Travel Games for a 4 Year-Old

Henry and I took a quick trip to Florida to attend my grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary. I decided that I wanted to get some travel games for the plane. Here's what we got:

• Magnetic tic-tac-toe
• USA map with cling stickers
• BINGO
• Construction setting with cling stickers
• Travel modeling system
• Spirograph

And although it's not a great game for the airplane, I also bought Hungry, Hungry Hippo because I loved playing that game as a child. 

It would be so easy to pacify Henry with a screen. He could literally watch some kind of show or movie for several hours in a nearly-comatose state. But I am so worried about all the things he wouldn't learn if he filled up his time that way. He wouldn't learn how to be a good sport, he wouldn't learn delayed gratification, he wouldn't cultivate patience, he wouldn't develop skills to handle frustration, he wouldn't practice problem-solving. It's hard not to take the easier road, but I'm hoping that it will be worth the investment in the long-run!

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