Since I’ve been flying with children I have a golden rule: travel at night. The children sleep, we try, but at least the question of keeping them busy for hours on end doesn’t arise too much. To leave for Colombia, to my utter despair, I could not find a night flight. Supreme horror, we were going to take, after a first stopover in Madrid, a flight of about 10 hours, in broad daylight, with our two 4-year-old children. I am now writing from a beach in the Caribbean, proof that we all survived this ordeal, hallelujah. I had to share with you some tips so that you too can take a plane with your children on a long daytime flight, without wanting to throw them overboard, or even thinking about slitting your wrists with your boarding pass.
Before boarding the plane with children Let them let off steam in the airport.
Hide and seek between the seats, chase, escalator game (to be repeated several times because these disappearing steps are so funny), airport playground when there is one, everything is good to take and imagine to ensure that the children are seated as little as possible (they will be seated enough afterward). This is understood in areas where there are not many people (we avoid playing hide and seek between two grannies in the queue to board, that goes without saying).
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Harnessing the magic of Trunki suitcases
These suitcases are a real game for children! With their fun design (in our case the giraffe and the tiger), and the fact that children can pull them themselves with the strap, or climb on them to be dragged during long transfers: it is the ultimate weapon for living well before and after the plane. They are not traveling this winter because we had to make drastic choices in terms of luggage for 3 months (and opted for car booster backpacks instead of small suitcases), but during our few-day getaway to Spain they were perfect to accompany us (and big enough to put all the little ones’ things for 4 days). Of course, since little ones’ imaginations are limitless, they can also be transformed into racing cars, we can make them spin around us at full speed by holding them by the strap, etc., etc. (and the carnage mode in the airport is activated!)
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Getting on the plane at the last minute
On this subject, we don’t always agree with Daddy CCool I already talked about it in the article I wrote about taking the plane with babies. He prefers to board in the first ones to be sure to have space to put our bags nearby (and not at the other end of the plane). We have gradually arrived at a sort of consensus: we board the first ones when it is a small plane (with little space for cabin baggage), and antheast ones in the big planes (promise of long flights). Another option to consider is for one parent to stay and play with the little ones while the other gets on board from the start to set up the bags nearby (and have the precious loot right above our heads to keep us busy).
When flying with children gradually add new toys and activities as you go
First of all, you have to use the classic toy cartridge, for example, the small cars that they already know and with which they will play for a while, before getting tired of them. If you have a rule about screen time at home, flying is an opportunity to make an exception, and without any guilt. Just remember to bring child-friendly headphones .
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The surprise effect
Once the children have played with their familiar toys and have lobotomized themselves in front of cartoons, they start to get fed up; it is then time to get out the new things that we will have planned: a coloring book with a pocket of felt-tip pens, Kinder eggs not yet opened, stickers, new cars, etc. We don’t release everything at once, we release our surprises as the flight progresses, to have some in reserve until the end.
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The Story Factory
The Lunii Story Factory is a small radio without waves, with which children can create stories by choosing from several elements. With a choice of main and secondary characters, places, and objects very varied, the combinations are multiple,e and the possibilities of stories are infinite, which avoids listening to the same story in a loop.
I would like to point out that the rule of novelty does not apply to the Fabrique à Histoires. It takes a certain amount of time before you can concentrate and listen to a story without looking at the corresponding images (the habit acquired with books), and you also have to learn how to use the radio (turn the big button to choose the elements, validate with the small button, etc.). We went down the wrong path by wanting to play the discovery card on the plane: it kept the little ones busy a bit because it was new, the design was cool, there were labels to stick on the headphones, etc. but they didn’t listen to a story (which was the main goal after all!).