Checklist – Traveling with Kids Over Five
Traveling with Kids Checklist
Happy kids make good travelers
Author: Alexine
Traveling with kids is much easier than traveling with babies or toddlers. If you have mastered traveling with infants, you will have no problem taking your kids on vacation. With a bit more maturity and the ability to communicate better, kids over five are usually easier to travel with than unpredicable infants.
When you are traveling with children five years and older you will want to make sure you have activities along that suit their personality and age. Some children become bored more easily than others so you may need to pack time intensive activities to fully engage your child.
To help you pack for the long day of travel ahead I have come up with ideas to bring with you in your carryon luggage. This will help plan for the travel time on the airplanes and in between flights at the airports. Long layovers can be brutal for kids so look over your itinerary and use the “checklist for traveling with kids” below to make sure nothing gets left behind.
• Coloring Book & Drawing Pad: A great activity for the plane is coloring and drawing. Bring one coloring book and one drawing pad per kid so that they can color or draw at the same time if they choose.
• Crayons, Markers & Colored Pencils: Put a small box of crayons, traditional pack of markers and some colored pencils in a sealing plastic bag. This is the best way to travel with these as the packaging can get bulky and a baggy is easy to seal and put away when they are finished.
• Portable DVD Player: This is a wonderful alternative to some of the adult movies they play on planes. Also you can get a portable DVD player with multiple headphone jacks or a splitter so two children can watch at once.
• DVDs: Pack a small CD holder with a handful of age appropriate movies that your children can enjoy. If you choose classics there will be less disagreement with the choices to watch.
• Headphones: Make sure you pack three or four pairs of headphone in case one or two bite the dust or get lost.
• MP3 Player: This is a great way to distract children who enjoy listening to music. If you put some fun kids songs on your MP3 player for your child they can relax to their own music.
• Reading Books: This is one of the best way for children to pass time while flying on airplanes and waiting in airports. Books are lightweight and easy to take with you anywhere so talk to their teachers for a reading list.
• Activity Books: Learning is fun when you get to do activity books and they come in all different academic levels. There is a great selection at book stores so stop by and grab a couple for each child before you leave town.
• Portable Game Player: There are several popular portable video game players that children enjoy playing. While it may be a time limited activity in your home these are great for keeping kids preoccupied. Bring a game or two that you approve of to keep your child entertained.
• Journal: Older kids who enjoy writing should be encouraged to write a journal. They can talk about the vacation and their experiences traveling. Sometimes teachers give extra credit to students who make a journal of their vacation.
• Magnetic Travel Games: These are fun when you have older children who enjoy games like checkers and chess.
• Card Games: It is fun to play card games like “go fish” with your children on the airplane.
• Reusable Water Bottle: These are great to fill once you get through security so they have something to drink whenever they get thirsty.
• Snacks: Fruit snacks, dried fruit, nuts, protein bars and trail mix are great travel foods for bringing on the airplane.
• Change of Clothes: Just in case a drink spills or food gets all over their clothes it is nice to have a change of clothes with you. You can even pack a pair of pajamas for sleeping comfort on overnight flights.
• Sweatshirt or Light Jacket: This is good for traveling in case your child gets cold on the airplane or in the airport.
• Blanket: A nice small fleece throw or cotton quilt work great to stuff in your carry on in case your child wants to take a nap on the airplane.
• Travel Pillow: These are perfect for leaning against a parent or the window for taking a nap on the airplane.
The most important thing when traveling is to keep your kids as comfortable as possible. Engaging in fun activities to pass the time is one of the many ways you can make their travel experience more enjoyable. Use the list above for packing when you travel with your kids so you do not leave anything important at home.
