Travel Games 4 Kids - Airplane Activities

These are activities to keep busy while on an airplane.

20 Questions
One person thinks of something and others try to guess what they are thinking by asking questions. The goal is to guess what it is before 20 questions are asked. Strategy: Start with wide questions: "Is it a Person, Place or Thing", and then narrow down the questions as you go.

Printable Travel Games
Looking to print your games and go? We have: Tic-Tac-Toe, Close the Box, Travel Bingo Cards, Writing Prompts, Map Games and More!

A few games to avoid:
From our travels, we recommend against these popular airplane games:

1. "Drop the tray" - Though definitely a great way to occupy a toddlers time, repeatedly unlocking the tray and allowing it to fall, then slamming it back into place, is not a recommended activity.
2. "Kick the seat" - this popular activity has been enjoyed by young and old alike! Not only does it increase leg strength and dexterity, it massages the back of the person in front of you. Though airplane travel does give me a certain amount of tension, a free massage from the person behind me is not always the best remedy.
   

Crying Baby/Toddler Tip:

Being an avid scuba diver, I have a good understanding of how air pressure changes can irritate the ears. Did you know that you can easily 'exercise' the portion of your ear that causes pain when those air pressure changes occur, thereby reducing or elimating the onset of ear pain? This is a cause of a lot of toddler discomfort during air travel. Ok - so on to the tip:

Sour Candy: 30 minutes before takeoff. Once you get seated, pull out some hard candy (like jolly rancher candy) and let your child suck on it. There are some that reseble a passifier or large diamond ring (at your local 7-11?). You can also find the Jolly Rancher sticks.

This is used by scuba divers to get the salivary glands working, which results in swallowing - and swallowing naturally loosens and relaxes the eustacia tubes - a tube that equalizes air pressure on both sides of the ear drum. Equalized pressure on both sides of the drum is good and will reduce/eliminate pain.

More Ideas Coming Soon...