Saturday, July 2, 2011

Travel Activities for Kids

My family will be moving to China later this month.  What does that mean?
12 HOURS on an airplane with THREE CHILDREN!

What?  You think I'm scared?  hah!

Did that sound believable?

What can I do to keep their busy little bodies (and I do mean BUSY) and minds from going stir crazy (ok... and not being a nuisance to others on the plane)?

Here are some things that I have found as great inspiration as I prepare for our big trip.
Got something great to add?  Send them my way and I may just add it to my list here!

kids on an airplane
at List Planit

at Keeps Me Smiling


Travel Games & Activities For Kids
at Martha Stewart

at Serving Pink Lemonade

at Kara's Creative Place


DIY String Puzzle
at Skip To My Lou


Travel Kit Tutorial
at restlessrisa


Travel Gamefolios
at Stitch/Craft


Kid's Travel Word Game
at Kaboose


Bubble Wrap Travel Game
at OhDeeDoh


High School Cherry-O
at Less Cake More Frosting

travelfinished
Ideas for a Travel Kit
at DebbieHodge.com


Dry Erase I-Spy Bag Tutorial
at Gluesticks


Busy Book
at Teach Preschool



Kiddo Travel Desk
at Chez Beeper Bebe


Tutorial & Pattern: Egg Design Felt Book
at Chez Beeper Bebe


at The Real Housewife of Nowhere



Bitty Busy Book
at One Crafty Place


Snack Box
at Harvest Moon by Hand

Travel Activity: On-the-Go Packet
On-the-Go Packet (free printable)
at Spoonful


Happy Travels!!!
Posted by at
Labels: ,

43 comments:

  1. All of your ideas are brilliant! Thanks for sharing them all. I pinned this to my Pinterest board so that I can utilize your ideas before my next road-trip!

    ReplyDelete

  2. Those are some great ideas! I think I'll be making up some of those marble ones and maybe others.

    We travel regularly (though by car, which is so different since we can stop and get out etc.) 3 hour drives happen a few times a month. 14 hours from time to time (drive all day, VERY limited stops), and we are about to move (military) and have a three day drive ahead of us; all with six (soon to be seven) kids! What do we do? While I do bring some activities and snacks, we also have the kids practice being board. Yep, life tends to have its boring moments quite frequently, they may as well get used to it now.

    I know thats not exactly what you were looking for, but I've found that it really takes the pressure off, knowing that my kids know how to be board, and it is good for them now and in the long run!

    ReplyDelete

  3. I love this post - so many great ideas. The snack box and DIY crayon/notebooks are both so fun ... I may use those for an upcoming road trip. I just made the bubble wrap game and I know that'll be a hit with my kids. Hope your big trip goes smoothly!

    ReplyDelete

  4. These are great ideas! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

  5. I made a pak for my kiddos for our trip to Cali recently:

    http://babicmama.blogspot.com/2011/02/going-on-jet-plane.html

    My daughter can color for hours so it worked out great!

    I Love that tackel box, why didn't I think of that! So cute :)

    ReplyDelete

  6. Thank you for linking to me, and GOOD LUCK on your travels! Sounds SO exciting :)

    I am your newest follower!

    <3

    Risa

    ReplyDelete

  7. We travel a few times a year. Bring a DVD player and invest in a second (or 3rd for a 12 hr flight!) battery for the DVD player. Saved us on a trip from San Diego to Dublin, Ireland with a 6 hour layover!

    Another bit of advie is to enjoy the process and accept the kindness of strangers.
    Good Luck!!!

    ReplyDelete

  8. Thanks for your notes everyone! We are fortunate that our kids have been use to travelling since they were very young. We drive to visit Gramma and Papa about 12 hours away a couple times a year or more. However, that is in the car, and not where they will be possibly disturbing others! They do manage to keep themselves occupied. I can't say I've heard "I'm bored" more than a handful of times since they were able to say the words!

    And... we are fortunate that the plane will have a tv for each seat with on demand movies and childrens programming. They also each have a Nintendo DS. I really just want to make sure that this trip is as much "special" for them as it isn't boring, considering it is the beginning of a very big change in our lives! :)

    ReplyDelete

  9. These are great ideas. Thank you for sharing them.

    ReplyDelete

  10. These are some wonderful ideas! I'm looking to help a friend out who just had her fourth child. Some of these ideas will work great to keep the older ones occupied. :o) Thanks for so many great ideas.

    ReplyDelete

  11. We've had great success entertaining our girls on long flights with ipods loaded with movies and kid-friendly games. Rather than carrying tons of books I'd recommend getting an e-reader like the Kindle or Nook or an i-Touch (can you access Amazon in China?). My oldest loves to read books but she would have to carry a ton of books to keep her occupied for the entire trip. Color Wonder markers are like magic!

    ReplyDelete

  12. Rachel - Best of luck on your long travels and the move. I am sure you will find plenty to keep them busy! I hope you still plan on blogging! 8)

    ReplyDelete

  13. Awesome ideas! Thanks! I love the snack box : )

    ReplyDelete

  14. Love the do-it-yourself string puzzles. And the I-spy bags. Visiting from Handmade Tuesdays.
    ~ Kimberlee at The Spunky Diva 

    ReplyDelete

  15. Awesome ideas! I just did a Toddler Busy Bag post on my blog that goes along with this! http://theprincessandthetot.blogspot.com/2011/07/toddler-busy-bags.html

    ReplyDelete

  16. Wow, what a great list! I am so excited to go through each of your links. We travel a lot, so these ideas will come in handy!
    Take care,
    Shauna
    myshaenoel.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

  17. Love the DIY Crayons and Notebooks, and the bubble wrap game. I'm going to have to try both of those with my kiddos!

    ReplyDelete

  18. Those are some great ideas. Thank you for linking up at http://diyhshp.blogspot.com I can not wait to see more great ideas next week.

    ReplyDelete

  19. I love these travel ideas! thanks for sharing.

    kathryn
    www.thedragonsfairytail.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

  20. That would freak me out too! 12 hours on a plane would be crazy! Great round-up. With all or some of those activities and a tv, your kids will do great!

    ReplyDelete

  21. What a great list of activities! I'd love for you to come share this at DIY Thrifty Thursday @ www.thrifty101.blogspot.com
    Michelle

    ReplyDelete

  23. Thanks for linking to my Kid's Summer Travel Kit! Hope you have a peaceful flight!

    ReplyDelete

  24. What a fantastic list of ideas! Found you from Skip to my Lou Made by You Mondays! I am happy to be a new follower!

    www.melonbelly.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

  25. Very fun collection! Can't wait to check them out!

    ReplyDelete

  26. Thank you for sharing this! We are travelling to China in September to meet and adopt our son. We are travelling with our daughter who is 2 and so we are starting to plan on how to keep her busy there and both busy on the way home.

    Keep smilin!

    ReplyDelete

  27. This is brilliant! Thanks for putting the list together. We're making the move from Spain to Australia later this year and the thought of such a long flight with 2 kids (aged 3.5 and 2.5) petrifies me for the same reasons you stated in your post. Thanks again and good luck with the move.

    ReplyDelete

  28. I came across this post on Skip To My Lou...I love your ideas!

    I'm hosting a linky party at my blog Fusion Fridays { http://janedeereblog.blogspot.com }

    I would love it if you would link up!

    ReplyDelete

  29. Featuring this wonderful post on my "Walk Around Blog-Land" today!
    http://estherscardcreations.blogspot.com/2011/07/walk-around-blog-land-8_18.html

    ReplyDelete

  30. Here from Shore girl's blog. Love these ideas! Almost makes me wish my girls were young again. Oh wait--I have grandchildren! Yay -- I can use all your ideas.

    ReplyDelete

  31. These are great! Thanks for showcasing this list I am certainly bookmarking the whole page! :)

    ReplyDelete

  32. This is great! I have to pin this so I can have this reference when we travel! Love all of those! Thanks!

    Stop by and see me at http://www.willcookforsmiles.com/

    ReplyDelete

  33. Holy cow this is an INCREDIBLE list. I swear every time we go on a roadtrip I am scouring the internet. THANKS so much for all of the best ideas in one place.

    ReplyDelete

  34. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

  35. We took a lot of car trips when I was younger and to be honest being in the car created a lot of good memories for me. My mother did an excellent job of keeping us entertained and used two main "tricks" that I plan on using with my kids. First, if you were good in the car or didn't fight with your sibling, the "VAN FAIRY" would come and leave a present (something small that you could play with in the car) on your seat the next morning or at a break. This made us excited to get back in the car! The second thing my mom did was give us a roll of quarters and every time we said "Are we there yet or I am bored" we lost a quarter. Whatever money you had left you got to spend on vacation. This works particular well with younger children and the "van fairy" works well with all children including teenagers. Just thought I would share some of our tricks, loved all your ideas. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. I absolutely LOVE these ideas! Thanks so much (who ever you are) for sharing them! I think I will have to incorporate these ideas in another post. Love them!!!!

      I'm stealing them for myself as well!

      Delete

  36. The best advice I received, and I've used it several times, when traveling with my little ones (4 and 2) is to bring diaper pins on the plane with me. I bring four for each child. When it's time to sleep, I use the pin to clip the airplane blanket to the top of the kids' seat, and then across to the seat in front of them, making a tent. It's is dark, fun, and when people start to use their overhead lights, it doesn't wake the kids! Mine know, when the tent goes up, it's time to sleep. You can also use spare airplane blankets to add sides to the tent, and then if the kids crack their eyes and look around, all they will see is dark. I used it with my newborns and got a pure 8 hours of sleep on the plane! Considering that the pins cost about $2, I'd say it was money well spent!

    ReplyDelete

  37. These are really good positive activities for kids and for elders it is good to explore new world like Naraan valley, Hunza and swat valley in Pakistan the good thing is you can easily find cheap flights for visit to Pakistan which somehow reduce your traveling cost.

    ReplyDelete

  38. I think I love you! We just moved to England this year and I am making our first flight back to the states ALONE with 3 kids (5, 4 and 1). This will hopefully keep them very busy until the fall asleep.

    ReplyDelete

  39. This was such a great list! Thanks for taking the time to put everything together! I found several useful things I hope to use in the future when I have kids!

    Helen
    Blue Eyed Beauty Blog

    ReplyDelete

  40. If you have kids along with you during travel you can't visit Tear Lake which is one of my favorite place it is right at the center of mountain peaks

    ReplyDelete

  41. For Muslim families it is good to have travel towards Makkah for which many airlines offers best umrah deals which are safe and secure for family stay for whole month it also cut down traveling expenses.

    ReplyDelete

  42. Such creative ideas. Thank you for sharing! Generally, I don't travel without a ton of audiobooks for my kids. Actually, I found a great site for free audio stories for kids. If anyone is interested, this is the link. http://www.twirlygirlshop.com/stories-for-kids

    ReplyDelete

I LOVE hearing from you! Your feedback means so much to me. Thanks for your comments!

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)