{"id":7034,"date":"2015-01-21T10:46:17","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T09:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/?p=7034"},"modified":"2015-03-31T16:27:25","modified_gmt":"2015-03-31T15:27:25","slug":"entertain-kids-long-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Entertain Kids on Long Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most parents start to stress as soon as they even think about taking their children on a long flight<\/strong>. However, with many families needing to visit relatives around the world or wanting to introduce kids to the cultural insights of an international trip, a sojourn on a plane often becomes necessary.<\/p>\n

Flights can be long and boring for everyone but are especially so for children, so whether you\u2019ve booked a long flight<\/a> for your whole family or are just traveling a few hours closer to home, you will want to keep the crew happy on the journey. Read on for some of the best ways to keep the peace and your sanity on your next long-haul flight with kids.<\/p>\n

Books<\/h3>\n

Books are a fantastic, quiet option to keep children amused during a long flight<\/strong>. Apart from their favorite storybooks, think about packing some other styles such as a children\u2019s travel book, an \u201cI Spy Treasure Hunt<\/a>\u201d or \u201cWhere’s Waldo?<\/a>\u201d text that keeps kids concentrated on finding a hidden character, a sticker book to keep little hands busy, or an activity book that contains a mixture of puzzles and games like connect the dots, word searches and more. You can also pack a brand new set of crayons or pencils, and a coloring book based on your child\u2019s favorite characters, TV shows, or the destination you\u2019re headed to.<\/p>\n

Tech Gadgets<\/h3>\n

If you have an iPad<\/a>, other tablet, or handheld video game, bring it along on the flight. Even your smartphone can have a bunch of games on it and be used on flight mode during the journey. Although you probably don\u2019t want your kids spending too many hours on these types of devices in general, on a long flight the technology can save your sanity<\/a>. Before you leave home, ensure the gadget has some fun, interactive and educational games downloaded on to it that your child can be absorbed by when traveling.<\/p>\n

Board Games and Playing Cards<\/h3>\n

Add some travel-sized board games<\/a> and a pack of cards to your carry-on luggage and you\u2019ll have a happy, entertained child on board the plane. While normal-sized board games are too bulky for squishy airplane tray tables, many well-known options have made compact travel versions available. A pack of cards can also be handy, as games like Solitaire, Snap, and Fish make for fun flight time.<\/p>\n

Create a Scrap Book<\/h3>\n

A great way to get kids excited about their journey and also absorbed in a task on the flight is to help them create a scrapbook<\/a> of their holiday. Pack a fresh new journal or sketch book and encourage your child to keep a diary of every stage of the trip \u2014 of course starting with drawing and writing about their time on the plane!\u00a0On the return journey, the scrapbook can be updated with receipts, ticket stubs, photos, maps, postcards, menus, and other items that the child collected during the holiday.<\/p>\n

TV Shows and Movies<\/h3>\n

It is also a good idea to rent an on-board entertainment system<\/a> on a flight if it isn\u2019t already included in your tickets. Again, while you won\u2019t want your kids to spend 12 hours glued to a screen, watching a cartoon, television show, or movie during the flight is a good way to break up the time for young ones (It also happily gives parents some quiet time as well). It\u2019s beneficial to plan ahead and pack your own earphones for the flight, as some of the buds that come with the rented screens can be too large for small ears.<\/p>\n

Snacks<\/h3>\n

A fantastic way to entertain kids<\/strong> on a long flight is giving them small, non-messy snacks to eat. Any foods that take a long time to consume are best, as these will keep the young ones occupied for a good amount of time. Pack the snacks in small containers and hand them out at intervals to break up the flight and extend eating time.<\/p>\n

Pack items you know that they like, plus some new things to try for the novelty factor. Some snack ideas are trail mix (messy at home, but a perfect treat to keep littlies occupied for ages on a plane), carrot and celery sticks, energy balls, and cheese and crackers. Just make sure you steer clear of sugar-filled treats, as you don\u2019t want a sugar high (then low) hitting your child on a cramped airplane!<\/p>\n

\n

No matter where you\u2019re traveling to, or how long the flight is, if you step on board a plane prepared with plenty of activities to keep your child amused<\/strong>, the trip will proceed more smoothly.<\/p>\n

You can also involve your kids in the process of packing to help foster their love of adventure and a feeling of control over the situation \u2014 children are more likely to stay calm on a flight if they have had some say in what they bring along and how they spend their time during the journey<\/p>\n

Remember, sitting in one place for long periods of time is not natural to toddlers and preschoolers. A smart\u00a0parent will use creativity, patience, and surprises to stay two steps ahead of little travelers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most parents start to stress as soon as they even think about taking their children on a long flight. However, with many families needing to visit relatives around the world or wanting to introduce kids to the cultural insights of an international trip, a sojourn on a plane often becomes necessary. Flights can be long [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":7035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[501],"tags":[460,148,493],"class_list":["post-7034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-10","tag-family","tag-flights","tag-tips"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Entertain Kids on Long Flight - Traveleurope Blog | Travel tips, advices and useful info<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Entertain Kids on Long Flight - Traveleurope Blog | Travel tips, advices and useful info\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Most parents start to stress as soon as they even think about taking their children on a long flight. However, with many families needing to visit relatives around the world or wanting to introduce kids to the cultural insights of an international trip, a sojourn on a plane often becomes necessary. Flights can be long [&hellip\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Traveleurope Blog | Travel tips, advices and useful info\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TraveleuropeEN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lissacofey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-21T09:46:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-31T15:27:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kids-on-board.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lisa Coffey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/HillCallie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TraveleuropeEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lisa Coffey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lisa Coffey\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1a26757bd8a2ca3e14702936b5533b88\"},\"headline\":\"How to Entertain Kids on Long Flight\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-21T09:46:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-31T15:27:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/\"},\"wordCount\":873,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kids-on-board.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"family\",\"flights\",\"tips\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Top 10\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/\",\"name\":\"How to Entertain Kids on Long Flight - Traveleurope Blog | Travel tips, advices and useful info\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kids-on-board.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-21T09:46:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-31T15:27:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1a26757bd8a2ca3e14702936b5533b88\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kids-on-board.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kids-on-board.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Entertain Kids on Long Flight\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Traveleurope Blog | Travel tips, advices and useful info\",\"description\":\"A Blog full of ideas, travel tips and guides, suggestions and anecdotes to discover the hidden treasures of the major cities in Italy and Europe\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1a26757bd8a2ca3e14702936b5533b88\",\"name\":\"Lisa Coffey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70fb137beb162323800204bf588abee2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70fb137beb162323800204bf588abee2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lisa Coffey\"},\"description\":\"Lisa Coffey was born in 1996 in Hunting Beach, Ca. She has sufficient experience in handling luxury resort business. She is an avid reader and loves to write. She also writes for numerous travel magazines and presently is associated with TrekEffect. She has been devoted to quality and garnered a reputation among her peers as a leading trouble-shooter in the hotel industry.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lissacofey\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/HillCallie\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/author\/lisa-coffey\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Entertain Kids on Long Flight - Traveleurope Blog | Travel tips, advices and useful info","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Entertain Kids on Long Flight - Traveleurope Blog | Travel tips, advices and useful info","og_description":"Most parents start to stress as soon as they even think about taking their children on a long flight. However, with many families needing to visit relatives around the world or wanting to introduce kids to the cultural insights of an international trip, a sojourn on a plane often becomes necessary. Flights can be long [&hellip","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/","og_site_name":"Traveleurope Blog | Travel tips, advices and useful info","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TraveleuropeEN","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lissacofey","article_published_time":"2015-01-21T09:46:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-31T15:27:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":620,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kids-on-board.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lisa Coffey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/HillCallie","twitter_site":"@TraveleuropeEN","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lisa Coffey","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/"},"author":{"name":"Lisa Coffey","@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1a26757bd8a2ca3e14702936b5533b88"},"headline":"How to Entertain Kids on Long Flight","datePublished":"2015-01-21T09:46:17+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-31T15:27:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/"},"wordCount":873,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kids-on-board.jpg","keywords":["family","flights","tips"],"articleSection":["Top 10"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/","name":"How to Entertain Kids on Long Flight - Traveleurope Blog | Travel tips, advices and useful info","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kids-on-board.jpg","datePublished":"2015-01-21T09:46:17+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-31T15:27:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1a26757bd8a2ca3e14702936b5533b88"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kids-on-board.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kids-on-board.jpg","width":620,"height":350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/entertain-kids-long-flight\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Entertain Kids on Long Flight"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/","name":"Traveleurope Blog | Travel tips, advices and useful info","description":"A Blog full of ideas, travel tips and guides, suggestions and anecdotes to discover the hidden treasures of the major cities in Italy and Europe","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1a26757bd8a2ca3e14702936b5533b88","name":"Lisa Coffey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70fb137beb162323800204bf588abee2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70fb137beb162323800204bf588abee2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lisa Coffey"},"description":"Lisa Coffey was born in 1996 in Hunting Beach, Ca. She has sufficient experience in handling luxury resort business. She is an avid reader and loves to write. She also writes for numerous travel magazines and presently is associated with TrekEffect. She has been devoted to quality and garnered a reputation among her peers as a leading trouble-shooter in the hotel industry.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lissacofey","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/HillCallie"],"url":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/author\/lisa-coffey\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.traveleurope.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}