I feel extremely prepared to write this article right now! I am sitting in London, Ontario as we speak. We just had a 4 hour flight out here yesterday and are preparing for a 6 hour drive to Ottawa next week. So I have been doing A LOT of preparing and research for traveling with children lately!
I think my biggest tip is to prepare! Prepare for everything and anything! I think I traveled a little over prepared for the kids this time, but I’d rather that than being under prepared! Traveling can be so unpredictable, so being prepared for anything is key!! Here are some of the things I packed for our girls to do on the plane and in the car.
Colouring
I got them some new colouring pages and packed some zipper pencil cases with them and some crayons and pencil crayons. I find having some new colouring pages they’ve never before makes it more exciting!
Edible Necklaces
This actually killed A LOT of time (for me as I ended up doing most of the work!) I filled some containers with Fruit Loops before we left and some string. On the plane, we strung the Fruit Loops on the string and made some necklaces they could eat! It makes a fun snack for them too!
Stuffies
I let both my kids pick out their favourite stuffies to take with them for our trip. It brings them some comfort from home and familiarity.
Suckers
I found these great Paw Patrol sucker covers at the Dollar Store. You put the sucker stick in it and the head of the pet closes over top so you don’t have to eat the whole thing at once. These were great for flying as sucking on something helps with the pressure change when taking off and landing. They’ll work just as well in the car, especially if you’re driving through the mountains!
Portable DVD or Tablet
We didn’t pull this out right away, but we did have our iPad with us. About half way through the flight we pulled it out and the kids watched some shows we’d downloaded ahead of time. I found these fantastic dual headphones on Amazon where one headphone connects to the tablet and the other headphones connect to the first pair of headphones. They both get to hear and watch the same thing! We don’t do this much in road trips as my youngest tends to get car sick and we’ve had to stop and clean up at the side of the road a few too many times!!
Traveling can be so much fun and such a great experience for kids. Try not to let the fear of a major breakdown scare you off!! Some of my fondest childhood memories are the road trips we used to take. So pack up the family and make some memories!!
