How to entertain kids on airplanes
July 24th, 2006- Coloring book & doodle pad with crayons, colored pencils, or markers.
- Blank envelopes for putting things into and taking them back out.
- New books.
- Tons of (relatively finger food-ish) snacks (Handi-Snacks breadsticks and cheese are a big favorite).
- A cup of crushed ice.
- Hot Wheels cars
- New dollar store toys in a fun little backpack or bag - something new and inexpensive if they are lost on the plane.
- A portable DVD player & various DVD’s (Lil’ Duck loves Clifford, Veggie Tales, and Monsters Inc.)
- Stickers or a box of colorful band-aids
- Small container of play-doh
- Silly putty
- Lollipops
- New plastic farm animals
- New shape sorters & wooden puzzles (for kids who can do them without being either frustrated or bored).
- iPod or other music player with baby-friendly headphones & their favorite music (many little ones like the Wiggles).
Hindu Mommy has some general tips about traveling with children up to 6 years old as well - if you have more tips to share, put them in comments and I’ll add you here!
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I would add playing “I Spy”. It works anywhere!
Also, this isn’t a tip for entertaining kids on airplanes, but on land you can connect the itinerary dots with playgrounds. It makes the kids search like detectives when you drive through a town. If they find one, stop!
I wrote an article about this for Transitions Abroad. We took our 5- and 7-year-olds cross-country in Europe a couple of years ago. It was very cool, but about 1,000 miles. The park stops maintained all our sanity.
Girlie Girl loves playing with those colorform type sets. You know, the one that has felt pieces that stick to a felt background. Or even those vinyl sets. Also, activity books are great at keeping them busy!
BTW, what is the crushed ice for?
Great tips! As someone who’d kids are going to be flying for the first time in a few months, I was very interested!
My kids, 7 and 4, both like to play I-Spy too. My oldest likes to play the word game called either Cat or Hangman.
I think I’ll be investing in a few new inexpensive toys for the plane trip. Great ideas, thanks!