Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

It’s December (already!) and to most of us, it means traveling out with loved ones!

If you’re like us, a family with two young children, and you’re planning for a trip where it’ll take more than an hour to reach another city or country on a plane, you may want to take a look at some of these ideas below.

You know, activities or other simple things that can help in keeping little ones occupied while on the plane!

Have fun spending time with your loved one this month!

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1. Coloring books and Crayons

If the kids get to choose which colouring books they’d like to bring, it’ll work out better.

Another option is to print out some of the kids’ favourite cartoon characters off the internet for them to colour.

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2. Favourite Books

If there’s any that your kid particularly like, bring it along. Or, you may want to buy a ‘surprise book’ in advance, and let your child read it on the plane.

Get books with lots of pictures and short stories!

For older preschoolers who like books like ‘where’s wally?’ (where they’ll need to find certain characters or objects), they’ll be kept entertained for a LONG time!

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3. Puzzles

Look for puzzles with large pieces so they’re not lost around the cabin. There are magnetic ones too (very useful for smaller children)

[We bought a 100-piece puzzle for Vai and Anya when we’re in Hong Kong. Vai chose his favourite Lightning McQueen puzzle, and he actually completed his puzzle, piece by piece, all 100 of them on his own, on our plane trip back to Singapore!]

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4. Favourite toys

Pack your kids’ favourite toys/dolls (smaller ones are best). Let them decide which ones they’d like to bring along (but we need to tell them how many is TOO many).

If you have younger children, you may even want to ‘wrap’ some of these little toys, and let them ‘unwrap’ their little surprise every 30 minutes or so!

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5. Games

Games such as ‘I spy with my little eye’, or the Animal Game (where you take turns in naming an animal, but each said animal cannot be repeated) always work! (at least I know it does in our family). There are of course heaps of other game ideas that you can play quietly while on the plane.

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6. Snacks

Snacks may keep a child entertained for a bit. Go for healthier snacks where you can, of course.

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7. Little Journals

If your (older) child likes to write, draw or scribble, encourage him or her to draw or write about their upcoming journey. What they see, what they experience, any foreign words or phrases that they’ll hear during the holiday.

[Anya did this last year. I let her choose and bring along a little journal when we went to Perth. She just turned 5yo at the time, and couldn’t write much. So she drew all sorts of stuff on the pages. Things that she encountered and saw. I still kept that journal!]

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8. Digital camera

Have some fun photos and video clips in your digital camera, and let them check them out one by one (and again and again!). You may even want to put some pictures of the people and places you’ll be visiting to familiarise and excite them.

You can then relive those fun moments in the past or tell stories about where and who you’ll be visiting.

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9. Games on mobile phones or laptops (or a portable DVD player)

As much as I personally am not into exposing my kids to such gadgets too much, I must say they really do help the kids enjoy the flight better, especially when the plane trip lasts for a few good hours!

I’d personally leave this option as my last resort though (ie. I’d keep them entertained with others first and NOT take these gadgets out until all other things fail)

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Of course, it’s best if they can get some sleep time while on the plane!

Not only will they wake up all fresh and happy, it allows us parents to rest and enjoy our plane journey too.

[When we left for Hong Kong recently, the flight was so early (6.45am) and they both slept for 1.5 hours on the plane!]

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I’m sure you have your own tips based on your experience too.

Do add them to the list yeah!