Flying with Kids: Top Toys to Take on a Plane

As cute as our kiddies are (and as much as we love them), there’s nothing like the prospect of flying long haul with them to make even the calmest mamas nervous. What if they don’t sleep? What if they bother other passengers? How on earth will I keep them entertained for so long? These are questions we’ve all had at some point and are the same questions that pop again and again.

A recent survey of 2,000 parents by British Airways revealed the biggest concern for parents when flying with children is how they will keep their kids entertained, with 60% of those surveyed admitting they struggled to keep their little ones occupied for more than 30 minutes at a time! Further to this, they also conducted a social experiment that saw 30 kids aged two to ten years put on a flight for two hours with 90 minutes of playtime and a selection of toys to choose from — and the results were certainly interesting!

So without further ado, here’s the lowdown on the top 10 toys to keep kiddies occupied when flying as reported by British Airways — and while we can’t guarantee these toys will prevent any mini melt-downs, they hopefully will help streamline your journey, allowing you to travel relatively stress-free.

Image sourced via Pinterest

1. Loom Bands
The hottest toy on the block at the moment, Loom Bands are fantastic for keeping slightly older kids (5+) engaged, with kids spending hours weaving the rainbow bands into everything from bracelets to toys and even hair pieces. Light-weight and portable, these DIY toys are ideal for air travel… just don’t blame us if you get dragged into helping create something, mama!

2. Play-Doh
A favourite from way back, bring small pots of play-doh next time you fly and you can almost guarantee that your littlies will be kept occupied with endless hours of (squishy) fun. While they mould and sculpt the dough into different shapes, you can sit back and relax. Plus, once they’re finished playing you can simply roll a lump of dough across the tray table to collect all the little bits, no mess no fuss!

3. LEGO
Not the most practical of toys to bring on a plane (why is it when you drop one piece it seems to disappear forever?), however these classic toy bricks do provide kiddies with endless opportunities for creative play. Just keep an eye on those errant bricks, no one wants to accidentally step on one in the aisle.

4. Top Trumps
This card game is fab at getting kiddos excited about different subjects such as sports, cars, films, animals and more. Perfect for older kids, it’s a great way to develop their deduction skills and keep them bus-ay. 

Image sourced via Pinterest

5. Uno
Rolling in at number five is the classic card game Uno — this super popular game is perfect for flights and spells hours of fun for little ones (plus it’s educational too, helping with number and colour recognition!). It definitely helps that the rules are simple and a deck of cards doesn’t take up too much room in their hand luggage either!

6. Usborne Activity Cards
Activity cards are perfectly designed for travelling with kiddies — they are travel-sized and full of interactive activities after all! Themed activity cards keep youngsters entertained for hours with special puzzles and word games that stimulate their mind and curiosity.

7. Magnetic travel games
There’s no denying that after the messiness of play-doh and the high risk of losing bricks when playing with LEGO, that magnetic travel games are brilliant for taking on a plane. Choose from all kinds of classic game sets such as snakes and ladders, checkers and more without having to worry about losing any pieces.

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8. Aquadoodle!
Instead of packing sheets of paper or stacks of colouring books and crayons, why not bring an aquadoodle travel set? Kiddies can doodle mess-free for hours, which means you can sit back and enjoy an episode of Modern Family uninterrupted. Yes please!

9. Finger Puppets
There’s no need to bring the whole toy box, finger puppets are so small and light that you can bring dozens on a flight without having to worry about hauling around extra luggage. Kids can let their imagination run wild while playing with these cute mini characters.

10. Sticker Books
Rounding up the list is the old faithful and ever popular sticker book. Letting kids bring stories to life for themselves, sticker books are fantastic for keeping small fingers occupied. Just watch they don’t plaster the entire plane (or fellow passengers) with stickers.

And at the end of the day, what’s the underlying theme here mamas? The best toys are those that encourage imagination and spark creativity — there’s nothing quite like it to keep kids busy and engaged when they can’t run around!

 

Top image sourced via Shutterstock