Amidst the laughter, snacking, screen time, and exploration, don’t forget about bathroom breaks! Keeping kids engaged on long-haul flights requires fun and captivating activities. Be prepared with these tried and tested flight activities to keep them entertained. Our kids were most occupied by the first four activities on our 15-hour flight to Dubai.
Make Your Own Monster Truck
They worked for a while to put these together. The kids are so excited about doing them when they’re not trapped in a plane.
It’s a bit expensive for stickers. The set was so large that I divided it into separate bags and left about half at home. The baggies I took were ready for travel because I had added some small construction papers (that I had cut myself), since the set did not include that.
Triangular Crayons
The crayons were the most popular with our two-year old. You can get them cheaper at Target. Just make sure you buy the triangle-shaped ones to prevent the crayons from rolling off of the tray table )…
This is one of the “go to” activities I use for kids you’ve never seen before, and especially my toddler who loves art. They wouldn’t be a good fit for our son. Keep in mind the mom-to-be! Every child is different. I realize that this sounds obvious, but it’s not.
She also got a little plush animal from Emirates. The amenity kit toothbrush was used to brush the teeth of the elephant. ).
They may be a little bigger, but these were the closest ones I found online. You can ask reputable airlines to give you a stuffed animal similar to this one. Many airlines offer discount for traveling with children.
Play-Doh (Oh No!)
Ok, I’m still skeptical. Play-doh is so messy that we don’t have it in our house. They don’t get to play with it very often so I’m sure they would love it in the air. As I wrote this article, I bought the Peppa-Pig one because I knew it would be popular. Right now, it’s just $5.
It sounds messy, but other families have recommended that I try it. To keep the tray clean, they recommended using only one color/pot. For easy cleaning, you could use a sticky disposable placemat.
The placemat itself could be a fun activity. Get some stickers out and have fun.
You can imagine it
This is the first time I have seen this. This is a hit with my kids at home.
A kids camera! The next flight may be…
Activity Books
The most difficult age group to entertain is the baby and toddler. They have a shorter attention span, but do best with a fine-motor challenge that is just right. Dress-up dolls are so much fun.
This is It
You can keep them busy for the next 4 minutes. Kidding. Really, four years. This is enough. They only really do four things over the course of a long-haul flight. Rest of the time is spent on snacks, sleeping, watching screens and stretching.