Recently we had a super helpful chat on our local moms group in Istanbul about keeping kids busy and happy when traveling! 

Seasoned frequent flyer moms shared their tried and tested tips for keeping kids occupied and entertained all flight long (beyond screens)

Heres some ideas to help you a plan a smoother trip with your little ones:

Starting with this amazing list from Tanja Altintas (from Germany). She says: “I always picked some things from each category but every time slightly different and with new things to discover….”

1. Packs of stickers, diamond stickers, decorative sticker tapes, foam stickers
2. Small stationary things like stamps sets, colour pencils, small postits sets and booklets, clips, and whatever I could find
3. Small boxes of playdough and a small ziplock bag or plastic box with a few tools and moulds
4. Colouring books & colourful DINA5 paper (I bought Ikea paper mix and cut it into half)
5. Two small size notebooks
6. Small magnetic drawing board or watercolour book
7. Several tiny picture books
8. A couple of small tiny toys they like to play with (duplo/ lego/doll/soft toy/cars/wooden bracelet sets)
9. A few small packed snacks
10. Mini boards games or usborne cards…. What to do on a long ride/on an airplane/funny things to do…. Etc
11. Mini activity books
12. Rubix cube or similar toys
13. Wipe and clean activity cards
14. Mini puzzles in tin boxes

More Ideas from moms:

15. I usually filled a small plastic box or plastic bag which has min 6-8 departments with the cut stickers and other things to stick on, so they could handle it without a mess

16. I’ve done really long road trips before and one thing I remember being advised was to offer a wrapped gift/toy/snack every 2hrs or so. That was fun for us both. 

17. I find doing anything together is more helpful than relying on solo activities for them, it’s surprisingly therapeutic to colour in a few colouring pages and play I-spy

18. Get kids involved in choosing 1-2 items to take along from home helps a lot with co operation later!

19. Choose a 1-2 new things from the airport. The kids get so excited being able to choose and tends to play with their new toy/s for quite a good chunk of time

20. I pack a big backpack with an arsenal of small new toys that are pretty much disposable since I may lose them, stickers, etc plus snacks, wipes and a change of clothes (pyjamas take up the least space).

Which of these do you find most helpful? Do you have any smart tricks to share? Let’s build a bank of ideas together to save us moms on any trip or travel time!