travel

Keeping Everyone Happy When Flying With Kids

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Flying with kids can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be with our tips. We travel on flights with our kids over 25 times a year and these tips keep everyone entertained and happy.

This year we have taken some pretty amazing vacations. We’ve gone by car to a few, but mostly we’ve been racking up the miles with plane travel. We have our longest flights coming up in just a couple weeks- 10+ hours to London from Los Angeles.

I like to think that we are pretty “go with the flow” travelers, but the reality is that there is a lot of planning that goes on behind the scenes to make it feel like we are “good to go” with whatever we have thrown at us.

Keep Our Kids Entertained and Happy On Flights

When you are traveling with kids, the most important thing to do is to try to be prepared for all situations. That means making sure you have more than enough snacks in case they don’t like the food served on the plane, you have to hang out on the tarmac for an extended period of time, or you experience any sort of delay. We have had all of these things happen to us and snacks and entertainment saved of our sanity and turned a pretty unfortunate situation into just another bump in the adventure.

Snacks are easy when it comes to packing. We always get to the airport early and we buy bottles of water for on the plane. Even though we fly in premium cabins, we always make sure we have our own water so that there is never a delay in accessing it. While we are picking up our water, we buy fresh snacks like fruit bowls, veggies, and salads. A couple of days before we buy packaged snacks too like protein bars, fruit strips, and granola bars. I used to way overpack these sorts of things, but now I have it down better what we can really consume and what everyone’s favorite things are. When Emmy was a lot younger, I also would carry lollipops because those always sound good to her and because they take a while to consume… which makes time go by quicker for her. I’m not a huge sugar pusher so it was also a big treat that she looked forward to!

How We Keep Our Kids Happy On Flights

With snacks taken care of, entertainment is the next most important thing when it comes to smooth travels. The thing is, we can’t be bogged down with books and magazines which are my kids’ favorite things to read. There just isn’t the space for them in our bags and we are trying to travel as light (literally) as possible.

 

I am even finding myself getting excited about our upcoming longer flight just because I will get some quiet time to do some reading and listening to music!

 

Heather Reese
the authorHeather Reese
Heather Delaney Reese is the storyteller and photographer behind the lifestyle and family travel blog, It's a Lovely Life®! For the past decade, she has vacationed over 150 days a year with her family. She is a vegan, and loves being by the water, spending time with her children, husband, 2 Shih Tzus and Cat.

36 Comments

  • That sounds like such an awesome app! We travel a lot, so I’m eager to give this a try. I think our family will love it.

  • Tech can be a lifesaver on a long trip. I hadn’t heard of this app before but it sounds like it’s very useful, particularly for families with children.

  • My kids totally need this for when we travel. They need constant entertainment. We would not be able to travel without their tablets/phones. I cannot wait to try this app! Looks perfect for the entire family

  • So many interesting reads! WEYV definitely sounds good for flights and car trips. I’m glad they good options for all kinds of age groups.

  • Great tips! Long flights can be SO rough on kids, which makes it rough on the parents! This app sounds amazing!

  • I’m always looking for options for planes. My kids are pretty good for about an hour and a half but longer flights can be challenging! This sounds like a great option!

  • I like the idea of having music as you read. That would be a great app for anyone to have on a flight. I am flying in October, so downloading in advance.

  • We’re always looking for good travel apps! It’s car travel that my kids are monsters for, but this app would still be great.

  • I have never taken a flight with my children. I suspect I would need to really keep my 3 entertained as well as myself! haha

  • WEVY sounds like an awesome app. I know I like to keep my carry on bag light so this would be perfect.

  • Sounds like a great app! We don’t fly very often but we do go RV’ing a lot and it’s nice to keep them entertained.

  • That is a great app. We don’t do a lot of traveling with our kids but when we do, we definitely charge the electronics

  • Looks like a pretty cool app for kids. My son love Epic (I think that’s the name). He basically has a library of books he loves at his finger tips

  • I’ll bet it gets easier to do when they’re a little older, I can’t imagine keeping my super active 9 month old busy…She’d drive us all up the wall, and probably herself too haha!

  • We try to limit the screen time for my niece when traveling but sometimes you really can’t help it. I think with a good app like this, a long flight will be bearable and will keep my niece entertained.

  • This looks like a gamechanger! I think as an adult I could keep occupied with something like this too!

  • You can never have enough entertainment on a plane, especially when you are traveling with kids. I try to download lots of stuff to read, watch or listen to, but also bring an occasional magazine or book. You never know what your trip experience may entail.

  • I carry my iPad and try to watch movies or listen to music I already saved. It could get pretty boring.

  • A great thing is that you can bring snacks to the airport with you. Like an entire pack of oreos or chips. I also bring empty water bottles to fill up once we get through security.

  • Never heard of this app before. Going to explore it a little more. Electronics always keep my child busy… I have to admit, I’ve fallen victim to it too… Trying to limit it during school days though. Next time we travel I will be ready! This app sounds like it has something for everyone. Yay!

  • I have never heard of this app, but will surely be checking it out. It looks like a great app.

  • Sounds like a great app. My kids and I just travelled to Boston and Philadelphia. I kept them entertained with movies.

  • Great idea! We are in the process of planning our next Brazil trip which means 24 hours of travel time and “bored” kids so I will be getting this app!

  • This is a perfect idea to keep the kids entertained. Even when traveling, they seem to get bored easily. I’m fixing to go check this app out.

  • I haven’t heard of this app before. Thank you for sharing this information as I travel with my kids a lot.

  • Never heard of Weyv app before but it looks pretty interesting. I am going to download this one.

  • There are so many wonderful apps for young people. I haven’t heard of Weyv before, but it does look like an app my teens would enjoy using when we travel. Going to check out the Weyv app!

  • I’ve never used or heard of the app before. It definitely sounds like something all families can use!

  • This app sounds amazing! I need to check it out for my kids the next time we take flight!

  • So many suggestion of activities on plan for kiddos… great for long flight… Happy journey…

  • Great app! Definitely, they will be entertained and busy. Though, at times I ask my nieces to sleep and rest for a long flight at least to get ready for the next adventure.

  • We don’t have kids right now but hopefully in the near future. One thing we enjoy the most is traveling. This is very helpful for our future trips.

  • Mine are 4 and 18 months We’re off on a plane for the first time with them next year so I’ll check this out!! Thanks!

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