entertaining kids on long layovers

[workingmom]

So we're travelling internationally and while the plane is nice and has personal tvs and I'm hoping they sleep during most of the flighttime. However, we do have long layovers in the airport, 3-6 hours each leg.

 

I need ideas to entertain a 7 and 5 year old besides the DVD player and books on mp3. I only want to take one roll on carry on between the kids and myself. Anything besides the obvious of coloring and books?

 

Thanks

[Jean in Newcastle]

what airports? Many airports now have a play area for kids. We played in a small but fun one in Narita airport, Japan.

[prairie rose]

On those international flights, you need those long layovers to get between the flights. We had a 4 hour layover in Narita airport and just barely made the connecting flight to Chicago. We had a 6 hour layover in Chicago but between customs and immigration, security, having to switch from the international to the domestic terminal, confirming our tickets and all that fun, we only got to sit down and wait for about 30 minutes before it was time to board.

 

Definitely travel light, keep clothing simple since you will likely become very familiar with security procedures (velcro or slip on shoes make taking shoes on and off in security much simpler). When we've travelled, the kids usually have handheld gaming systems (Leapsters or Gameboys), an activity book or drawing pad and a small box of crayons and 1 - 2 books to read and that was more than sufficient to keep them entertained. They've been from Japan to England and many points in between.

[Rosie_0801]

Depending where you are and when, you might be able to get out of the airport. When dd and I were in Amsterdam for a 6 hour stop over, we caught the train into town and went on a one hour cruise around the canals.

 

Rosie

[Erica in OR]

Wikki Stix (a similar product is sold in Walgreen's as Bendaroos) is a compact, light modeling toy that my kids have enjoyed as an item in carry-ons.

 

Could you make "airport terminal" bingo game cards ahead of time? They could search for things like "a pink suitcase", "a family with three kids", "a telephone", " a bookstore", etc.

 

Erica in OR

[nono]

In addition to what's already been mentioned, what about travel-sized games such as Yahtzee, and school workbooks? I always find room for those in our carry-on.

 

Also, we walk around a lot in the larger airports. Yeah, the kids might moan a bit about it, but it sure helps keep the wiggling down once we've re-boarded.:) Sometimes we try to count the number of languages we hear spoken while milling around.

[MaMa2005]

Lots of stickers (cheap ones). Hours of entertainment especially for the 5 year old.

[nd293]

We flew a lot with kids in the past 5 years. I'd start by looking at the airport's website, and seeing what they do to cater for kids. Some might have playgrounds etc which could make things easier - at least break up the dvd watching.

 

We were invited into a "VIP Lounge" at one airport as it was run by the mother of my dd's best friend. Although they didn't specifically cater for kids, Internet access, a quieter environment, good food in buffet style and attentive staff made it a fantastic improvement on just hanging about with the common folk :tongue_smilie:. At the next airport we paid for entry to the VIP lounge, and although the lounge itself wasn't as nice, it was again money well-spent.

 

Depending on the length of the flights and length and time of stopover, I would even consider booking in at an aiport hotel. Just having some space and quiet helps a lot. Have a bath, relax, order food etc. We've done that, and also not regretted it.

 

My Best-in-Class for airports has to be Singapore's Changi Airport - as well as relatively cheap airport hotel rooms, it has a POOL. On the off chance that your airport does too (and that it's in a warm part of the world) it would definitely be worth paying for entry and carrying wet swimsuits with you on your second leg!

 

Worst case scenario - take a soft ball along, and find a deserted corner of the airport and play ball games. Done that too, at one of the worst airports with little to do.

 

An "allowance" for kids to buy something from duty free goes down well - a new toy can provide a fair amount of entertainment value.

 

I'd also consider whether leaving the airport is feasible, especially on a 6 hour layover. Is there a shopping centre with playground nearby? Or a hotel where you could pay day-entry to a pool?

 

My bottom line of this is:

1) Ring the changes - try to do something other than sitting and watching dvds, as this is what they'd be doing on the plane. Be as active as possible, while recognising everyone might be tired.

2) Accept that happy layovers might mean spending money. I hate doing that, but if considered as a percentage of the cost of your holiday, it is usually tiny, and probably worth it to ensure your journey is less stressful.

3) Pack a light farbic backpack into your wheeled bag in case you pick up extra toys etc at duty free!

 

Enjoy your travels!

 

Nikki

[Harriet Vane]

Physical movement is key. They spend the time on the plane just sitting, so use your airport time to move. Walk around the airport, find a deserted area and play with a nerf ball or have short races--just make sure the area is people-free and it will be fine.

[stripe]

Depending where you are and when, you might be able to get out of the airport. When dd and I were in Amsterdam for a 6 hour stop over, we caught the train into town and went on a one hour cruise around the canals.

And even inside Amsterdam, there is an art museum, a kids' play area, places to sleep (where everyone is totally quiet and it seems completely safe to me), over priced restaurants, tons of shops, a worship area, and a place to look at airplanes landing (apparently...I've never found it! And in Amsterdam they corral you into a waiting area quite a bit in advance of your flight, anyhow.

 

I recommend running around to burn off steam instead of quietly sitting and reading books. And take the time to use the bathroom with more room, wash your face, brush your teeth, and so on. It takes a lot of time!

[Alicia64]

I hate to offer this idea because I'm not a fan of video games, but my kids beg for my cell phone which is OLD but has games on it. Bowling and stuff. They'd sit and play for hours.

 

It's a treat. Like they get to do it maybe once a year.

 

One caution, at least on my phone, it can run the battery down.

 

They also like to play old fashioned, written tic tac toe.

 

Alley

[Deb in NZ]

a 3 hour lay-over is barely enough time to transit, so no need to plan to do anything except visit the airport bathrooms & wash & change clothes.

 

For a 6 hour lay-over, if you need to pass through customs you won't have much free time in most airports. If you are truely "in-transit" I usually use this time to wash up, walk around & stretch my legs, have a snack & drink, & let the kids get a couple postcards for their book. If you need to change terminals, those 6 hours will fly by.

 

For 12 hour+ lay-overs I like to book into the airport hotel for ~6 hours, so that we all get a shower & I can relax a bit. Anything shorter isn't worth it. Also, I've found that when traveling alone with kids, it never seems worth it to go through the hassel of leaving the airport in transit. The risk of not making it back in time to make my next flight is too much for me.

 

I had a 4 hour lay-over in Sydney in January 2006 & it was too short as we missed our next flight. Sydney airport requires everyone to pass through customs regardless of whether they are staying in Australia or merely transiting. After customs, we had to wait in line to get our boarding passes for the next flight. We waited for over an hour before getting to the desk only to find that our flight was boarding in 30 minutes & we needed to be at the gate at least 30 minutes before boarding or we would no be allowed on the plane. We RAN the length of Sydney airport & arrived at the gate 25 minutes before boarding only to be sent back to wait in line again. We finally got on a flight 4 hours later & barely made the last flight of the day for our domestic NZ flight. Needless to say, I now make sure that any trip I plan does NOT include transiting through Sydney!

 

Packing light is a good idea, but make sure that you have a change of clothes each & something that would work for PJs & a swim suit in the off chance that your flight gets delayed & the airline puts you up in a hotel. My last trip (Oct 09) was just ds#2 & I & I limited myself to a roll-on carry-on suitcase, a tote that slid over the handle of my roll-on, & a backpack for ds. The roll-on had our changes of clothes (I like to have a change each for every lay-over). My tote had our passports, tickets, + anything I thought I would need during travel. (This was my purse as far as the airline was concerned) Ds's backpack had what he thought he'd need to entertain himself during our travels (mp3 player, sketch book, pencils, camera, journal, a 1" binder with the schoolwork for our month overseas). He worked on 1 latin page (LL), 1 math page (MUS), & one journal write during each lay-over. This was painless & took less than 30 minutes total each lay-over.

 

It's also a good idea to pack a small snack bag for each dc. I give each dc a gallon size ziploc bag with some granola bars, chewy things for take-off, individual bags of nuts, cookies, etc. Make sure that all the snacks are prepackaged foods, no homemade or fresh foods or liquids, & you shouldn't have trouble passing through customs. Most international flights still serve foods, but the food may not be served when your dc are hungry or may not be something that they like to eat. Hungry dc aren't pleasent traveling companions ;) Preorder children's meals if possible. Their meals will be served first & is usually more child-friendly in menu.

 

JMHO,

[Leighton Academy]

We had long layovers on our flights over the Thanksgiving holiday. We kept our boys moving most of the time. At 6 and 8, our boys are very active. We checked out play areas and lounges, rode the tram around, and walked around the stores. Believe it or not, our boys were seriously entertained just by riding the elevators and walking the "wrong" way on the moving walkways. It was like they were on a treadmill. We were flying at night and they were only allowed on the walkway when no one else was using it. All in all, keeping them entertained during the layovers was a lot less painful than I anticipated. Good luck!

[Hannah]

Good tips from everyone!

 

I had a 4 hour lay-over in Sydney in January 2006 & it was too short as we missed our next flight. <Snip>

Needless to say, I now make sure that any trip I plan does NOT include transiting through Sydney!

 

Oh no! We've got just under 4 hours for our lay-over in Sydney next week! We're connecting to Melbourne. I hope we make it.

 

Coming back its 2h20 in Perth.

[Deb in NZ]

Hannah,

 

Hopefully they have improved things in the past 4 years. I found the security at Sydney airport was even stricter than that in the US. If things have not improved you will be cutting things very close to make your connection. I was just transiting through Sydney on a flight from Seoul to Auckland. I'm not sure what time to add for transferring to a domestic Australian flight. Let the flight attendents know you have a close connection to make & maybe they can help fast track you through customs, etc.

 

Blessings,

[keptwoman]

Good tips from everyone!

 

 

 

Oh no! We've got just under 4 hours for our lay-over in Sydney next week! We're connecting to Melbourne. I hope we make it.

 

Coming back its 2h20 in Perth.

We transited Sydney in both directions on our last trip to the US. Both times we didn't have to clear customs in Sydney because we did it in Melbourne and both times our transit time in Sydney was less than 2 hours. Actually I don't even remember Sydney which is a good thing... I never remember airports for good stuff. Now LAX on the other hand :tongue_smilie:

We were however going from a United International flight to another United international flight. Going from an international to a domestic will be tighter.

Edited December 20, 2009 by keptwoman

[Laura Corin]

Long walks/runs around the airport. I found it very important to get some energy out during those layovers. You can often find corridors that aren't being used and run races in them.

 

Plane watching is also good at that age: my boys loved watching the scissor trucks loading the planes.

 

For the journey in general: I used to go to Toys R Us and buy tons of tiny toys and wrap each one individually. The unwrapping takes time and increases the interest. Each toy might not hold their attention for long, but if they are tiny enough, then you can get a lot of mileage out of a bag full.

 

Good luck

 

Laura

[Deb in NZ]

LAX, yes that airport isn't my favorite either. I usually have an 8 hour lay-over in LAX on my journey to the States, unless I purposely route it not through LAX. On my trip last year we had the usual 8 hours & by the time we had passed through customs & immigration, rechecked our luggage for our domestic connection, changed terminals, & passed through security we only had about 2 hours to wait. This was just long enough to wash up, get a bite to eat, & walk to the departure gate with out rushing.

 

I like to print out maps of the airports I'm transiting through before I go, along with any interesting info, so that I have an idea of where I need to go during lay-overs. This gives me info on changing terminals, where I can get food & drink (that's not in a bar), & if there is child-friendly areas of interest (i.e. playgrounds).

 

JMHO

[Mrs Mungo]

I agree with the others, you will probably have much less actual waiting time than you realize. This is especially true with the cut-backs on in-flight meals. When you have customs, terminal switching, feeding everyone, you use a lot of that time. I also agree that it depends upon their airport. You'll find some great shops and play areas in some airports but not in other. I agree that I usually try to avoid LAX but I go through LAX this time of year if my other choices are Denver or Chicago.

Edited December 20, 2009 by Mrs Mungo