How to keep your kids entertained when flying

How to keep your kids entertained when flying

We took Hamish on his first flight when he was just a few months old.

That flight went quite well. He drank his bottle to help with the pressure in his ears and fell asleep mid the rather short flight from Cape Town to Johanessburg.

This wonderful experience gave me a very false sense of confidence when I later flew with Hamish as a toddler and it brought back some traumatic memories of me flying solo with Tammi , aged 3, and Dylan, 9 months , to  the Seychelles.

Whilst I truly believe traveling with your children is magical, I also believe you should carry a bag of entertaining toys to help keep your little people as entertained, comfortable and as happy possible.

Here are a few ways to keep the kids entertained that I wish I’d known before jumping onto our first flights.

Toys to take on an aeroplane

Books

Books are my go to for everything. From rainy days to road trips and flights.

• Pack in a good story book or two to read to your child.
• Activity Books will keep older kids self entertained. Hamish is at that age where he, at 7, now enjoys wordsearches, cross words and suduko but when he was younger he enjoyed dot to dots, mazes and books that had a variety of activities.
• Colouring Books are also a great way to keep kids entertained. Rather use Crayons or roller Crayons, as pencil crayons will need to be sharpened.
• Sticker books never lose their appeal.
• Workbooks will help your child to brush up on academic skills in a fun way.
• Dry erase books are nice if you don’t have much space and want your child to reuse the activity book.
• Puzzle Books are a nice way to keep puzzle pieces together and still let your child read and build.
• Finding Wally or other eye spy books are another big favourite in our travel bags.
• If you are travelling to another country, a book about the local culture or the town / country would be perfect for older kids.
• Audio books

Magnetic games

These are avaliable in a variety of interests and aged games. From magnetic dress up dolls and scenes for toddlers to recreate to games like chess and draughts for older kids.

Card games 

Card games are always popular and every child usually has their favourite. As a child I spent hours with my cousins playing go fish, snap and rummy however my own kids prefer Uno, phase 10 and solitaire.

Several popular board games have also recently bought out card versions, which are easier to transport and a huge hit with Hamish are trump cards.

Movies

Screen time certainly has its place and whilst I never advocate for screen time to act as a babysitter, we all know that loading a few movies onto a phone, tablet or iPad will keep the kids happy and quiet.

Online Games

In our home, Minecraft is life right now but you could load a few educational games onto your child’s mobile device and let them brush up on some academic skills like reading, counting or learning to code. I try to use offline games for Hamish when flying .

Journal

This is my top favourite idea as a homeschool mom . Give your child a blank note book and let them journal and document their trip. Adding a map, ticket stubs, post cards, stamps, photos using an Instax or pictures they’ve drawn will add to this cute keepsake.

Drawing

Another great way to keep the kids seated and entertained is to offer them something to draw on. You could use:

• Notebook with a pen or crayons
• Whiteboard with whiteboard markers
• Blackboard and chalk. You get great dustless blackboard and material blackboard that roll into a compact size making them easier to travel with.
• An lcd drawing screen. These are great fun
• A magnetic board. Where your images are drawing using magnets inside the board and attached to the pen.

Toys

Pack in one or two of your child’s favourite toys to take along on the journey.

Fidgets

Fidget toys, like spinners, magic cubes, playdough and stress balls will help if your child is feeling anxious, afraid to fly or needs a quick distraction. On a long flight or stop over.

Toys not to pack

As mons we really just want happy children and to possibly defuse a bored, anxious or tantrum child before it happens, because of this we may over pack.

However, too many choices may overwhelm your child. Depending on the length of your flight and your child’s age pack 1-3 items per half hour. This is enough of a variety without being overwhelming or being too much to carry on the flight.

Resist the temptation to pack small items. These inevitably drop, get lost or never make it home.

Hamish loves Lego but I will never pack Lego on a trip. I often promise him new Lego to build at our destination or take a set in his luggage but never let him build whilst we travel. ( We’ve lost important stop the car now search party pieces down the back seat and I learnt the hard way)

Other toys not to take :

• Small puzzles
• Slime
• Board games that have tiny figures
• Small dolls, dinosaurs or cars
• Glue
• Glitter
• Paint
• Any craft that doesn’t simply peel and stick

Be mindful

Keeping my child entertained is important but it’s just as important to respect the other travelers for that reason we travel with earphones for Hamish to use so no one needs to hear his movie or game and avoid things like:-

• Loud electronics
• Toys that name a noise
• Musical instruments

It’s also important that we keep our area mess free and easy to use so I’ll carry a plastic bag for dirt and a fold up shopping tote to quickly collect anything we may not have had time to pack away.

A reminder

Traveling with kids is fun, enriching and totally rewarding if you organize and prepare both yourself and your child.