{"id":98899788,"date":"2019-04-12T15:58:29","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T19:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/?p=98899788"},"modified":"2019-09-27T08:59:47","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T12:59:47","slug":"how-to-avoid-screen-time-for-kids-on-a-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/how-to-avoid-screen-time-for-kids-on-a-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Ways to Keep Your Kids Busy on a Flight (Without Screen Time)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Parents —\u00a0 we feel you. You’ve rushed to catch last minute flights with your brood in tow\u00a0and then you’ve got to sit through your journey probably having to avoid the rude glares from other passengers as your bored and fidgety kids kick up a storm mid-flight.<\/p>\n

And while turbulent tantrums, seat kicking, and utensil throwing are all part and parcel of the joys of parenthood (and joys of traveling with your kids), we are sure that the option of giving your kids some screen time is a welcome reprieve.<\/p>\n

BUT…and a big “but” here… what does this screen dependence actually do to kids?<\/p>\n

The American Academy of Pediatrics<\/a> currently recommends that\u00a0children aged 2 to 5 years should be limited to just 1 hour of high-quality educational programs\u00a0a day WITH parents co-watching in order to help kids understand what they are seeing.<\/p>\n

For parents on long international flights<\/a> this may pose a real catch-22 situation; do you give in to the screen for a few hours or endure the wrath of your irritated fellow passengers? Well, we’re here to say, neither!<\/p>\n

Keeping your kids happy on a long flight doesn’t have to involve brain-numbing screen time. Follow these simple tips for your kids to be happy and occupied during your flight!<\/p>\n

Pack some school or art supplies<\/h2>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Make sure to stock up on some stationary items for your flight. You’d be surprised how kids can keep themselves occupied with some paper, crayons, glue, and child-safe scissors.\u00a0You can up the ante by also packing in some stickers of their favorite cartoon characters or superheroes, so they can customize their creations with more pizzazz. if you’re traveling with toddlers, it’s worth investing in a water reveal pad, which allows kids to safely use a water-filled pen to reveal colors on a pad (less mess, and still lots of fun!). Of course, it’s always important that you constantly supervise little ones as they put these crafts together,\u00a0because you wouldn’t want\u00a0their handiwork\u00a0stuck to the\u00a0head of an unsuspecting fellow passenger!<\/p>\n

Get them to play card games<\/h2>\n

It may sound rather old school, especially when you take into consideration the attention span of kids nowadays, who\u00a0are more accustomed to\u00a0the helter-skelter pace of most modern entertainment. But, you’d be surprised what a simple family game of Uno or any other game you can create with a standard 52-card deck can\u00a0do for your kids’ minds on a long flight. It takes a fair bit of human interaction, math, and problem-solving skills to come out on top during a card game, and you’ll be happy to know that all that brain power is benefiting their development in the long run — what more could we parents ask for? Make sure to keep tabs on scores (so your kids can unleash their competitive nature) and encourage multiple rounds so that the kids will be occupied for longer…leaving mom and dad with some downtime to enjoy the flight as well!<\/p>\n

Looking to save on your next family vacation? Check out these last minute flights\u00a0to amazing destinations!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Gift them a new toy<\/h2>\n

\"Happy<\/p>\n

Now\u00a0which kid is going to say no to a new gift, right? Well if you can time your gift-giving to when you’re in the air, then you’ve got a great chance of keeping your child busy with his\/her new toy for hours! It can be something as simple as Silly Putty or Play-Doh or something a bit more advanced like a model that needs assembly, but whatever toy(s) you gift, you can be assured that little ones will be all wrapped up in that “new toy” feeling for quite a while. If you’re on a long international flight, consider packing multiple toys with you, so that you can\u00a0present them in intervals over the duration of your flight. You can build up the hype by dropping hints about the toy before you leave, and even hide it as a surprise in their little backpacks so they discover it by themselves.<\/p>\n

Introduce your kids to the cabin crew<\/h2>\n

Cabin crews always have a soft spot for young families and kids.\u00a0By introducing your kids to the crew, it immediately puts your child\/children on their radar and they will make note to treat them to the occasional airline keepsake that will make them feel important. Once it looks like the crew is taking a break, try and visit the service area at the back of the aircraft and have a chat with them along with your kids. Children are often fascinated by\u00a0learning something new, and maybe they can ask all the questions they\u00a0want about being a pilot or flight attendant. At the end of the day, your kids are getting some face-to-face human interaction without wilting away with screen time.<\/p>\n

You may also like:\u00a0Single Parent Traveling with Kids? You’ll NEED These 6 Tips for Your Trip!<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Bring along some healthy food and snacks<\/h2>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

While we firmly believe that children shouldn’t just eat to pass the time, it’s a fact that most growing kids have a bottomless appetite. Throw in the fact that they may be watching other passengers chow down, they are\u00a0certain to want something to snack on as well! Furthermore, a healthy snack can help calm and nourish\u00a0fidgety little flyers. Make sure to pack some\u00a0of their favorites that they usually enjoy at home. Healthy options could include yogurt, cheese, multi-grain crackers, and fruit (if you’ve got\u00a0the ice packs to keep them fresh).\u00a0If you’re worried that these may not be enough, you can always pack that one “cheat” item that is not necessarily healthy but will come to your aid in a last-ditch effort to calm a mid-air tantrum.<\/p>\n

Read a book<\/h2>\n

An oldie, but a goodie! Even though nowadays, screen time has\u00a0eaten into quality reading time with our kids, story time has survived as one of the best ways to bond with children. Make sure to pack\u00a0your little ones’ favorites so that they flip through flight time with ease. If your children have just started reading themselves,\u00a0have them read along with you to improve their skills. If they are in the pre-reading toddler age, then\u00a0just find books that are more picture-based in nature and engage them with what they see on each page. Remember not to pull out too many books all at once, as kids may not be able to focus on just one at a time<\/p>\n

As a parent, you always want to make sure your child’s development is a constant\u00a0in whatever they’re doing, even when they’re stuck on long-haul last minute flights<\/a> to a family vacation! By following these simple suggestions you can confidently ditch screen time\u00a0and still know your kids are going to be busy, happy, and learning something new\u00a0every time you jet-set together as a family.<\/p>\n

Do you have any other tips for traveling screen-free with kids? Please share them with us in the comments.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parents —\u00a0 we feel you. You’ve rushed to catch last minute flights with your brood in tow\u00a0and then you’ve got to sit through your journey probably having to avoid the rude glares from other passengers as your bored and fidgety kids kick up a storm mid-flight. And while turbulent tantrums, seat kicking, and utensil throwing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":98899813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98899788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-travel-tips-intel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98899788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98899788"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98899788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98902576,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98899788\/revisions\/98902576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98899813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98899788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98899788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98899788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}