Plane activities for kids

How to survive the flight

The secret to a good flight with children is to never bring out everything at once. Divide the hand luggage into small surprises and bring out one new thing every half hour — a stack of activity sheets, a little toy, a snack. Then you have something new to stretch the time with, and the children get the feeling that something's always happening. Pack this within easy reach at the top of the bag, not at the bottom under the jackets.

Screens work best as a last resort, not as plan A. If the children have been busy with something physical in the first few hours, they have both more patience left and a better mood when you land. Print a couple of sheets per child the night before, put them in a plastic folder along with pencils, and you have a pack that survives both turbulence and spills. Always keep an extra snack and a new activity in reserve for delays.

Top activities on the plane

• Plane bingo — the children tick off things they see on board and on the journey: trolley, seatbelt sign, captain, clouds under the wing. Works from age 4 and needs no space.
• A travel quiz about the country you're heading to — flag, capital, animals and famous places. Educational and nice to talk about together.
• Sticker book or colouring — calm, focused and spill-free on the tray table.
• Dot-to-dot and mazes for the youngest — needs concentration, but not reading skills.
• Drawing tasks: 'draw what you're looking forward to most on the holiday' or 'draw our plane from the outside'.
• A quiet guessing game between you — 'I spy something that is …' works just as well at 9,000 metres.
• A little activity booklet with mixed tasks a child can work through over several hours.

Waiting at the airport

Often the waiting is worse than the flight itself. The time from check-in to boarding can quickly become two hours, and that's when children are most wound up and least patient. Use this time to let them burn off energy before they have to sit still: find a quiet corner or a play area, take a walk to look at planes through the windows, or let them wheel their own little suitcase.

Bring out an airport scavenger hunt while you wait — a list of things for the children to find in the terminal, like a particular sign, an escalator, a café or a luggage cart. It turns the wait into a game instead of a nag, and keeps them moving right before they have to sit down. Save the quiet printable sheets for the flight itself, so you have something new to bring out once you're on board.

Ears, sleep and long flights

Blocked, painful ears at take-off and landing are the most common reason for crying on board. The pressure change eases when the child swallows, so give them something to suck or chew on right when the plane takes off and again when it starts to descend: a bottle or dummy for the youngest, a drink with a straw or a chewy sweet for the older ones. A child with a cold has an extra hard time, so talk to a doctor beforehand if you're flying with a snotty one.

On long trips, sleep is your best friend. Try to put the flight around the child's usual bedtime if you can choose, and bring what signals sleep at home — a cuddly toy, a blanket, a familiar song. Dim the light around the seat and let the child lean into you. When it comes to jet lag, it helps to set the clock to the destination's time straight away and try to follow meals and bedtime there as quickly as possible. The first few days will be a bit ragged regardless, and that's completely normal.

Choose by age and flight length

Ages 3–5 and short flights under two hours: stickers, dot-to-dot and a cuddly toy are enough. Much of the time goes to food, a dummy and a little nap.

Ages 6–8 and flights of two to four hours: plane bingo for the first thirty minutes, then a break with snacks, then colouring or a travel quiz. Alternate between calm and a bit more engaging.

Ages 9–12 and long flights over four hours: an activity booklet and a travel quiz cover a lot on their own, ideally supplemented with a book. They manage fine to entertain themselves for long stretches when they have the right material.

Siblings of different ages: print the same theme in two difficulty levels. Picture bingo for the youngest and category bingo for the oldest — they play at the same time without arguing over who's leading.

Free printables for the flight

All travel printables in the Activity Workshop are free to create and download. Plane bingo and the airport scavenger hunt cover both the flight itself and the wait at the gate, while the travel quiz works fine on the way to any destination. If you're continuing by train after landing, we have our own train activities too. Choose theme and age, print at home the night before, and put the sheets in a plastic folder along with colouring pencils.

You don't need to create an account to print. Pack the sheets within easy reach at the top of the hand luggage, keep one extra set in reserve for delays, and bring out a new activity each time the mood starts to dip. With a ready-made pack in the bag, the flight becomes far less stressful — for the children and for you.