Downloadable movies/tv shows/apps for a 2-year-old?

March 7, 2013 11:29 AM

After our last, disastrous flight, during which Toddler Snickerdoodle was officially "that baby," I've decided to bend the "limited screentime" rule for our next transcontinental flight. What can I put on an iPad to keep her content in her seat? She currently enjoys Youtube videos of kittens, and Elmo singing his ABCs, but we haven't experimented with anything over a few minutes long. We will be bringing a few new toys, plenty of snacks, etc., but I'm ready to bring out the big guns.
posted by snickerdoodle to travel & transportation (21 answers total)

I asked a similar question earlier.
posted by dhruva at 11:31 AM on March 7

You may like a lot of the programming on Sprout as it's aimed for the very little kiddos.

Dump a buttload of shows, you can get that fixed stare, clutching woobie and thumb in face drool thing going indefinitely.

It ain't perfect, but it will work.

Has anyone discussed Dramamine Jr with you?
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:34 AM on March 7 [2 favorites]

How about some read-to-you books? Ours love the Thomas books, Goodnight Moon, The Little Engine That Could and The Cat in the Hat.
posted by tigerjade at 11:35 AM on March 7

If she likes Elmo already, I'd build on that. There's an Elmo ABC game that has songs, videos, letter-tracing and coloring. We find it critical to have (over-the-head) headphones so that he can hear it over the plane noise. I like a headphone splitter too, so I can share in what he's doing.

Our family also loves Drawing Pad. We draw freehand and tell stories about the pictures. It has virtual stickers, or you can load in photographs and draw on them, too.
posted by xo at 11:35 AM on March 7

Pixar shorts will reduce my niece to an unmoving square-eyed blob.
posted by Specklet at 11:36 AM on March 7 [3 favorites]

Endless Alphabet is a good one.
There's a Monster at the End of This Book (and the sequel with Elmo)
posted by mulligan at 11:48 AM on March 7

Puzzle games, we use Kids Place on our devices to lock out the phone and make it safe for the kid to mess with.

We have also had some success with a roll of painters tape and letting them go wild.
posted by iamabot at 11:49 AM on March 7

The Monster at the end of this book and sequel, Another Monster at the end of this book.

Most of the Toca Boca apps (Toca House, Toca Kitchen, and Toca Haircut were the faves on our recent plane flight)

any drawing app

Toddler Architeuthis will look at photos and videos of himself practically endlessly.

The above, along with some stickers, books, and a magnadoodle, kept Toddler Architeuthis (age 26 mo) absorbed through six hours of flight a few weeks ago.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 11:56 AM on March 7

Endless Alphabet is awesome. And everything by Toca Boca (we are particularly into Train, Band, and Robot Lab).

Starfall ABCs is another favorite.

Bugs and Buttons might be a little old (my 3-year-old loves it), but dude I love me some Bugs and Buttons. Possibly MY favorite toddler game!

Both the Daniel Tiger and the Super Why apps are fairly popular because my kids are allowed to watch those on PBS. The apps themselves are only so-so, but the familiar characters make them happy.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:26 PM on March 7

Yes, the Toca apps are great. There's also a really cute little game called Seek & Find. Our new favourite discovery is PlayTube, which uses magic to cache YouTube vids so you can watch them offline. Hello hours and hours of Pingu!
posted by ZipRibbons at 12:39 PM on March 7

I highly reccomend kid-oriented ocean videos - anything with fish, jelly fish, sharks and dolphins. It is like carrying an aquarium with you. My son went nuts over Baby Einsten's Oceans and to date it is the ONLY thing my daughter has ever had any ounce of attention for on the TV.
posted by Nanukthedog at 12:43 PM on March 7 [1 favorite]

They call him Kipper. Kipper the dog.

It is on Sprout (as mentioned above), and are fairly short. My son loved Kipper at that age, under similar circumstances.

Also, and I have no firsthand experience with this app, but you might find VideoTube comes in handy.
posted by dirtdirt at 12:45 PM on March 7 [1 favorite]

Cookie Doodle!!!! Cookie Doodle!!! Also a series of three apps called "Toddler Seek and Find," which have given us hours and hours of enjoyment. No wireless required, unlike Sprout etc. Highly recommend
posted by nkknkk at 12:56 PM on March 7

Toddlers age out of the 5 minute long Nanalan' by about two and a half - but for the brief window while they love it, they LOVE it. Adults love it long afterward, because the later, longer episodes that include Mr. Wooka's puppet shows are a little better quality (after the show sold to CBC) and they're brilliant. Magical Sniffy Thing is my favourite.
posted by peagood at 1:10 PM on March 7

My 2-year-old likes the Toca Boca hair salon app mentioned above and doodling with paper (which has a free version). She also likes Peek-a-zoo and Peek-a-boo Barn.

We also have a few of her favorite picture books loaded into iBooks, ones that would be too heavy to carry, and spend a lot of time zooming in and out of the pictures.

We also use the built-in photo booth app to take funny pictures of ourselves, which usually kills at least a few minutes. However, her favorite thing is to flip through pictures of herself as a baby and also look at pictures of puppies and kitties. I keep photo albums of her favorite stuff that she can find and load herself.
posted by Alison at 2:06 PM on March 7

My almost 2-year-old is working her way through the 10 episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood available on iTunes -- and I might enjoying watching even more than her!
posted by kittydelsol at 3:14 PM on March 7

A few great short animated movies my 2.5 year old loves:
Lost and Found - based on the Oliver Jeffers book (about a boy and a lost penguin - an excellent tale if you've not read it)
The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child - based on the books by Julia Donaldson. The first is probably better than the second because it retains more of the rhymes and rhythm of the text, but both are good
Winnie the Pooh - slightly longer and a bit more challenging to follow, but my tot seems to find this quite amusing

I believe these are all downloadable on iTunes.
posted by apcmwh at 7:48 PM on March 7

Nthing the Toca Boca apps. My daughter also likes the Bamba apps. And of course, don't let them see the apps/videos prior to the flight so it will hold their interest longer.
posted by p3t3 at 8:33 PM on March 7

My kids love Pingu, and they are two and four. Also, yes on Pixar. Something about those movies just mesmerizes my kids (and hey, I like to watch them too!).
posted by Happydaz at 9:03 PM on March 7

My daughter is entranced by Babies and anything by Signing Time (saved my sanity when we were stuck on long car trips overseas). She ignores most other video, except for very occasional animal youtube clips.

If she throws things when upset, we've had pretty good experiences with the Fisher Price iPad cover. You might want a beanbag squishy-type pillow to rest it on at an angle on her tray for the flight. Also, test the headphones - my kids will not wear headphones at all, so we have to play the videos very quietly in cars. Definitely deprive her of them before the trip so they are more exciting and new!
posted by viggorlijah at 6:30 AM on March 8

My Neighbor Totoro. It is a nice quiet story about adventurous girls who meet some big friendly magical creatures in the woods and then everybody helps find the little sister when she gets lost. Nothing really scary happens and there are no bad guys.

Also maybe the original series of Dora the Explorer. It is a little annoying, but the very repetitive simple stories and songs are just right for a two year old.
posted by steinwald at 7:53 AM on March 8