say it should be left open ended. The bags include: “A set of wood Architect Blocks, a wooden Jacob’s ladder, a mini deck of cards, a mini set of crayons (you’ll find these in my purse at all times!), a super bouncy rubber ball, a collapsible drinking cup in fun shapes, a mini key chain level and mini keychain metal tape measure (for hours of entertainment), a mini set of soft clay in 5 colors, and a sheet of temporary butterfly tatoos. ” The big hits for us were the Jacob’s ladder… which has been played with for the past year and has held up quite well, the keychain tape measure… again played with for the past year and the blocks.

Because I loved the bag so much, I ordered another to have on hand for any new trip (the toys having migrated to various parts of the house since our first trip) and kept it in a closet. One day, our neighbors had a death in the family and had to leave immediately with their three young children for a seven hour car ride. I ran back to my house and grabbed the bag to hand off to the mom as she was pulling out of the driveway. When she got back she couldn’t stop talking about how much of a stress-reliever it was for her. With the tragedy on her mind and a car full of kids she was anticipating the trip to be terrible. Instead, every hour she would pass around another toy. It kept the children occupied and content, allowing her to concentrate on driving.

A Toy Garden is run by a WAHM, my preference for buying on the net. They give great customer service and are a pleasure to shop with.

Kelly is a WOHM from Bellevue, Nebraska. Her husband is SAHD who spends his days chasing their three year old and eleven month old boys, while rebuilding their recently acquired ‘65 VW Bus.

Thanks so much for sharing this great product with us, Kelly!

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